JULY 28, 2025

  “‎Today is a new day. It's a day you have never seen before and will never see again. Stop telling yourself the 'same crap, different day' lie! How many days has that lie stolen from you? Seize the wonder and uniqueness of today! Recognize that throughout this beautiful day, you have an incredible amount of opportunities to move your life into the direction you want it to go.” 

― Steve Maraboli

PSALM 53-55

1Save me, O God, by your name;

vindicate me by your might.

2Hear my prayer, O God;

listen to the words of my mouth.

3Arrogant foes are attacking me;

ruthless people are trying to kill me—

people without regard for God.^c

4Surely God is my help;

the Lord is the one who sustains me.(54:1-4)

ACTS 27:26-44

33Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” 35After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

39When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 40Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. 41But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.

42The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. 44The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.

JOURNAL 

Today is a new day. A gift I did not earn. A moment I will never get back. And I feel convicted. How many of these days have I let slip through my fingers, waiting for life to look the way I thought it should? How many mornings have I greeted with that tired lie, "same crap, different day," instead of waking with gratitude for breath and grace?

Reading Acts 27, I am struck by Paul. He is in chains, caught in a violent storm, surrounded by fear and chaos. Yet somehow, he is the steady one. He urges others to eat, gives thanks in front of them all, and leads with peace. In the middle of shipwreck, he is fully present. He does not beg for rescue. He simply trusts God and offers what he has. His faith does not make the storm disappear. It makes him stand firm within it.

What God asks of us is not perfection or worldly success. He asks for surrender. A willing heart. A mustard seed of faith. I think of the widow with her two coins, the boy with his small basket of loaves and fish, and the prodigal son who came home with nothing but regret. Their offerings were small in the eyes of the world, but God honored them and multiplied them. What mattered was not the size, but the surrender.

By contrast, the servant who hid his coin was condemned. Not for losing it, but for burying it out of fear. He refused to try. That is the trap I often fall into—believing that if I cannot offer something impressive, I should offer nothing at all. But God never asks me to be impressive. He asks me to be faithful.

Psalm 54 reminds me, "Surely God is my help. The Lord is the one who sustains me." Not my efforts. Not my plans. Not my striving. God alone is the one who sustains.

Matthew 25 reveals what really matters. Love in action. Kindness to the hungry and the stranger. Compassion for the sick and imprisoned. Not perfection, but presence. Not applause, but a willingness to show up for the least of these. What I do for them, I do for Christ.

So today, I choose to live differently. I choose to stop waiting for a better moment. I choose not to bury what little I have. I choose to offer it freely. I trust that God sees it, blesses it, and works through it. He does not despise the small things. He uses them to move mountains.

Jesus, thank you that you do not demand perfection. You do not shame weakness. You welcome my honest offering and breathe life into it. Thank you that your power is made perfect in weakness. Thank you for this day. For this breath. Let me not waste it wishing for another. Let me live this day surrendered and full of faith.

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

MATTHEW 25:31-46