MARCH 1, 2026

   “Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.” 

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

NUMBERS 26-27

12Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the land I have given the Israelites. 13After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)

15Moses said to the Lord, 16“May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community 17to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

18So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership,^a and lay your hand on him. 19Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. 20Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. 21He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

22Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. 23Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.(27:12-23)

MARK 8:22-38

31He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

33But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save their life^b will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

JOURNAL 

NUMBERS 26–27 and MARK 8 reveal a truth that runs through all of Scripture: following God ultimately requires a decision about what we are willing to risk and what we are willing to surrender.

Every Friday in my classroom, I play actual songs instead of instrumental background music. It has become a small rhythm, almost a quiet celebration at the end of the week. This past Friday, Chances by Five for Fighting was on the list. As it played, I felt something stir in me. I could not fully name it in the moment, but it lingered. This morning, it crystallized.

Moses stands on the mountain knowing he will never enter the Promised Land. After years of leading, sacrificing, and enduring hardship, he releases his future into God’s hands. Instead of clinging to position or longing for personal fulfillment, Moses asks only that God provide a shepherd for His people. God responds by commissioning Joshua, a man filled with His Spirit, and authority is transferred through obedience and surrender rather than ambition. Moses lets go so God’s story can continue.

This moment mirrors the teaching of Jesus in Mark 8. When Jesus explains that the path ahead leads to suffering and the cross, Peter objects. From a human perspective, surrender looks like loss. Protecting life, avoiding pain, securing success, and maintaining control all seem wiser. Yet Jesus rebukes Peter because he is thinking according to human concerns rather than God’s purposes.

Jesus then speaks words that overturn everything we instinctively believe: whoever tries to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Him will save it. The soul is not preserved through self-protection. It is found through surrender.

A lyric from the song Chances asks a question that feels deeply spiritual: “Is there a better bet than love?” That question captures the heart of discipleship. Every day presents a wager. Do I bet on security or on love? Do I cling to control, reputation, comfort, and certainty, or do I entrust my life to God even when the road darkens?

Moses bet on love when he released leadership. Joshua bet on love when he stepped into an unknown future. Jesus bet on love when He walked toward the cross. None of these choices looked like victory in the moment, yet each one carried the power of God’s Spirit and the promise of life beyond loss.

My own struggle often lives in the realm Jesus calls “human concerns.” Fear of the future, regret over the past, and the desire to manage outcomes quietly compete for my trust. The mountains I face are rarely external; they rise within the mind and heart. Faith, however, is not the absence of fear but the decision to surrender anyway. To follow Christ is to place my life in God’s hands and believe that love is never wasted.

Jesus promises that when we release our grip on life, we do not lose ourselves. Instead, we receive His Spirit, His joy, and the salvation of our souls. The cross teaches that surrender precedes resurrection. What feels like loss becomes the doorway to eternal life.

Each day I am invited to make the same choice: to bet on love, to trust God with what I cannot control, and to walk forward in faith even when outcomes remain unseen. In the end, there truly is no better bet than love, because love is where God Himself meets us and carries us home.

19Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

20He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” 

MATTHEW 17:19-20

FEBRUARY 28, 2025

   “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” 

― Abraham Lincoln

NUMBERS 21-25

10Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to him, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them these three times. 11Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded.”

12Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell the messengers you sent me, 13‘Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord—and I must say only what the Lord says’? 14Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you of what this people will do to your people in days to come.”(25:10-14)

MARK 7:14-8:21

14The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

16They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.”

17Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? 19When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

20“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

They answered, “Seven.”

21He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” (8:14-21)

JOURNAL 

The story of Balaam has always felt unusual to me. He is not an Israelite. He is not part of the covenant community. Yet God speaks to him. God restrains him. God even uses him to bless Israel instead of curse them. Balak may have believed he was hiring spiritual power for his own agenda, but the narrative makes something unmistakably clear. The Lord was not confined to Israel’s borders. He was already at work in foreign lands, speaking to a man outside the chosen nation, overruling kings, and directing history.

This challenges the tendency to believe that God belongs to a category, a tribe, or a religious label. Balaam proves that God is not a tribal deity. He is sovereign over all nations and all people, whether they acknowledge Him or not. Scripture consistently reinforces this. Psalm 24:1 declares that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. Daniel 2:21 says He changes times and seasons and sets up kings and removes them. Isaiah 45:5 records the Lord saying, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.” Even Cyrus, a pagan king, is called God’s anointed in Isaiah 45:1 because God used him to accomplish His purposes. In Acts 17:26-28, Paul tells the Athenians that God determines the times and places where people live so that they might seek Him, and that in Him we live and move and have our being. None of this is limited to one group.

We may not always have a detailed record of how God intervenes in the lives of those who are not Christians or who do not fit neatly into our theological categories. Scripture does not document every interaction. Yet passages like this remind me that God’s involvement in human affairs is far broader than what is written. Jesus Himself said in John 1:9 that He is the true light that gives light to everyone. That statement leaves little room for exclusivity. God is always reaching, always moving, always drawing.

The disciples in Mark struggle to understand this broader reality. Jesus warns them about the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod, but they think He is talking about bread. Their vision is small and literal. Jesus reminds them of the miracles of feeding the five thousand and the four thousand. He asks if they still do not understand. The issue is not bread. The issue is perception. Their hearts are still limited in how they see God at work.

I often fall into the same trap. I want to define where God is working and how He should work. Yet Balaam’s story and Jesus’ rebuke both remind me that God is active far beyond my categories. He is involved with rulers, prophets, pagans, disciples, and doubters alike. His sovereignty does not depend on human acknowledgment.

Power, then, is not proof of closeness to God. Balaam had influence and prophetic ability, yet his heart was divided. Scripture later shows that his motives were compromised. Lincoln’s quote rings true here. Power tests character. The real measure is not whether someone has influence or spiritual ability, but whether they align with God’s purposes.

Jesus makes His mission unmistakable in Luke 4:18-19. The Spirit of the Lord anointed Him to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed. His purpose was not to accumulate power but to redeem and restore. If God is active everywhere and among everyone, then His ultimate goal is not to elevate a select few but to draw all toward redemption.

This reshapes how I view the world. God is not confined to church walls, national identities, or religious labels. He is moving in places I cannot see and in hearts I would not expect. My role is not to guard the boundaries of His activity, but to align my heart with His character and trust that He is working everywhere, even when I do not fully understand how.

18“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”^f

LUKE 4:18-19

FEBRUARY 27, 2026

  “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” 

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

NUMBERS 18-20

2Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”

6Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7The Lord said to Moses, 8“Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

9So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

12But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

13These were the waters of Meribah,^a where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.(20:2-13)

MARK 7:1-13

5So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

6He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“ ‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

7They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.’^b

8You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

9And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe^c your own traditions! 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’^d and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^e 11But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

JOURNAL 

Tradition versus true obedience and love is the issue at hand in this passage. Jesus calls out the Pharisees for missing the heart of the message. They honored God outwardly while their hearts remained distant. I see this reality every day in life and in myself. How often are my actions done simply out of habit or because I am going through the motions? This seems to be part of the human condition. Habits can shape us toward goodness, or they can quietly lead us toward destruction.

When I was in high school, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People became widely influential and introduced a new framework for changing behavior. It began with a powerful paradigm shift that we can choose our actions. The first habit, Be Proactive, established the foundation for everything that followed. I believe this idea echoes what Jesus was teaching. We are not trapped by routine or tradition. We can choose obedience to God instead of blindly following rules simply for the sake of appearance or compliance.

Our minds and bodies naturally rely on habits, yet those habits are not permanent. They can be reshaped. However, if change is driven by selfish ambition or human pride, it ultimately leads to emptiness and destruction rather than transformation rooted in God’s love.

Some people might see this shift as dangerous because it requires questioning inherited patterns and confronting motives of the heart. In truth, it is the only path toward genuine transformation. When we ask why we behave the way we do, we move beyond external performance and into the condition of the heart. That is what God ultimately desires. He is not seeking perfected rituals but surrendered lives.

Paul’s words in Romans capture this calling clearly. We are invited to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. True worship is not conformity to religious patterns or cultural expectations. It is the continual renewal of the mind. Through that renewal we learn to discern God’s will, which is good, pleasing, and perfect.

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

ROMANS 12:1-2

FEBRUARY 26, 2026

  “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” 

― Robert A. Heinlein

NUMBERS 16-17

1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. 3On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. 4Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the ark of the covenant law, where I meet with you. 5The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.”

6So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them. 7Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant law.

8The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.(17:1-8)

MARK 6:33-56

53When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. 54As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. 55They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

JOURNAL 

The story of the rebellion by Korah is an interesting one. The Israelites seem to constantly be grumbling about all that they don't have. Their focus is constantly on the negative rather than the positive. They want things now and are disgruntled when they don't get them.  Unfortunately that is a narrative that is often in my own heart. 

In these few verses in Mark Jesus feeds the 5,000 and then walks on water...and the what a scene at Genneseret! I can only imagine the joy, the dancing, the absolute rejoicing. Jesus has become a rockstar. The people had be so overcome with excitement that the messiah had come to the masses...he wasn't in the synagogue vying for political position. He wasn't an untouchable or unapproachable religious prude. He was one of them and feeding them, rescuing them and loving them. 

To really take in this scene and to know that it ends with him on a cross is heartbreaking. How could it turn so quickly and how could that really be God's plan?? It's because God is not us...he is far greater, far wiser than I can comprehend. I ultimately know that his death becomes the key to my own hope and salvation....yet it's still so comforting to read these verses and see his heart. To know that he isn't too tired, or agitated or busy to tend to those on the fringes. It gives me hope and assurance that his love is not conditional. 

34“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

JOHN 13:34-35

FEBRUARY 25, 2026

  "Don't put in average effort and claim you want exceptional results." - James Clear

NUMBERS 14-15

1That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

5Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. 6Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”(14:1-9)

MARK 6:1-32

30The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

32So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

JOURNAL 

The Israelites frustrate me. God has brought them out of Egypt, performed miracle after miracle, and led them right to the edge of promise. Yet the moment things become difficult, fear takes over. They panic, complain, and even long to return to slavery because the wilderness feels too hard. God has called them to something extraordinary, but they are unwilling to endure the effort, sacrifice, and courage required to step into it.

If I am honest, I see myself in them. One of the hardest moments in life is recognizing when I have fallen short. It is easy to blame circumstances, other people, or bad timing. It is much harder to admit that I did not truly give my best. I often claim wholehearted effort while quietly holding something back. At the same time, I still hope for exceptional outcomes. I want extraordinary results without always embracing extraordinary discipline.

God is gracious and does perform miracles, but He also calls His people to faithful action. Joshua and Caleb believed not because the task was easy but because God was faithful. Their confidence required courage, obedience, and forward movement. Faith was not passive belief. It demanded participation.

God also understands human limits. He knows exhaustion, discouragement, and fatigue will come. That is why Jesus called His disciples away to rest. Rest is not retreat or failure. Rest is restoration so that we can return strengthened, focused, and ready to live faithfully again. In Him we are renewed with power, love, and self discipline.

Today I am reminded that following God means both surrender and effort. I rejoice because the Lord is near. I release anxiety through prayer and gratitude. When I bring my weakness honestly before Him, His peace guards my heart and mind and equips me to pursue excellence with humility and trust.

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7