JULY 7, 2025

 “My dreams are worthless, my plans are dust, my goals are impossible.

All are of no value unless they are followed by action.” 
― Og Mandino, The Greatest Salesman in the World

JOB 35-37

11If they obey and serve him,

they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity

and their years in contentment.

12But if they do not listen,

they will perish by the sword^a

and die without knowledge.(36:11-12)

ACTS 14

8In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. 9He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

11When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15“Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” 18Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

19Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

JOURNAL 

There is a deep truth here that echoes through both the wisdom of Scripture and the lives of those who fully trust in God. Words, intentions, and dreams have no weight until they are embodied by action. Elihu, in the book of Job, believed that obedience to God would naturally lead to prosperity and peace. He said that if a person obeyed and served God, they would live out their days in contentment. If not, they would perish without understanding. His view reflects a transactional mindset, one that still lingers today in the teachings of the prosperity gospel. The logic is simple and appealing—serve God and you will be blessed with success.

But Job's life, and the life of Paul, tell a different story.

Human beings are not at their best when everything is easy. We were not made for passive comfort. We come alive when we are called to wrestle through difficulty, when we rise to face trials that require faith, courage, and endurance. These are the moments that forge character. These are the seasons that teach us to depend on God rather than our own strength.

In Acts 14, Paul demonstrates this truth with his life. He speaks boldly in Lystra, and a miraculous healing takes place. The crowd, confused and overwhelmed, begins to worship him and Barnabas as gods. Paul immediately redirects the glory to the living God, trying to point their hearts away from idols and back to the Creator. Still, despite his faithfulness, the tide turns quickly. The same crowd that once revered him now stones him and drags him outside the city, assuming he is dead.

But Paul does not stay down. He rises, gathers himself, and walks back into the very place where he was rejected. That is action. That is faith. Not a faith that avoids suffering, but a faith that continues in spite of it. Paul lives as a true outpost of heaven, not because he seeks reward, but because he is compelled by love, filled with purpose, and anchored in grace.

This kind of life is not driven by applause or ease. It is the kind of life that embraces James 1: to count trials as joy, to let perseverance shape the soul, to grow toward completeness. Dreams, plans, and goals only come alive when they move beyond thought and into obedience. Not obedience for comfort’s sake, but for the sake of becoming the person God designed me to be.

I want to live like that. I want to rise when knocked down. I want to walk back into the hard places if that is where God leads. Because there is no greater success than living a life of bold, faithful action rooted in the truth of God’s love.

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