AUGUST 1, 2026

  “Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.” 

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

PSALM 65-67

 8Praise our God, all peoples,let the sound of his praise be heard;9he has preserved our livesand kept our feet from slipping.10For you, God, tested us;you refined us like silver.11You brought us into prisonand laid burdens on our backs.12You let people ride over our heads;we went through fire and water,but you brought us to a place of abundance.(66:8-12)

ROMANS 2

28For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

JOURNAL 

The more I read Scripture, the more I see that God has always been after the heart. Romans says that true change is not outward but inward. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. That means obedience is not simply following rules. It is becoming aware of God's presence in every moment. When I am aware of Him, I naturally begin to trust Him, love Him, and follow Him.

I am also realizing that this awareness only happens in the present. God is here, not in the regrets of yesterday or the worries of tomorrow. His presence surrounds me in creation, in people, in my work, and even in my struggles. The more I live in this moment with Him, the more I see that obedience is simply responding to what He is already doing around me.

That is why meditation can be such a powerful practice. It begins with something so simple: my breathing. Every breath reminds me that I am alive only because God sustains me. My lungs take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide through a process that has been happening every moment of my life, yet I rarely stop to notice it. The air around me, the trees that produce oxygen, and the intricate design of creation are all continual reminders that God's sustaining presence surrounds me. Meditation simply brings my attention back to what has been true all along. It begins with my breath, and there, in the quiet awareness of this present moment, is where Scripture continually points me to find God.

When I give in to fear, shame, regret, or anxiety, I lose sight of God. Instead of trusting Him today, I start trying to control tomorrow or hide yesterday. The future becomes my security, or my past becomes my identity. Sometimes I become more concerned with what other people think than what God thinks. In those moments, those things have become my god.

Psalm 66 reminds me that God used every trial to refine His people. Even the difficult seasons had purpose. They were not abandoned. They were being shaped. That is what allows me to trust Him instead of trying to control my circumstances.

Jesus said that whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for His sake will find it. I think that begins every single day. I surrender my plans, my fears, my regrets, and my need to control. Then I simply seek God in this moment. That is where faith grows, where obedience begins, and where real change takes place.

24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save their life^f will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 

MATTHEW 16:24-25