JUNE 28, 2026

 “Lack of confidence, sometimes alternating with unrealistic dreams of heroic success, often leads to procrastination, and many studies suggest that procrastinators are self-handicappers: rather than risk failure, they prefer to create conditions that make success impossible, a reflex that of course creates a vicious cycle.” 

― James Surowiecki

JOB 13-15

1“Mortals, born of woman,

are of few days and full of trouble.

2They spring up like flowers and wither away;

like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.(14:1-2)

ACTS 8:26-40

26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian^a eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

JOURNAL 

One of the greatest temptations I face is waiting for the dramatic while overlooking the miraculous. I find myself wanting the breakthrough, the mountaintop experience, the defining moment that changes everything. Yet I wonder if God spends far more time working through the ordinary than the extraordinary.

Social media and our culture don't help. We are constantly shown the biggest victories, the biggest failures, the most exciting stories, and the brightest shiny objects. It can make everyday faithfulness feel insignificant. Yet the truth is that the overwhelming majority of life is lived in the ordinary. Most of our days are not marked by dramatic successes or devastating failures. They are filled with conversations, small decisions, quiet acts of obedience, opportunities to encourage someone, moments of gratitude, and chances to love well.

Philip's story reminds me of this. An angel simply tells him to go down a desert road. There is no explanation, no grand announcement, just one small act of obedience. Philip goes, notices a man reading Isaiah, asks a simple question, and God changes a life. The miracle did not begin with the Ethiopian official. It began with Philip taking one ordinary step of obedience.

Job reminds me of something different but equally important. Life is fragile. We are here for only a little while, and trouble is simply part of living in a broken world. We cannot build our faith around circumstances because they are constantly changing. Some days bring joy. Others bring suffering. Neither defines God's presence.

Perhaps the greatest miracle is not found in extraordinary events but in God's quiet work through ordinary people who simply remain faithful. A parent loving their family. A teacher encouraging a student. A coach building character. A friend making a phone call. A neighbor showing kindness. These moments rarely make headlines, yet they may be the very places where God's kingdom advances.

I think I sometimes postpone living while waiting for something bigger. I dream about heroic accomplishments instead of embracing today's assignment. But Jesus never told us to pray for tomorrow's miracles. He told us to pray, "Give us today our daily bread." God's will is lived one day at a time, one act of obedience at a time, one conversation at a time.

If I want to experience God, I do not need to chase spectacular moments. I need to become fully present in the ordinary moments He has already placed before me. That is where most of life is lived. That is where character is formed. That is where love is given and received. And perhaps that is where God's greatest miracles have been quietly happening all along..

9“This, then, is how you should pray:

“ ‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

11Give us today our daily bread.

12And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13And lead us not into temptation,^a

but deliver us from the evil one.^b ’

MATTHEW 6:9-13

JUNE 27, 2026

 “Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” 

― Denis Waitley

JOB 10-12

13“To God belong wisdom and power;

counsel and understanding are his.

14What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;

those he imprisons cannot be released.

15If he holds back the waters, there is drought;

if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

16To him belong strength and insight;

both deceived and deceiver are his.

17He leads rulers away stripped

and makes fools of judges.

18He takes off the shackles put on by kings

and ties a loincloth^b around their waist.

19He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows officials long established.

20He silences the lips of trusted advisers

and takes away the discernment of elders.

21He pours contempt on nobles

and disarms the mighty.

22He reveals the deep things of darkness

and brings utter darkness into the light.

23He makes nations great, and destroys them;

he enlarges nations, and disperses them.

24He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;

he makes them wander in a trackless waste.

25They grope in darkness with no light;

he makes them stagger like drunkards.(12:13-25)

ACTS 8:1-25

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

JOURNAL 

One of the religious sayings I have struggled with for years is, "We don't deserve anything." I understand what people are trying to communicate, but I have always wondered, what does the word deserve even mean? How do you measure it? Compared to whom? According to what standard?

Stephen certainly did not seem to receive what most people would call fair. He faithfully served Christ, was filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed the truth without compromise, and was stoned to death. Saul hunted Christians, dragged families from their homes, approved of Stephen's execution, and yet God chose him to become Paul, the greatest missionary in history. Job is described as blameless, yet he loses everything while his friends spend chapters confidently explaining why he must have deserved it.

Scripture refuses to fit inside our definition of fairness.

That is why I have always viewed "Deserve Victory" differently. It is not a demand that God owes me success. It is not a claim that if I do enough good things, life will reward me. It is a mindset. It is a commitment to become the kind of man who prepares faithfully regardless of what tomorrow brings. Victory is never guaranteed, but faithfulness always remains within my control. The more I read Scripture, the less concerned I become with what I deserve and the more concerned I become with where I am seeking wisdom for today.

Job reminds us that wisdom belongs to God alone. He raises nations and brings them low. He humbles rulers, exposes darkness, and governs history in ways no human can fully understand. If that is true, then my greatest need each morning is not to figure out whether life is fair. My greatest need is to seek the One who sees what I cannot.

That raises a far more practical question. Are my actions congruent with my seeking? If I say I trust God's wisdom, do I actually pursue it? If I claim that his Spirit directs my life, do my decisions reflect that? Am I receiving my energy, purpose, courage, and direction from him, or am I quietly depending on myself?

Stephen and Saul remind me that God can transform any heart. Job reminds me that suffering is not proof of failure. Both remind me that I cannot judge a story before God has finished writing it. So today is not about determining what I deserve. Today is about receiving the wisdom God freely gives and living in alignment with it. My responsibility is not to control outcomes but to faithfully seek him. The outcome belongs to God.

Isaiah gives the invitation that answers the whole question. Those who hope in the Lord renew their strength. They run without growing weary. They walk without fainting. Strength does not come from believing life is fair. It comes from trusting the One whose wisdom is greater than my understanding.

That is enough for today.

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

29He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

30Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

31but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

ISAIAH 40:28-31

JUNE 26, 2026

   ...This story shall the good man teach his son;

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
~ Shakespeare, Henry V

JOB 7-9

32“He is not a mere mortal like me that I might answer him,

that we might confront each other in court.

33If only there were someone to mediate between us,

someone to bring us together,

34someone to remove God’s rod from me,

so that his terror would frighten me no more.

35Then I would speak up without fear of him,

but as it now stands with me, I cannot.(9:32-35)

ACTS 7:44-60

54When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

JOURNAL 

Job longed for a mediator. Stephen stood before the very Mediator Job could only anticipate. Job cried out from the middle of suffering, while Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked into heaven and saw Christ standing to receive him. The difference was not that one man suffered and the other did not. Both suffered deeply. The difference was that Stephen lived on this side of Christ's work and surrendered himself completely to the Spirit of God.

Somewhere along the way we began believing that life should be comfortable, predictable, and constantly enjoyable. If we are unhappy, frustrated, or facing hardship, we assume something has gone wrong. I know I often think that way myself. Yet Scripture never promises a life free from conflict. Eden was the only place without pain, and humanity chose to leave it. Ever since then, we have lived in a world marked by brokenness, resistance, and struggle.

The Christian life is not an attempt to escape that reality. It is an invitation to live faithfully within it. Stephen did not spend his final moments wishing he were somewhere else or imagining a different set of circumstances. He accepted the position God had placed him in and lived it fully. There was no hesitation, no compromise, no regret. The Spirit of God flowed through him because he was no longer resisting the moment God had given him. Even while stones struck him, he prayed for the forgiveness of those killing him. That was not human resolve. That was the life of Christ being expressed through a willing servant.

Perhaps that is what it means to be a conduit of God's Spirit. We stop asking God to constantly change our circumstances and instead ask Him to fill us so completely that His love, power, and wisdom flow through us regardless of our circumstances. We become fully present where He has placed us, trusting that every challenge becomes an opportunity for His character to be revealed.

That is why stories like Henry V stir something so deeply within us. We are moved by men who willingly embrace sacrifice for a purpose greater than themselves. We instinctively admire courage, loyalty, and perseverance because we were created for lives that matter. Yet Stephen's story goes even further. He was not fighting to defeat an earthly enemy. He was participating in God's redemption of the world. His faithfulness became part of Saul's story, the very man who would later become Paul and carry the gospel across the Roman Empire.

The goal, then, is not to avoid conflict or pursue comfort. The goal is to become so surrendered to Christ that wherever He places me, whether in victory or suffering, success or disappointment, His Spirit can flow freely through my life. That is a life of purpose. That is a life that echoes into eternity.

 8And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

2 CORINTHIANS 9:8

June 25, 2026

   “The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. That's the essence of it.” 

― Vince Lombardi Jr.

JOB 4-6

1Then Job replied:

2“If only my grief could be weighed

and placed with my calamity on the scales.

3For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas—

no wonder my words have been rash.

4For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me;

my spirit drinks in their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.(6:1-4)

ACTS 7:20-43

20At that time Moses was born, and he was beautiful in the sight of God.e For three months he was nurtured in his father’s house. 21When he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

JOURNAL 

Job's story dismantles the idea that life with God operates according to a simple formula. Scripture repeatedly describes Job as blameless and upright. Yet he suffers more than almost anyone in Scripture. His losses were not punishment for sin, nor evidence that God had abandoned him. In fact, the very foundation of the book is that Job's suffering occurs despite his faithfulness.

In Job 6:1-4, we hear the raw honesty of a man overwhelmed by grief. His pain feels heavier than the sand of the seas. He feels pierced by the arrows of the Almighty. Job does not hide his anguish, but neither does he abandon God. Even in his confusion, he remains engaged in relationship with Him.

In Acts 7, Stephen recounts the story of Moses. Moses was chosen by God, preserved as an infant, educated in Egypt, and prepared for a great purpose. Yet his path was not one of immediate success. He was rejected by his own people, forced into exile, and spent decades in the wilderness before stepping into the role God had for him.

The same chapter ultimately leads to Stephen's own death. Moses is spared and restored to lead Israel. Stephen is stoned for proclaiming the truth. One regains his life and purpose in this world. The other loses his life. Yet both glorify God.

That is the lesson. The Christian life is not a transaction where obedience guarantees comfort, success, or favorable outcomes. Job was blameless and suffered. Moses was chosen and rejected. Stephen was faithful and killed. God's purpose was never simply to give them an easier path. His purpose was relationship and the revelation of His glory through their lives.

The question is not whether circumstances turn out the way I want. The question is whether I will remain connected to Him through them. God calls me to seek Him, trust Him, and become a conduit of His power, love, and discipline. The circumstances may differ dramatically, but the calling remains the same.

Vince Lombardi Jr. said, "The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. That's the essence of it."

Job was brought to his knees. Moses was brought to his knees. Stephen was brought to his knees. Yet each, in his own way, exalted God. Their lives remind me that true success is not measured by outcomes but by faithfulness. When hardship comes, my greatest purpose is not to escape it but to allow God to work through it, shaping me into a living expression of His love and making my life an outpost of His Kingdom.

Romans 12 reminds me that worship is offering myself completely to God and allowing Him to renew my mind. As I do, my life becomes less about controlling results and more about reflecting His character. Whether I experience restoration like Moses, suffering like Stephen, or bewildering trials like Job, my calling remains unchanged: seek God, trust God, and allow His power, love, and discipline to flow through me for His glory.

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

JUNE 24, 2026

  " There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."            -Albert Einstein

JOB 1-3

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will depart.^c

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

may the name of the Lord be praised.”

22In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

ACTS 7:1-19

1Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

2To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’^a

JOURNAL 

Job loses nearly everything a person can lose, yet his response is not resentment, blame, or despair. Stephen stands before powerful men who are preparing to condemn him, yet he speaks with courage, clarity, and conviction. Neither man is defined by his circumstances. Instead, both reveal a deeper reality: peace does not come from what is happening around us. It comes from knowing who God is and trusting Him regardless of what is happening.

I think that is why Einstein's observation resonates with me. There really are two ways to live. One is to move through life assuming that everything is ordinary, predictable, and ultimately meaningless. The other is to recognize that every moment is infused with purpose and possibility. Not because life is always easy, but because God is always present.

Too often I find myself waiting for the big moment. The breakthrough. The accomplishment. The answer. The victory. I can easily fall into the trap of believing that significance exists somewhere in the future, just beyond the next goal or achievement. Yet Scripture consistently points in a different direction. God meets people in ordinary moments. He speaks during routine days. He shapes character in seasons that seem uneventful. He builds faith long before anyone notices.

Perhaps the greatest miracle is not found in dramatic interventions but in God's constant presence. The ability to endure hardship without losing hope. The strength to continue serving when recognition never comes. The courage to keep moving forward when the outcome remains uncertain. The capacity to love, forgive, build, and restore in a world that often encourages the opposite. These are miracles too.

I am beginning to see that wonder is not something I discover by changing my circumstances. It is something I experience by changing my perspective. When I slow down enough to pay attention, I realize that God is already at work. He is present in conversations, opportunities, challenges, relationships, and even interruptions. What often appears random may actually be part of a larger story unfolding around me.

This challenges me because I naturally gravitate toward outcomes. I want measurable progress. I want visible results. I want evidence that what I am doing matters. But God seems far more interested in faithfulness than outcomes. He invites me to focus on the work in front of me and trust Him with everything else.

Stephen was prepared for his defining moment because he had spent years faithfully walking with God before it arrived. Job was able to endure suffering because his faith was rooted in something deeper than comfort. Neither man's strength was created in a crisis. The crisis simply revealed what had already been built within them.

Maybe that is the invitation for today. To stop looking past the present moment in search of something more significant. To recognize that this day itself is sacred. This conversation. This opportunity. This challenge. This act of service. This moment to love someone well.

If God is writing a story through my life, then there are no meaningless chapters. Every page matters. Every scene has purpose. Every interaction becomes an opportunity to bring His power, love, and discipline into the world.

Today I want to live with my eyes open. I want to see God's hand in both the extraordinary and the ordinary. I want to approach this day with gratitude, curiosity, and expectation. Not because life is perfect, but because God is present. And wherever God is present, there is always something miraculous unfolding.

20When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. 21Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” 

LUKE 17:20-21