JULY 5, 2026

   “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” 

― Theodore Roosevelt

JOB 31-32

16“If I have denied the desires of the poor

or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,

17if I have kept my bread to myself,

not sharing it with the fatherless—

18but from my youth I reared them as a father would,

and from my birth I guided the widow—

19if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing,

or the needy without garments,

20and their hearts did not bless me

for warming them with the fleece from my sheep,

21if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,

knowing that I had influence in court,

22then let my arm fall from the shoulder,

let it be broken off at the joint.

23For I dreaded destruction from God,

and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.(31:16-23)

ACTS 13:1-23

9Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

JOURNAL 

Taking personal inventory is a good and necessary step in the journey of following Christ. To go through my actions and see if I have hurt anyone or done something that would have wronged another is good and healthy and keeps me humble. It also has a way of helping me to not take on things that are not my responsibility. 

To see Job go through his inventory of actions...weighing each as he searches for possible reasons for his current circumstances is both encouraging and discouraging. For Job never knew the reasons behind his fall and suffering. We as the reader, know it had nothing to do with the wrongs and actually was about all the good he did. We get to see behind the scenes but Job never does. Yet in the end it draws him closer to God.

To understand and know the depth of human darkness is to understand that there are those that will oppose God and anything good. Yet in all honesty it also reveals that I am no innocent bystander.  I have erred again and again, yet I am forgiven, redeemed and given all the joys of life. This is God's gift and too often I take it for granted. Too often I see life through the lens of what I don't have, didn't get, or how difficult my circumstance is rather than all the ways I have actually been blessed. It's mostly subtle but if I am really honest...it's always there.

However, seeing my life in terms of the blessings flips that switch in my brain and fuels me to want to make the most of this gift, make the most of this day. .

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. 

 2 CORINTHIANS 6:3-10

JULY 4, 2026

"Tis not in mortals to command success, but we'll do more, Sempronius, we'll deserve it." 

― JOSEPH ADDISON

JOB 29-30

 26Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;

when I looked for light, then came darkness.

27The churning inside me never stops;

days of suffering confront me.

28I go about blackened, but not by the sun;

I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

29I have become a brother of jackals,

a companion of owls.

30My skin grows black and peels;

my body burns with fever.

31My lyre is tuned to mourning,

and my pipe to the sound of wailing.(30:26-31)

ACTS 12

Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 20He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply.

21On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

24But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.

JOURNAL 

As our nation celebrates 250 years of independence, I find myself returning again to a single sentence that helped shape the hearts of many of America's founders. It comes from Joseph Addison's play Cato, George Washington's favorite play, and one he often quoted. John Adams echoed it in a letter to Abigail in February of 1776 as the colonies stood on the edge of an uncertain future.

"The Events of War are uncertain: We cannot insure Success, but We can deserve it." - John Adams

That single sentence captures so much of what I believe God has been teaching me. The founders could not ensure that America would exist a year later. Washington could not guarantee that his army would survive another winter. Adams could not know whether signing the Declaration would lead to liberty or the gallows. 

Nearly two centuries later, those same words found new life during the darkest days of the World War II. "Deserve Victory" became a rallying cry that appeared on British wartime posters alongside images of Winston Churchill. Britain could not command victory over tyranny. Churchill could not promise his people success. He could only call them to courage, sacrifice, perseverance, and steadfast faithfulness. The outcome remained uncertain, but their duty did not. They would do all that was within their power and leave the final result to God and providence.

Job understood the other side of this truth. He did everything right and still confessed, "When I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness." His suffering reminds me that faithfulness does not purchase favorable circumstances. God never promised that obedience would eliminate pain. He promised His presence through it.

Acts 12 offers the opposite picture. Herod possessed everything the world celebrates. Power. Recognition. Wealth. Applause. Yet in the moment he accepted glory that belonged to God alone, his kingdom ended. The applause of men vanished in an instant, but "the word of God continued to spread and flourish."

One man suffered while remaining faithful. Another prospered while becoming prideful. Neither circumstance determined what was true. God did.

That is why comparison is so dangerous. Success and failure are often poor judges of a person's life. The only measure that ultimately matters is whether I have surrendered today's opportunities to the Lord. Have I loved well? Have I served well? Have I acted with courage, integrity, humility, and discipline? Have I been a faithful conduit of God's power, love, and discipline?

This is the heart of Deserve Victory.

It is not about earning God's favor or controlling the future. It is about living today with such faithfulness that whatever tomorrow holds, I know I honored Him with what He placed in my hands. Providence belongs to God. Obedience belongs to me.

Perhaps that is the greatest lesson of America's founding as we celebrate 250 years. The founders did not possess certainty. They possessed conviction. They acted because it was right, not because success was guaranteed. They trusted that God governs history while men remain responsible for their choices.

The same is true for me today. I cannot command the future of my family. I cannot command the success of my work. I cannot command the outcome of my book, my coaching, my teaching, or the lives of my sons. But I can deserve victory. I can choose faithfulness over fear. I can choose obedience over control. I can choose today's assignment and leave tomorrow in the hands of God.

Proverbs reminds me that "though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again." The promise is not that I will never fall. The promise is that God is still writing the story. My responsibility is simply to rise again and continue walking with Him.

On this Independence Day, I am grateful not only for the courage of those who founded this nation, but for the God whose providence has always been greater than human plans. History has never been directed by those who could guarantee success. It has been shaped by ordinary people who faithfully gave themselves to the work before them and trusted God with the ending.

15Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous,

do not plunder their dwelling place;

16for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,

but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

PROVERBS 24:1

JULY 3, 2026

    “Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invicible host against difficulties.” 

― Helen Keller

“Remember, results aren't the criteria for success — it's the effort made for achievement that is most important.” 
― John Wooden, Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success: Building Blocks for a Better Life

JOB 26-28

20Where then does wisdom come from?

Where does understanding dwell?

21It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,

concealed even from the birds in the sky.

22Destruction^b and Death say,

“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”

23God understands the way to it

and he alone knows where it dwells,

24for he views the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

25When he established the force of the wind

and measured out the waters,

26when he made a decree for the rain

and a path for the thunderstorm,

27then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;

he confirmed it and tested it.

28And he said to the human race,

“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,

and to shun evil is understanding.”(26:20-28)

ACTS 11

15“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with^a water, but you will be baptized with^b the Holy Spirit.’ 17So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

18When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

JOURNAL 

Helen Keller's words have always fascinated me. How could someone who could neither see nor hear become such a powerful source of wisdom, hope, and encouragement? The more I think about it, the more I realize that her life exposes a flaw in the way I often think. I naturally define success by outcomes, comfort, accomplishment, and certainty about the future. Yet none of those things were available to her. She simply possessed today.

Maybe that is why Scripture repeatedly warns against placing too much confidence in tomorrow. I can make plans, and I should. Planning is wisdom. But trusting my plans more than I trust God is idolatry. I have absolutely no idea what tomorrow will bring. None of us do. The opportunities I expect may disappear overnight. The hardships I never imagined may suddenly arrive. The people I believe will always be here may not be. God alone sees the end from the beginning.

That is exactly what Job acknowledges. Wisdom is hidden from every living creature because only God sees the whole picture. Job never learned what was happening in the heavenly conversation between God and Satan while he was suffering. He simply kept returning to what he knew to be true about God. He knew God was still sovereign. He knew God was still worthy of reverence. He knew that fearing the Lord was wisdom, even when he could not understand the circumstances surrounding him.

Peter experienced something similar. His plans, assumptions, and traditions were all redirected by the Holy Spirit. He never woke up expecting Gentiles to receive the same gift God had given the Jews. Yet when God moved, Peter did not cling to yesterday's understanding. He surrendered to today's leading. "Who was I to think that I could stand in God's way?" Those words remind me that following God often means releasing my own expectations when His Spirit leads somewhere unexpected.

That is the life I want to live. I want to prepare wisely for tomorrow without becoming captive to tomorrow. I want to work diligently, make good decisions, steward my responsibilities, and pursue excellence, but then release the results into God's hands. My responsibility is not to control the future. My responsibility is to fully possess today.

If I begin today seeking God's Spirit, walking in His power, love, and discipline, then I leave room for Him to redirect my path whenever He chooses. Sometimes that redirection will feel like blessing. Sometimes it will feel like suffering. Sometimes it will make no sense at all. But my calling never changes. It is to obey today.

John Wooden was right that success is measured by the effort made toward achievement rather than the result itself. Scripture goes even further. Success is faithfulness. Success is receiving God's Spirit today and allowing Him to shape my thoughts, words, and actions regardless of what tomorrow holds.

Paul understood this when he accepted the thorn in his flesh. He stopped demanding a different tomorrow and embraced God's sufficient grace for today. His weakness became the place where God's strength was most visible.

I cannot possess tomorrow because it has not yet been given to me. I cannot relive yesterday because it is already gone. But today is in front of me. Today I can love. Today I can build. Today I can restore. Today I can teach, coach, encourage, solve problems, and serve. If tomorrow looks completely different than I imagined, then God will already be there waiting for me.

 Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 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 12:7-10

JULY 2, 2026

  “You become what you think about” 

― Napoleon Hill

JOB 23-25

13“But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?

He does whatever he pleases.

14He carries out his decree against me,

and many such plans he still has in store.

15That is why I am terrified before him;

when I think of all this, I fear him.

16God has made my heart faint;

the Almighty has terrified me.(23:13-16)

ACTS 10:23-48

34Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

39“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46For they heard them speaking in tongues^b and praising God.

Then Peter said, 47“Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

JOURNAL 

Job is overwhelmed by the majesty of God. He comes face to face with the reality that God is not subject to human opinion, persuasion, or control. God's purposes stand whether anyone understands them or not. In Acts, Peter experiences another kind of revelation. He realizes that God's kingdom is not built around human categories or favoritism. God accepts every person who fears Him and chooses what is right. The Holy Spirit is poured out on Gentiles just as it was on the Jews, reminding us that God is building something far greater than the narrow boundaries we often create.

I have been thinking about the truth that who I really am will eventually be revealed. Not by what I claim to believe, but by the seeds I plant every day through my actions. Every conversation, every decision, every sacrifice, every excuse, every act of courage or compromise becomes part of a legacy. I am either building something marked by love, truth, and faithfulness or something marked by selfishness, fear, manipulation, and destruction. There is no neutral ground. My legacy is not determined by one dramatic moment but by thousands of ordinary moments that quietly reveal the condition of my heart.

That realization changes the way I think about success and failure. Success is not ultimately measured by results because results are often beyond my control. Failure is not determined by circumstances either. What matters is whether I faithfully do what God has placed before me and whether I do it with His Spirit shaping my heart. My responsibility is not to control outcomes but to be obedient in this moment. God alone writes the ending of the story.

This is why surrender to the Holy Spirit is not a one-time decision but a daily practice. Left to myself I naturally drift toward protecting my image, manipulating situations, making excuses, or saying what sounds right while doing what is convenient. That is how a person slowly becomes a liar, first to others and eventually to himself. The Spirit continually calls me back to integrity where my actions agree with my convictions. He reminds me that obedience today is always more valuable than promises about tomorrow.

I recently came across the Greek word acrasia, the failure to do what we know is right. That struggle is deeply familiar. Most of the time I already know the loving thing to do, the disciplined thing to do, the courageous thing to do. The battle is not usually about knowledge but surrender. Every day I choose whether I will trust my fears or trust God's Spirit. Every day I decide which seeds I will plant.

Job could not understand his suffering, and Peter could not fully understand God's plan for the nations. Yet both were ultimately asked to surrender. That same invitation stands before me. I may never understand why today's choices matter as much as they do, but I know they do matter. They are forming me. They are shaping the people around me. They are becoming the legacy I will leave behind.

If I truly believe that God's Spirit lives within me, then today's calling is simple. Receive His love. Walk in His truth. Do the good that is before me. Leave the outcomes to Him. In the end, my life will not be remembered because I controlled events or accumulated achievements. It will be remembered because, day after day, I chose either to surrender to God's Spirit or to surrender to myself. That choice, repeated over a lifetime, reveals who I really am.

4“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation Tell me, if you understand.5Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?6On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—7while the morning stars sang together and all the angels^a shouted for joy?

JOB 38:4-7

JULY 1, 2026

 Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.” 

― Jaachynma N.E. Agu

JOB 21-22

27“I know full well what you are thinking,

the schemes by which you would wrong me.

28You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,

the tents where the wicked lived?’

29Have you never questioned those who travel?

Have you paid no regard to their accounts—

30that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,

that they are delivered from^c the day of wrath?

31Who denounces their conduct to their face?

Who repays them for what they have done?

32They are carried to the grave,

and watch is kept over their tombs.

33The soil in the valley is sweet to them;

everyone follows after them,

and a countless throng goes^d before them.

34“So how can you console me with your nonsense?

Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

ACTS 10:1-23

9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

15The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

JOURNAL 

One of the reasons I find Job so compelling is that the arguments being made are the very same arguments we still hear today. Job looks around at the world and cannot reconcile what he sees. Wicked people prosper. Honest people suffer. Evil often appears to go unpunished while those who seek God endure hardship after hardship. His frustration is understandable because life refuses to fit into a simple equation.

His friends respond with an argument that sounds just as familiar. They insist there must be a reason. God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked, so if Job is suffering, he must have done something wrong. We still make similar claims today. We often hear that everyone is a sinner and deserves nothing, as though that statement alone explains every joy, every tragedy, every blessing, and every loss. Yet Job's experience refuses to fit neatly inside that formula.

Perhaps that is the point.

The problem is not that God lacks justice. The problem is that I keep trying to measure infinite wisdom with a finite perspective. I see a single chapter while God sees the entire story. I see one lifetime while He works through generations, centuries, and eternity itself. His purposes stretch far beyond anything I can calculate.

The moment I begin comparing my life to someone else's, I have already stepped onto a path that leads to frustration. Why does one family seem blessed while another struggles? Why does one person reject God and flourish while another faithfully follows Him through constant hardship? Those questions can consume a lifetime and still never be fully answered because they are questions asked from the ground while God answers from eternity.

Then I read Peter's vision in Acts. God declares clean what Peter had always believed was unclean. Once again, God refuses to fit inside human systems and expectations. He reminds Peter that He alone defines what is clean, what is holy, and what His purposes will accomplish.

That brings me back to the only thing I can truly account for. I cannot explain every circumstance. I cannot measure another person's heart. I cannot predict how God is weaving together the lives of millions across thousands of years. But I can choose how I will walk with Him today.

Trust cannot rest on a formula. It must rest on a relationship.

God is personal and collective at the same time. He is writing one great story while also walking beside each individual soul. My calling is not to solve every mystery or compare every outcome. My calling is to seek Him today, receive His Spirit today, and become a conduit of His power, His love, and His discipline in every moment He gives me.

That is enough.

Jesus' picture of the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine for the one reminds me that God is not managing statistics. He is pursuing people. He knows every individual life while holding all of history in His hands. The God who governs eternity is also the God who seeks one wandering sheep. If He is capable of both, then I can trust Him with everything I cannot see and simply live this day faithfully before Him.

12“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

 ~ MATTHEW 18:12-14