OCTOBER 27, 2026

   “If you stay intent and your ability warrants it, you will eventually reach the top of the mountain.” 

― John Wooden

JEREMIAH 20-22

  3This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. (22:3)

2 TIMOTHY 1

 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. 

JOURNAL 

It is amazing how easily life can become formulaic, especially when we desperately want to feel in control. We develop routines, establish disciplines, set goals, and convince ourselves that if we consistently do the right things, we can somehow guarantee the outcomes we desire. There is comfort in formulas because they give us a sense of predictability. But I am beginning to realize that even in my relationship with God, I can fall into this same trap. Read Scripture, pray, meditate, exercise, serve others, and repeat. Somewhere along the way, these wonderful practices can become less about knowing God and more about trying to create a life where everything works out the way I want. But a formula is not a relationship, and God is not an outcome that can be produced by following the right steps.

For years, 2 Timothy 1:7 has been foundational to how I approach life. Power, love, and self-discipline have shaped my understanding of who I want to become and how I want to influence others. Yet I wonder if I sometimes turn even these gifts into another formula for success. The most important part of that verse may be the part I too easily overlook: "For the Spirit God gave us." These qualities are not simply things I must manufacture through greater effort. They are expressions of God's Spirit working within me. Discipline is not intended to give me control over life but to help me remain connected to God. Prayer is not a means of securing a desired outcome but an opportunity for communion with Him. Scripture is not simply an instruction manual for success but a way of coming to know the One who created me.

John Wooden's words about remaining intent and reaching the top of the mountain resonate deeply with me. I believe wholeheartedly in the importance of effort, perseverance, and trusting the process. It is the very foundation of what I want Deserve Victory to represent. But there is a difference between committing to the process and believing the process guarantees the outcome. I can prepare, work, love, and serve with everything I have, but I cannot control what tomorrow brings. Perhaps the real purpose of the climb is not reaching the summit but becoming the person God intends me to be along the way. Jeremiah reminds us to do what is just and right, while Peter encourages us to continually grow in goodness, self-control, perseverance, and love. These are not boxes to check on a spiritual scorecard. They are the natural expressions of a life lived in relationship with God.

This brings me back to the idea of being in tune with God. A musician must continually listen and adjust to remain in tune, and perhaps my spiritual life should be approached the same way. Not as another task to complete, but as an ongoing relationship requiring attention, humility, and surrender. I can become so consumed with doing everything correctly that I forget simply to be present with God. And when uncertainty or anxiety appears, I sometimes find myself searching for what I have done wrong, as though following the right formula should have prevented those feelings in the first place. But faith is not about eliminating uncertainty. It is about trusting God in the midst of it.

I don't want to become less disciplined or intentional. I want those disciplines to have a deeper purpose. I want to begin each day not simply asking what I need to accomplish, but how I can be more aware of God's presence and allow His power, love, and discipline to flow through me into the lives of others. I want to pursue excellence without demanding perfection, work diligently without becoming attached to results, and embrace each day without trying to control tomorrow. Perhaps the greatest freedom comes when I finally understand that God is not asking me to master a formula that gives me control over my life. He is inviting me into a relationship that frees me from needing that control in the first place. My responsibility is to remain faithful to the process, love others, and make the most of the opportunities before me. The outcomes belong to Him. And perhaps the greatest gift was never reaching the top of the mountain, but learning to walk with God every step of the way.

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

2 PETER 1:5-9

OCTOBER 26, 2026

  “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.”― John Wooden

JEREMIAH 17-19

5This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,

who draws strength from mere flesh

and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

6That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;

they will not see prosperity when it comes.

They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,

in a salt land where no one lives.

7“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

8They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit.” (17:5-8) 

1 TIMOTHY 6

6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

11But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of the faith.

JOURNAL 

Life is tough and I think what makes life so difficult other than the obvious fact that we have to face pain, death and a host of unfortunate circumstances, is that it never goes quite the way we want it to go. It can seem and feel that we are cursed with the idea of perfection because we are never able to attain it. 

That's why it is imperative that I inundate myself in scripture every single day. Scripture has a way of flipping my perspective and giving me the mindset I need to press into the difficulties, the blunders, the unfortunate, the painful. It also has a way of helping me see truth and how to navigate a world that sometimes just is unfair. 

I love this quote by Wooden. The beauty of the quote is it's packed with so much biblical truth within 15 words. It essentially says that life will turn out best when you stop complaining, and stop insisting that life turn out a certain way. It demands that for things to really turn out the best, you have to accept what is and continue to give the best of yourself no matter what happens. No matter if you strike out, blow it, no matter if you get a terrible diagnosis or get betrayed or lose someone close to you. No matter if you are falsely imprisoned or accused or crucified. It also means that when things do go your way then you still seek to make the best of the circumstance.  

To me this quote is an RX for life. Whatever happens, make the best of it and trust that God will in turn make the best of your efforts, your sacrifice, your persistence, your talent. Regardless of whether its accepted by the world or rejected by the world...the result is not what matters, but how you respond means everything. 

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^a whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

JAMES 1:2-4

OCTOBER 25, 2026

  “Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to.” 

― Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

JEREMIAH 14-16

19Lord, my strength and my fortress,

my refuge in time of distress,

to you the nations will come

from the ends of the earth and say,

“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,

worthless idols that did them no good.

20Do people make their own gods?

Yes, but they are not gods!” (16:19-20)

1 TIMOTHY 5

8Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

JOURNAL 

It is very clear from these verses that man is to do all he can with what he has to provide for himself and his family in obedience to God.  He is to trust God and God only and is not to be consumed with things that are not God. 

This is such a tough word yet it is pretty cut and dry. To follow this means that I am willing to give up pursuit of anything other than God and his direction as my ultimate goal. This means that every action, encounter, situation and circumstance has to be put through the filter of this obedience.  Obedience to God has to be my ultimate objective or else I am not really a believer. I see no other way of interpreting scripture. Sometimes though that is hard to determine God's direction...especially given the emotions I will experience moment to moment. Yet that's why scripture is so vital...many times what may seem to be the obvious choice may come to be a path that's opposite of God's direction. Following God is a daily, moment by moment pursuit.

However once obedience to God is my ultimate pursuit then many things will follow that pursuit. Humility, diligence, generosity, honesty, sacrifice, courage, joy and love. Obedience must come first and then God has created us so that when it does and we do the hard thing in surrendering our will then he releases the rest to us. It's the equivalent of good roots. When a plant has good roots and nutrients it thrives but when the roots are bad and the nutrients are lacking...it's doomed. To live life with these attributes being poured out of my life becomes a life that is the best of which I can give. It is a life that I am honored to live and one in which I will have no regrets. 

17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

1 TIMOTHY 6:17-19

OCTOBER 24, 2026

 “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.” 

― John Wooden

JEREMIAH 11-13

I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. (11:4)

1 TIMOTHY 4

4For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

6If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters,^a you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. 10That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.

JOURNAL 

When you really get down to it, the odds are stacked against us. Life on earth does not end well for any of us. Not only are we are in a world that is fraught with disasters and problems, etc. we are ultimately destined to slowly waste away or die tragically. That's our physical future and there is no escaping it. However in the interim while we are here we do have another hope...God promises that when we seek him and obey him our heart and life will be filled with joy. In fact we are told that there is nothing that compares to this joy, no outcome, success or circumstance can ever eclipse the joy in following God.

When I read the Bible and read of Paul, the disciples, Moses, Noah, David...I see this play out in their lives.  Recently I was inspired by the poem and the idea of the "stonecutter" and the philosophy of finding joy in the mundane. I also have learned that scientifically when we do hard things...things that we don't necessarily want to do but know that we need to do, the part of our brain responsible for determination and grit becomes more dominant. It becomes stronger and we chemically find satisfaction in doing "hard things". So again the Bible and the commands of God fall directly in line with what science is discovering about the brain. That joy and hope is not due to an outcome but rather in the giving of my best in the daily tasks of which I am blessed to have the opportunity to perform. It is from this perspective, that I can clearly see the blessings of life, regardless of the outcome, or result. Success or failure is a world perspective...obedience and joy is from God. 

This mindset was precisely the mindset that the legendary coach John Wooden sought to inspire in his players...actually he more or less demanded it. It wasn't a scoreboard or an outcome it was the moment by moment discipline to give your best to become the best that each one of us is capable of becoming. That and that alone is true success and when an organization is filled with individuals that take that level of responsibility...magic happens! 

God help me to keep this perspective. Protect me from the filter of apathy, worry and fear. Replace it with one that sees life from the perspective of all the opportunities in front of me and all the wonder and opportunity that they actually possess. 

17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

1 TIMOTHY 6:17-19

OCTOBER 23, 2026

 “Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” 

― Thomas Jefferson

JEREMIAH 9-10

23This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom

or the strong boast of their strength

or the rich boast of their riches,

24but let the one who boasts boast about this:

that they have the understanding to know me,

that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,

justice and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight,”declares the Lord. (9:23-24)

1 TIMOTHY 3

1Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. 2Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full^a respect

JOURNAL 

I looked up this date in history...hundreds of events, births, deaths, and moments that once shaped the world. Yet all those names and achievements now sit quietly in the archive of time. In 24 hours, this day will join them. The question is: how will I have lived it? Will I drift through it on autopilot, or will I live fully present, awake to what God is doing right now?

The truth is, bragging about the past accomplishes nothing. Yesterday’s victories don’t sustain today’s faith. Even the best memories fade if they’re not surrendered to God’s ongoing purpose. Confidence anchored in yesterday is like trusting a dried-up well to provide water. God’s Spirit moves in the present, not in nostalgia. As Paul wrote, “Forgetting what is behind… I press on” (Philippians 3:13). Faith is never backward-facing.

Likewise, being consumed with future dreams, promotions, possessions, recognition... is equally hollow. Tomorrow’s promises are fragile unless they’re rooted in trust. Jesus warned, “Do not worry about tomorrow…” (Matthew 6:34). Our hope is not in what might happen but in Who holds it all together.

Jeremiah reminds us not to boast in wisdom, strength, or wealth. These are temporary and easily shaken. What endures is knowing God...living under His hand, reflecting His kindness, justice, and righteousness. That is the only form of confidence that doesn’t corrode.

When we humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand, confidence is reborn , not from pride or performance, but from presence. Humility opens the door to joy because it shifts our confidence from self to Source. We act, as Jefferson wrote, not to define ourselves by achievement but to reflect the One who acts through us.

Every action today is an invitation to worship, not in words, but in faithful living. Every choice can either glorify self or glorify God. And when we choose His way, peace follows. Not the fleeting satisfaction of success, but the steady joy of walking in alignment with the One who holds both history and eternity in His hands.

So today, let me boast only in this:
That I know God and that His kindness, justice, and righteousness are at work in and through me, right here, right now.

6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

1 PETER 5:6-7