MAY 15, 2026

  “It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.” 

― Mahatma Gandhi

2 KINGS 12-14

8One day Amaziah sent messengers with this challenge to Israel’s king Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu: “Come and meet me in battle!”^c9But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King Amaziah of Judah with this story: “Out in the Lebanon mountains, a thistle sent a message to a mighty cedar tree: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ But just then a wild animal of Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle, crushing it!10“You have indeed defeated Edom, and you are very proud of it. But be content with your victory and stay at home! Why stir up trouble that will only bring disaster on you and the people of Judah?”11But Amaziah refused to listen, so King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King Amaziah of Judah. The two armies drew up their battle lines at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 12Judah was routed by the army of Israel, and its army scattered and fled for home. 13King Jehoash of Israel captured Judah’s king, Amaziah son of Joash and grandson of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. Then he marched to Jerusalem, where he demolished 600 feet^d of Jerusalem’s wall, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. 14He carried off all the gold and silver and all the articles from the Temple of the LORD. He also seized the treasures from the royal palace, along with hostages, and then returned to Samaria.

JOHN 5:25-47

 39“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! 40Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.41“Your approval means nothing to me, 42because I know you don’t have God’s love within you. 43For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. 44No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.^e45“Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes. 46If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

JOURNAL 

I can only imagine the tension here as Jesus rebukes the Jewish leaders. Yet I also imagine their own frustration as Jesus is completely different than what they imagined the Messiah would be. Their expectations were of a prim and proper political / military leader who would affirm them and overtake the Roman government. To believe in Jesus would have meant they had to let go of all their preconceived ideals. It was simply too much for them. Jesus was not what they imagined and therefore they rejected him.

Sounds pretty familiar...I tend to have expectations and hopes on pre-conceived notions of how things should go. Then when life doesn't fit those expectations I tend to believe that something is wrong. I shrink back and think that maybe a different direction, or a different tactic might improve the outcome and get things back on track. 

Too often I don't consider that God is not wringing his hands in frustration...fretting about my path or my decisions, my success, my failure etc.  God is God and he is completely at peace with where I am on the journey. Yet I find that far too often, I am not and that's a problem. For the more I sink into scripture and allow myself to truly trust God, the more comfortable and courageous I become. 

This, I believe...is one of God's gifts. It is his spirit that compels me to push boundaries while also stopping to acknowledge the beauty and magnificence of today. It draws me to indulge in the hard and uncomfortable while also enjoying the simple pleasures of my outrageous blessings. It calls me to accept my limitations and humanity while also dreaming of the perfection of eternity. 

In all things big and small I find that God is there...never worried or busy or fretting, just waiting patiently with arms open wide.

34He mocks proud mockers, but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

- PROVERBS 3:34

MAY 14, 2026

 “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” 

― Albert Einstein

2 KINGS 9-11

30The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” 31Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit..... 17Jehoiada then made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people that they would be the Lord’s people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. 18All the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols to pieces and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars. Then Jehoiada the priest posted guards at the temple of the Lord. 19He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, the guards and all the people of the land, and together they brought the king down from the temple of the Lord and went into the palace, entering by way of the gate of the guards. The king then took his place on the royal throne. 20All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had been slain with the sword at the palace.

JOHN 5:1-24

 16So the Jewish leaders began harassing^c Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” 18So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.19So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished. 21For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. 22In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, 23so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.24“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.

JOURNAL 

There is so much here in these passages. The story of Jehu and then the foiling of the plan of Athaliah is rich in drama. I can only imagine if this story was delved into and I could see it play out. It reminds me that there is so much more to learn and understand as God is interwoven into the lives of all these former kings. I also see how they all had their flaws yet God was gracious.

The story of the healing of the lame man at the pool gives a glimpse into the absolute restrictive culture the Jews protected. Jesus defying the laws and traditions for the sake of healing and loving reminds me that he came to free us from oppressive religious practices. He came to free us from tying ourselves in knots over "what people may think".  It also reminds me that God always has something deeper going on than the obvious. Healing is never just a healing, a miracle is never just a miracle, a sermon is never just a sermon and a sacrifice is never just a sacrifice. Just as the Bible and it's stories are never just words on a page...they contain so much more.

God gives us and blesses me with so many resources, the Bible being one of them. I don't have to rely on someone to interpret it for me. I can seek out answers and God pushes me to do so. In doing so I learn, struggle, contemplate and fall deeper into the arms of God. 

16All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.  

2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17

MAY 13, 2026

  “The work of restoration cannot begin until a problem is fully faced.”  

― Dan B. Allender

2 KINGS 6-8

33While Elisha was still saying this, the messenger arrived. And the king^b said, “All this misery is from the LORD! Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”1Elisha replied, “Listen to this message from the LORD! This is what the LORD says: By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of choice flour will cost only one piece of silver,^a and ten quarts of barley grain will cost only one piece of silver.^b”2The officer assisting the king said to the man of God, “That couldn’t happen even if the LORD opened the windows of heaven! But Elisha replied, “You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!” 

JOHN 4:31-54

31Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”32But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”33“Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other.34Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe^efor harvest. 36The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 38I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

JOURNAL 

There are many times when I read the text and the words just seem to go right by me. I feel like I might as well be reading a different language. This must be how the disciples often felt  with Jesus. He often spoke about things that they could not at the time understand...yet they would eventually.

These verses also speak of how God works things out above and beyond what I often even consider possible. I am not to be ashamed when I don't understand or are frustrated in my doubt or impatience. The Bible is full of those who felt those exact emotions yet would see in time that things worked out in ways that they could never have conceived.  The challenge is to trust through the frustrations, doubts and trials. It is here that I get to experience the presence of God in the ditch of uncertainty. 

It is also the path to recovery and restoration. Problems, trials and the pain of life can leave me feeling all alone and searching for anything that tells me I have a place and a purpose. Yet this is the place where I can actually find peace, because it is when I reach out to God the most.  Again this is the beauty of the Gospel. I can find almost identical examples of others who felt and experienced the same questions and doubts. So...regardless of where I am or what I am experiencing, I can find purpose and the peace of his spirit. Doing so means I must focus on the day, the moment and when I do...I realize he is always there with me. 

3We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.  

ROMANS 5:3-5

MAY 12, 2026

  "Today is calling to you, trying to get your attention, but you’re stuck on tomorrow, and today trickles away like water down a drain. You wake up the next morning and that today you wasted is gone forever. It’s now yesterday. Some of those moments may have had wonderful things in store for you , but now you’ll never know.” 

― Jerry Spinelli

2 KINGS 4-5

10Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”11But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.

JOHN 4:1-30

19“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”21“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”25The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”26Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

JOURNAL 

Expectations can quietly steal our lives. We become so convinced we know how things should unfold that when reality looks different, we miss what’s right in front of us. Naaman almost walked away from healing because it came in a way that felt too simple, too ordinary, too different from what he imagined. The Samaritan woman thought worship was about the right place and the right tradition, but Jesus revealed something deeper and far more personal.

We do the same thing every day. We script outcomes, relationships, careers, healing, even God Himself. We cling to the illusion that if we can just understand enough or control enough, we’ll finally feel safe. But life doesn’t work that way. God rarely follows our scripts.

Maybe peace comes when we stop demanding certainty and start trusting presence. Maybe the miracle isn’t in finally getting life to go according to plan, but in realizing God was already moving in ways we never expected.

Today is happening now. Not tomorrow. Not someday. And if we spend all our time trying to predict the future, we may completely miss the beauty, grace, and unexpected goodness waiting for us here in the present moment.

13Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

JOHN 4:13

MAY 11, 2026

 

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.” 
― William G.T. Shedd

2 KINGS 1-3

9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.10“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”11As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.13Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

JOHN 3:22-36

27To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30He must become greater; I must become less.”^h31The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for Godⁱ gives the Spirit without limit. 35The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

JOURNAL 

There is something tragic about a person spending their life trying to become smaller so the world will feel more comfortable around them. We hide gifts, silence convictions, suppress dreams, and live cautiously because rejection, failure, criticism, or pain once convinced us that it was safer not to fully live. But nowhere in Scripture do we see God calling His people to shrink back from who He created them to be.

Elisha did not ask Elijah for safety. He did not ask for comfort or ease. He asked for a double portion. That is a bold request. It would have been easier for him to stand quietly in the background and simply admire Elijah from a distance. But Elisha understood something powerful: when God places a calling on your life, humility is not pretending you are less than what God made you to be. Humility is accepting the gift and stewarding it faithfully.

The same is true with John the Baptist. When John says, “He must become greater; I must become less,” he is not saying he has no value or purpose. John fully embraced his role. He spoke boldly. He confronted kings. He baptized publicly. He prepared the way for Christ with courage and conviction. His “less” was not insecurity or self-hatred. It was surrender of ego. There is a massive difference between lowering our pride and diminishing our God-given identity.

Too many people confuse holiness with becoming invisible. But God never asked Moses to hide his voice. He never asked David to stop fighting. He never asked Esther to remain silent. He never asked Peter to stay in the boat. He never asked Paul to stop preaching because people rejected him. In every case, the danger was not arrogance. The danger was fear.

Fear shrinks us. Fear tells us to stay in the harbor when we were designed to sail oceans. Fear tells us to bury talents instead of multiplying them. Fear tells us our past failures disqualify us from present purpose. Fear convinces us that rejection from people means rejection from God. But the Gospel destroys that lie completely.

If the God of creation lives within us, then we are not meant to walk timidly through life apologizing for existing. We are meant to live courageously, lovingly, truthfully, and fully awake. The enemy would love nothing more than for gifted people to spend their lives doubting themselves into passivity. Because a diminished person rarely changes the world.

That is why Paul writes to Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God.” Not hide it. Not apologize for it. Not compare it. Fan it into flame.

God’s Spirit does not make us timid. The Kingdom of God is not built by people trying to disappear. It is built by surrendered people fully alive in who God created them to be. The teacher should teach boldly. The artist should create courageously. The leader should lead faithfully. The encourager should encourage relentlessly. The servant should serve joyfully. Every gift matters because every gift reflects the Creator Himself.

To diminish what God placed inside you is not humility. In many ways it is distrust. It is saying, “God, what You made is not enough.” So live fully today. Speak truthfully. Love deeply. Create boldly. Forgive freely. Step out of the harbor. The world does not need a smaller version of who God created you to be. It needs people willing to carry His light without fear.

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 1:6-7