AUGUST 29, 2026

 “Masculinity grows not out of conquering the woman, but only out  of conquering the man—and not another man, as in war, but oneself.” 

― Gordon Dalbey, Healing the Masculine Soul: God's Restoration of Men to Real Manhood

PSALM 139-141

1You have searched me, Lord,

and you know me.

2You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4Before a word is on my tongue

you, Lord, know it completely.

5You hem me in behind and before,

and you lay your hand upon me.

6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain. (139:1-6)

1 CORINTHIANS 10:1-13

12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13No temptation^c has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted^d beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,^e he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

JOURNAL 

Rereading The Road Less Traveled has been incredibly timely for me. Peck begins with the simple truth that “life is difficult,” but what strikes me now is his point that once we truly accept that reality, life actually becomes less difficult. Problems are not interruptions to life. They are life. And much of the joy, growth, and meaning of life comes through facing and solving them.

I think what has made problems overwhelming for me at times is not the problem sitting in front of me today. It is adding tomorrow's problems to it. I take something that needs to be faced today and immediately project it into the future. What will this mean next week? What if this doesn't work? What if something else happens? Before long I am no longer dealing with one problem. I am carrying ten imaginary ones that don't even exist yet.

But God doesn't ask me to solve tomorrow today. He gives me today, and He gives me His Spirit to meet whatever today contains. Power, love, and discipline. That completely shifts my perspective. Today's problems may still be difficult, but they become challenges rather than something overwhelming. I can look at what is actually in front of me, seek God's wisdom, exercise the abilities He has given me, and take the next faithful step. Then I can surrender tomorrow back to Him.

Maybe this is part of what it means to conquer myself. The real battle is resisting that impulse to control the future, demand a particular outcome, or escape today's discomfort. Discipline means staying present and doing today's work faithfully while trusting God with everything beyond it. I can plan and dream, but I don't have to live there.

There is tremendous freedom in realizing that I only have to live one day at a time. Today's problems are mine to encounter with God. Tomorrow's belong to Him. And perhaps that is precisely the size God intended life to be.

21Many are the plans in a person’s heart,

but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. 

PROVERBS 19:21

AUGUST 28, 2026

  “When Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to the believers as “the Helper,” the text uses the Greek word paraclete, which, as John Sandford has explained, is an ancient warrior’s term. Greek soldiers went to battle in pairs, so when the enemy attacked they could draw together back to back, covering each other’s blind side. Your battle partner was called your paraclete.6” 

― Gordon Dalbey, Healing the Masculine Soul: God's Restoration of Men to Real Manhood

PSALM 136-138

1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.

2Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.

3Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

4to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.

5who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.

6who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.

7who made the great lights— His love endures forever.

8the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.

9the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever. (136:1-9)

1 CORINTHIANS 9

24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

JOURNAL 

The gift of life is often a trivial thing to me and it is such a shame that I don't live in absolute wonder at my life. I don't mean from the worldly perspective...I mean simply from the reality that I have life, that I have a functioning body and a mind and an ability to think, contemplate and create. That is an amazing gift. That in and of itself is a miracle. Yet more often than not I dismiss this, more often than not I take all that for granted.

In taking it for granted, my mind wanders and drifts to things I don't have, ways I don't measure up, comparing and contrasting my life to others. While this ability is one of the gifts of being human, it actually can become a curse. Instead of using this ability to serve God and in obedience to him...it becomes a means by which I degrade myself and my life. It becomes a measuring stick that serves to shame me instead of encouraging me.

Here though is where God saves me. His word and scripture assure me that he loves me, will never leave me, forgives me and has gone to death to save me from myself. What a miracle, what comfort and joy.

I can rest in this because you have given me a spirit that calms my mind, that assures my worries and my anxiety. Thank you Father for life, for your word, for your spirit and for stripping away all the doubts, and pulling me close to your heart.

23Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

25“All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 

JOHN 14:23-27

AUGUST 27, 2026

  “If we are deeply moved by the sight of his love for us, it detaches our hearts from other would-be saviors.” 

― Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters

PSALM 132-135

1How good and pleasant it is

when God’s people live together in unity!

2It is like precious oil poured on the head,

running down on the beard,

running down on Aaron’s beard,

down on the collar of his robe.

3It is as if the dew of Hermon

were falling on Mount Zion.

For there the Lord bestows his blessing,

even life forevermore.( 133 )

1 CORINTHIANS 8

We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3But whoever loves God is known by God.^a

JOURNAL 

Love is the essence of God. Love is God's calling card, it is his chief defining characteristic. In all things throughout the Bible it is God's love that comes through in the end. Not his anger or his wrath...but his love.

When I think about this in my own life, I can see God moving and working but I can also see other things...fear, jealousy, anger, greed, sloth. It is in these things that brotherhood is sacrificed. It is here that I must repent. It is here that I surrender my pride and renew my hope in God and his love.

I am realizing more and more that love is given through intentional actions. Many times it is in the little things...not the big public ones. Putting my phone down to really listen. Turning the TV off and reaching out to someone. Getting off the couch and exercising and experiencing God's creation. Resisting the urge to wallow in self-pity and instead giving in sacrificial ways. This is when I feel God the closest...this is when his presence overwhelms me.

Father forgive me for my arrogance and selfishness and laziness. Forgive all the ways that I have run from you and then tried to justify myself and my actions. I realize that I have sought refuge in other people and things rather than in you. You are the one true God and obeying you is the only thing that will soothe my anxious soul.

9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 

2 CORINTHIANS 12:9-10

AUGUST 26, 2026

 “It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?” 

― Henry David Thoreau, Letters to Various Persons

PSALM 128-131

1My heart is not proud, Lord,

my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters

or things too wonderful for me.

2But I have calmed and quieted myself,

I am like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child I am content. (131:1-2)

1 CORINTHIANS 7:25-40

 I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is. 27Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife. 28But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

JOURNAL 

Paul is writing from a place of being completely sold out to his mission.  This is why he makes it clear that these commands are suggestions from his own perspective

Soldiers in the midst of battle have completely sold out to their mission. They have to be or else they will cower, run, freeze or act irrationally. This does not happen overnight...it is months of training and breaking and wearing down their dependence on modern life. They also have to let go of any delusions of grandeur and be committed to following orders.

Reality is that it is much the same with us and following God. However the ultimate objective is not external, but rather internal. Referring back to the Psalms of "quieting the mind" and becoming "content".  That comes from a place of internal peace, when the external anxieties have stilled and the heart has rested in one single purpose...acceptance of God's love and seeking and following him in all things.

Then he gives us a mission...a role we were designed for and one that once embraced gives us a passion and purpose. This passion and purpose is what ultimately gives us joy, hope, endurance, courage and the perseverance to walk through the fires of life in a way that honors God. But in order to get this, understand it and fully embrace it...we have to be sold out to God and his story.

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, whoⁱ have been called according to his purpose. 

ROMANS 8:28

AUGUST 25, 2026

 “Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones.” 

― Shannon L. Alder

PSALM 124-127

1Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

2As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

so the Lord surrounds his people

both now and forevermore. (125:1-2)

1 CORINTHIANS 7:1-24

21Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. 23You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. 24Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

JOURNAL 

I love movies...even the bad ones. The reason is that within a 2-hour window I am able to see a story resolve itself. Most movies fall more or less into the same pattern...Things were good, then they turned bad, an unlikely hero was called and through their sacrifice, the day was saved.

The problem is that my life is not tied up in a nice neat 2-hour window. My story stretches a lifetime and beyond and therefore it is easy to become discouraged when things don't go as planned. I often wish I could have a soundtrack playing in my head all the time. Because when I am connected to a story and understand my place, I tend to have much more courage. I am more focused and am able to make better decisions. However when I lose focus and flirt with the thoughts that life is purposeless, meaningless and random then it's easy to lose heart.

I believe that is why God has woven the power of story into our hearts. Story is what connects us as humans to the past, to the Bible, and ultimately to God. Because the drama that fills movie screens is the same that plays out in the hearts and minds of every human who has ever lived. It is this connection that helps us to find our place.

So how can I know and embrace my place in the story God is telling? I think it comes in the following ways...

1. Accept that God loves me and that I am a valuable part of the story
2. Embrace the gifts and talents that I possess 
3. Live the rest of my life devoted to the story and my place in it. 

6Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

DEUTERONOMY 31:6