JUNE 4, 2026

  “The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena, who strive valiantly; who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at best know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if they fail, fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” 

― Theodore Roosevelt

2 CHRONICLES 13-16

7At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. 8Were not the Cushites^b and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen^c ? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. 9For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”(16:7-9)

JOHN 14

6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really know me, you will know^b my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15“If you love me, keep my commands. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^c in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” 

JOURNAL 

This has always been one of my favorite quotes by Theodore Roosevelt. I memorized it in college and have carried it with me ever since. The image of being "in the arena" resonates deeply because I believe God calls us to engage life fully, to love, build, restore, and serve despite the risk of failure. The goal is not perfection. The goal is faithfulness.

What stands out in these passages is that Asa succeeded when he relied on God and sought Him wholeheartedly. When he stopped seeking God and began trusting other things, fear and struggle followed. Jesus tells His disciples something similar in John 14. He promises that God Himself will dwell within them through the Holy Spirit. They will not be left alone to figure life out in their own strength.

The more I reflect on this, the more I realize that input equals output. What I receive is what I ultimately give away. If I receive God's love, I can give love. If I receive His acceptance, I no longer need to chase the acceptance of others. If I receive His power, love, and discipline, I can live from those things rather than from fear.

I think many of us define success differently than God does. We measure it by outcomes, accomplishments, money, status, or comparison. Yet when I look at Jesus, I see that God's definition of success is simple obedience and surrender. Jesus looked like a failure to much of the world, yet He lived the most successful life ever lived because He was perfectly aligned with the Father.

What I continue to discover is that my job is not to control outcomes. My job is to enter the arena each day with God in my heart, trust His love for me, and give my best. Giving my best is an act of worship, not because I am trying to earn God's approval, but because I already have it. The results belong to Him. My responsibility is simply to love, build, restore, and faithfully give away what I have first received.

6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 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 9:6-8

JUNE 3, 2026

 “Never miss a good chance to shut up.” 

― Will Rogers

2 CHRONICLES 10-12

  8But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”10The young men who had grown up with him replied, “The people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’ ”

JOHN 13:18-38

 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.”36Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”37Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”38Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

JOURNAL 

One of the things I keep coming back to is how easy it is to give lip service to something while our actions reveal a completely different reality. Lip service can often be a cover for image control. Sometimes it can even become a subtle form of manipulation, convincing ourselves and others that we are devoted to something when our choices tell a different story. In the end, words are cheap. Actions reveal the true condition of the heart.

That leads me to a question that may be one of the most important questions a person can ask: What is the god of my heart? Not what do I say is important. Not what do I claim to believe. What actually governs my decisions, my attention, my fears, my ambitions, and my daily actions? Because whatever sits on the throne of my heart will ultimately determine the direction and fruit of my life. If approval is my god, my actions will bend toward gaining approval. If comfort is my god, my actions will bend toward avoiding discomfort. If success, money, reputation, security, or control become my god, then my life will quietly organize itself around serving those things regardless of what comes out of my mouth.

Jesus understood this reality when He said that no one can serve two masters. Eventually one will win. One will receive our devotion. One will direct our actions. We may convince ourselves that we can balance competing allegiances, but over time our choices reveal who we truly serve. This is why sin is so dangerous. Sin is not merely breaking rules. Sin clouds our vision, divides our heart, and creates double-mindedness. It causes us to say one thing while pursuing another. It blocks the flow of God's love through us because our attention and devotion are being pulled in multiple directions.

The mission of the Christian life is actually much simpler than we often make it. We are called first to receive the love of God. We acknowledge who we truly are, including our failures and weaknesses, and we receive His grace anyway. Then we become conduits of that love to others. We do not manufacture it. We receive it and pass it along. When God is truly the God of our heart, His love naturally begins to flow through our actions. It shows up in how we treat people, how we serve, how we forgive, how we sacrifice, and how we respond when life becomes difficult.

The question is never simply what I believe. The question is what my life demonstrates. My actions reveal my devotion. My fruit reveals my master. If God is truly at the center, then power, love, and discipline begin to align themselves around Him. The more I surrender my heart to Him, the clearer the conduit becomes. The less divided I am, the more freely His love flows through me and into the lives of others.

1Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

 ~ PHILIPPIANS 2:1-4

JUNE 2, 2026

  “At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.” 

― Mother Teresa

2 CHRONICLES 7-9

 17“As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’19“But if you^a turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you^b and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21This temple will become a heap of rubble. All^c who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’ ”

JOHN 13:1-17

 3Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him... 12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

JOURNAL 

The more I sit with these passages, the more I realize that God's blessing has never been about accomplishment, status, or success. Solomon built a magnificent temple, possessed incredible wisdom, and led one of the most prosperous kingdoms in history. Yet God warned him that all of it could become rubble if his heart drifted away. The blessing was never the temple. The blessing was never the kingdom. The blessing was God's presence. The blessing was walking faithfully with Him.

Then I look at Jesus in John 13. John makes a point of telling us that Jesus knew all authority had been given to Him. He knew exactly who He was. He knew where He came from and where He was going. Yet instead of demanding service, recognition, or honor, He wrapped a towel around His waist and washed the feet of His disciples. The more I think about it, the more I see that this is what true power looks like. Power is not domination. Power is not control. Power is not getting my way. True power, when it is centered in love, serves. It kneels. It sacrifices. It restores.

That realization keeps bringing me back to what I believe God has been revealing to me about my own mission. Love. Build. Restore. Love people where they are. Build what is good, true, and beautiful. Restore what is broken so it more fully reflects the heart of God. But I am also realizing that I cannot give what I do not first receive. I cannot love from an empty well. I cannot build from fear. I cannot restore others while living disconnected from the One who restores me. Everything begins with receiving God's love, God's grace, and God's acceptance. It begins with acknowledging my own emptiness and my need for Him.

Only then can I become a conduit of His Spirit. The more I reflect on 2 Timothy 1:7, the more I see that it is not simply a verse about courage. It is a description of how God works through us. We receive His Spirit and then we share His Spirit. We receive His power, love, and discipline, and then we become vessels through which those things flow into the lives of others. If I try to manufacture those things on my own, eventually my service becomes self-serving. It becomes about recognition, validation, outcomes, or proving something. But when I receive them from God first, service becomes an overflow rather than an obligation.

I am also beginning to understand why fear creates so much resistance in my life. Fear focuses on outcomes. Fear asks whether I will succeed, whether I will fail, whether I will be accepted, whether I will get the result I want. Love focuses on action. Love simply asks what the next faithful step is. Fear hoards. Love gives. Fear protects. Love risks. Fear compares. Love creates. Fear seeks to be served. Love seeks to serve.

Mother Teresa's words remind me that in the end, life will not be measured by achievements, titles, money, accomplishments, or recognition. It will be measured by love. Did I feed the hungry? Did I clothe the naked? Did I welcome the stranger? Did I use the gifts, opportunities, and relationships God entrusted to me to love, build, and restore? Those are the things that last because they reflect the very nature of God Himself.

Today is God's gift to me. What I do with it becomes my offering back to Him. My calling is not to control outcomes or guarantee success. My calling is to receive His love and then allow that love to flow through me. To become more of the person He created me to be. To use whatever power, influence, talent, wisdom, or opportunity I have in service to others. To love. To build. To restore. The outcome belongs to God. The action belongs to me. My responsibility is simply to receive and then give, trusting that His power, His love, and His discipline are more than enough for whatever He places in front of me today.

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 

- 2 TIMOTHY 1:7

JUNE 1, 2026

  “Find a purpose to serve, not a lifestyle to live.” 

― Criss Jami

2 CHRONICLES 4-6

36“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; 37and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; 38and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; 39then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.(6:36-39)

JOHN 12:20-50

42Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

JOURNAL 

"Find a purpose to serve, not a lifestyle to live."

I think so much of my life, and honestly much of our culture, is centered around the pursuit of lifestyle. We chase comfort, success, security, experiences, health and all the things we believe will create the life we want. We spend years building and protecting a lifestyle. Yet the more I think about it, the more I realize how fragile a lifestyle really is. It can disappear with a diagnosis, a financial setback, a job loss, a broken relationship, or simply the passing of time. A lifestyle depends on circumstances. A purpose does not.

As I read Solomon's prayer in 2 Chronicles 6, what stood out to me was that he fully expected the people to fail. He knew they would sin. He knew there would be seasons when they would suffer the consequences of their choices and perhaps even find themselves in exile. Yet his confidence was not in their ability to avoid failure. His confidence was in God's willingness to receive them when they returned with all their heart and soul. Even in captivity, purpose remained. Even when everything else was stripped away, they could still turn toward God. Their land could be taken. Their freedom could be taken. Their status could be taken. But their purpose could not be taken because their purpose was ultimately found in Him.

Then I read John 12 where it says that many believed in Jesus but would not openly acknowledge Him because they loved the praise of people more than the praise of God. That verse cuts deeper than I would like to admit. So much of what drives us comes back to approval. We want to be admired, respected, validated, and accepted. We want people to think we are successful, wise, accomplished, or important. Yet approval is every bit as fragile as lifestyle. It rises and falls with the opinions of people who are often struggling to find their own approval.

The contrast that keeps coming to mind is found in Colossians 3 where Paul tells slaves to work wholeheartedly, not for their earthly masters, but for the Lord. At first glance that seems impossible. How could someone faithfully serve under a cruel master? The answer is that their purpose was bigger than their circumstances. Their purpose was not tied to whether they had comfort, freedom, recognition, or even fair treatment. Their purpose was to honor Christ. A cruel master could not take that away. Hard circumstances could not take that away. Captivity could not take that away.

If my goal is a lifestyle, then I will constantly be shaken whenever life fails to cooperate. If my goal is approval, then I will always be at the mercy of what other people think. But if my goal is to love God, love others, and faithfully serve the purpose He has given me, then I possess something that success cannot improve and failure cannot destroy.

The older I get, the more I realize  that purpose is eternal. One changes with the seasons and the other survives every season. Maybe that is why people throughout history have endured suffering, hardship, and loss while still living lives of extraordinary joy and meaning. They were living for a purpose rather than a lifestyle.

22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

COLOSSIANS 3:22-24

MAY 31, 2026

 “The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn't live boldly enough, that they didn't invest enough heart, didn't love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.” 

― Ted Hughes

2 CHRONICLES 1-3

7That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

8Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. 9Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

11God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”(1:7-12)

JOHN 12:1-19

4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.^b ” 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

7“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you,^c but you will not always have me.”

JOURNAL 

It always comes back to the heart.

What struck me in these passages is that Solomon's request wasn't really about wisdom. Wisdom was simply the expression of something deeper. His heart was centered on love. He loved his father David and wanted to honor what had been entrusted to him. He loved the people he had been called to lead and recognized that they belonged to God, not him. Most importantly, he loved God enough to know that he could not accomplish the task before him on his own. So when God offered him anything, Solomon asked for what would allow him to serve well rather than what would benefit him personally.

God's response is fascinating because He specifically points to Solomon's heart. He tells him that because he did not ask for wealth, possessions, honor, revenge against his enemies, or a long life, He would give him wisdom and knowledge. Then God adds all the other things as well. In other words, when Solomon's heart was centered on loving God and serving others, God supplied everything necessary to support that calling. The wealth, influence, and resources were not the goal. They were tools given to accomplish a purpose that was rooted in love.

I think that's a pattern that runs throughout Scripture. When our hearts are truly centered on loving God and loving others, God often provides what is needed to carry out that mission. Not because He is rewarding us for good behavior, but because He supports what reflects His heart. The challenge is that our motives can become mixed. We can seek wisdom because we want influence. We can seek God because we want blessings. We can serve others because we want approval. Sometimes what looks spiritual on the outside is actually self-serving underneath.

That is what makes the story of Judas so revealing. Judas sounded compassionate. He argued that the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor. On the surface it sounded noble. But John tells us that Judas didn't actually care about the poor. His words and his heart were disconnected. The issue wasn't what he said. The issue was why he said it.

The older I get, the more convinced I am that God is always looking beneath the action to the motivation. He is not simply asking what we are doing. He is asking why we are doing it. Am I pursuing health because I love the life God has given me and want to steward it well? Am I working hard because I love and want to serve others? Am I chasing a goal because it allows me to love God and people more effectively? Or am I trying to prove something, protect myself, gain approval, or fill some emptiness inside?

Ted Hughes wrote that the only calibration that really counts is how much heart we invest and how much we are willing to love despite the risk of being hurt, embarrassed, or disappointed. I think that captures something deeply true. At the end of life, I don't believe anyone regrets not accumulating more possessions or status. The regret is usually that we didn't love more deeply, trust more fully, or live more courageously.

Solomon reminds me that when love is at the center, everything else finds its proper place. Wisdom becomes service. Wealth becomes stewardship. Influence becomes responsibility. Success becomes an opportunity to bless others. But when something else occupies that center, even good things can become idols.

God's promise through Jeremiah is simple: "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Not part of our heart. Not the leftovers. All of it. Because in the end, what God has always wanted is not our performance. He wants our love. And when love becomes the center, everything else begins to align around it.

 13You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

JEREMIAH 29:13