Choose Light

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Genesis 4-7

I love that when God inspired the written Word He brought receipts. Here listed are names of real people who lived on earth in real time. Here are the details of a world-wide flood the fact of which is still being discovered by scientists today. Here is revealed the heart of God who loves and blesses His creation, but who will not let the guilty go unpunished. Here is the God who will have the last word.

And here is the God who promised the Savior, who provides the ark, who shelters His children, and defeats death.

We don’t like to talk about absolutes these days, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. There is good and there is evil. There is blessing and there is judgment. There is life and there is death. There is black and there is white.

Some people don’t want to believe in the Biblical account of the flood. They say things like it’s a parable, fiction, a nice story to teach a moral lesson. Others of us believe every word to be true, down to the smallest detail, that Noah was a real man with real sons who built a real ark that saved them from a really BIG flood.

I’ve heard it said that atheists believe Christianity is a fable made up by people who are afraid of the dark. Christians know that atheism is a fable made up by people afraid of the light.

There is dark and there is light.

I’m going to be reading through the Bible again this year. Our church is going cover to cover together, and I hope you’ll join us. Let’s read every word, learn every lesson, grow in grace and knowledge as we look at this precious Book every single day of 2026.

Whether or not you are a believer, I challenge you to open up a Bible and let God reveal the light. Then, I pray we will all…

choose the light!

The “Why?”

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Luke 1-24

Since the beginning of December I’ve been reading one of the twenty-four chapters in Luke’s Gospel each day. Yesterday I read about the empty tomb, the proof of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and the fact He visibly went back to heaven. I’ve loved being reminded that, although His birth is something to celebrate, Jesus didn’t stay in that manger. He grew up and lived a very real – and extraordinary – life with purpose. All of it from the manger to the cross happened so Jesus could take care of our sin problem.

And we’ve all got a sin problem. The bottom line is your sin and mine separate us from a God who loves us and longs to have us near Him. We can’t declare ourselves sin-less, and death is the just payment for sin. If we die in our sin, we are separated from God forever. It took God becoming a man and dying in our place.

Debt paid.

So this year, as you look at the Baby in the manger, as you say, “Merry CHRISTmas,” and sing “Silent Night,” I hope you’ll see past the presents and lights and laughter and family dinners, and stop and consider the ‘why” of it all.

Friend, YOU are the “Why.”

I hope you receive many gifts today from people you love, gifts that will warm your heart and bring you joy. But if you haven’t received the gift of God’s grace, the full payment for your sin, please do it today.

Jesus, in John 3:16 tells us God loved you so much He sent Jesus so that if you believe, you will have eternal life with God – the gift Jesus died to give you. If you pray, “God I believe that Jesus was born, lived a perfect life so He could be the perfect payment for my sin when He died on the cross, and that He rose from the dead”…you will be saved. Take your sin, lay them at the foot of the cross, let God exchange your sin for His righteousness, and I promise you will receive the most extraordinary gift of your lifetime.

Yes, dear one. YOU are the “Why” of Christmas.

I’d Do Anything…

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Luke 22

This is why Jesus put on humanity. The baby we celebrate this week wasn’t born only for love. He was born because God hates the sin that separates us from Him.

All of us have lost loved ones, either through death, difficult circumstances, or by someone’s choice to walk away. Have you ever thought, “I’d give anything to have him or her back?” God feels your pain!

God gave everything to have us back. We are the loved ones lost because of our sin. We are the loved ones He put on flesh and died for. Had He not become a human, born that day in Bethlehem, had he not lived a perfect life, and died a more horrible death than our minds can comprehend, we would have no hope of ever being with Holy God. No hope. We would die separated from God, and live forever separated from Him. You don’t want to go there!

When you sinned, and God watched you walk further and further away from His Holy Presence, He thought, “I’d do anything to get her back.”

And He did.

Protecting Integrity

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Luke 19

Jesus protected the integrity of the Temple. And He did it forcefully. There wasn’t the need to understand where the merchants were coming from, or an attempt to come to a compromise so both sides felt heard. What the merchants were DOING was wrong. Their actions condemned them. So Jesus showed them the door.

To take that kind of stand today would be considered “legalistic,” “traditional,” “judgmental,” “bigoted,” “unloving,” perhaps “homophobic” or any such label the world uses to make Christians cowards.

It’s not just non-believers who throw those names around, either. Christians are eating their own.

Why? I believe it’s because for decades we haven’t protected the integrity of the Church. AW Tozer said, “Each generation of Christians is the seed of the next, and degenerate seed is sure to produce degenerate harvest – not a little better than, but worse than the seed from which it sprang. Then the direction will be down until vigorous, effective means are taken to improve the seed.”

What are the vigorous, effective means we need to take? We pray for revival but we don’t really want revival. We want non-believers to find Jesus. That’s not reviving anything, it’s dying and being born again. Yet the vigorous, effective means we need to take IS revival of lazy, ineffective believers. We are the ones who need to be revived.

The Church is to be a house of the holy. Yes – holy!

I think back to Daniel 12:7 when the man in Daniel’s vision asked when the end will come. He was told, “when the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

We balk at the thought of being holy. We’re only human, right? Yet God commanded we be holy as He is holy, so we ought to obey. Not by our own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. His holiness ought to be seen in and through each of us. Holiness is not an option if the Holy Spirit has taken up residence through the blood of Jesus.

So going back to the idea of protecting the integrity of the Church. We must demand holiness of ourselves and other Christians because God demands it. But I’m afraid the Church (that’s you and me) doesn’t even want to be holy. We want to be popular. We want to fill our chairs. We want to a be coddled and loved, seen and heard. We want to feel excited and joyful, and lulled into a sense of acceptance. I don’t think being holy is on our radar.

That degenerate seed will bear degenerate fruit which will eventually break the power of the holy people who lived before us.

Christian, let’s pray for revival first in ourselves, then our believing family and friends, our local church, and in the worldwide Church. Let’s protect, and ignite the integrity of our hearts and our churches. Let’s expel the money-changers who make the church a den of thieves.

Revive Thy Church, O Lord! Begin with me.

Practicing Worship?

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Luke 14-15

I don’t claim to know exactly what heaven will be like except to say everyone who tries to describe it always falls short. John did his best to describe what he saw, but I don’t believe his revelation is a photograph. He had a vision of heaven.

I read a devotional of readings by AW Tozer every morning. (Mornings with Tozer; Moody Publishers; 2008; for December 15) I am challenged, enlightened, and blessed most days by the wisdom God gave the man. Today I have to say I think Pastor Tozer blew it.

He seems to have thought people who don’t worship with joy and excitement today will have to learn how to worship in heaven. “If worship and adoration of God are tedious now, they will be tedious also after the hour of death.” He said death won’t transform that person into an enthusiast.

But I believe with all my heart that the moment we look into the eyes of Jesus, true worship will naturally and fully pour forth. I do believe the hour of death will turn all believers into enthusiasts.

No one worships perfectly now no matter how much excitement we try to express. Right now we worship the One we cannot see. Put Jesus’ face in front of us and the most beautiful, intimate, joyful, and perfect worship will occur as naturally as breathing is today. (If Tozer is allowed to have an opinion, I hope you don’t mind if I express mine).

Here’s the thing. When we get to heaven JESUS WILL BE THERE! Our Bridegroom will embrace us, Our King will gather us around His throne and we will never get tired of worshiping Him. You won’t worship Him better because you waved your hands during the songs on Sunday mornings in this life and I kept mine to my sides. You won’t feel more comfortable with heaven’s worship than I because you smiled at the song leader and I sang with my head bowed and eyes closed as I focused on Jesus. Neither of us have experienced the level of worship we will experience at the hour of death. But I don’t believe there will be a learning curve.

JESUS WILL BE THERE! Period.

I read these two chapters in Luke today and found myself longing to meet the Man who spoke the words written there. That same Jesus will welcome me home one day, and no one will have to teach me how to worship Him!

It’s Not What I Expected

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Luke 2

There is so much about the birth of Jesus that amazes me. For one, the number of prophecies fulfilled that day and the days surrounding that glorious event. Mary and Joseph understood the significance, of course – at least in part. The angels certainly got it. The shepherds and wisemen had special revelation and they worshiped the infant Christ.

But today, Luke’s account of Simeon and Anna concerning the eight-day-old Jesus spoke to me. They took one look at this tiny baby and recognized Him as the Messiah. They’d been waiting for the Savior their whole lives. But so had every other Jew at the time.

So why did these two old folks see Him when everyone else seems to have only seen the baby of a financially strapped couple? Why didn’t the whole temple erupt in praise to God for the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, God’s Son?

I think it was because Simeon and Anna had surrendered their own expectations and focused on God. It may have seemed strange to them that the Messiah didn’t just appear from heaven in battle armor, trained in the intricacies of war, ready to lead an army against Rome. That was most likely the common belief of the day. But those who held on to that belief missed the most incredible occurrence in history.

Simeon and Anna were ready for the unexpected blessing because they hadn’t put God in a box of what made sense, or what their short-sighted vision expected.

God will not be put in a box. He will not limit Himself to do only what we can imagine. God moves in unexpected, creative, and supernatural ways. How many times do we miss unexpected blessings because we are only looking at the situation and at the solution we want? How many times do we miss unexpected blessings because it’s not what we expected?

Don’t miss the hand of God today. It will move in ways you cannot imagine. Keep your eyes focused on Him, surrender your expectations, and then pay attention. The hand of God moving in your life will knock your socks off!

Expect it.

Are You Talking To Me?

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1 Timothy 6:20-21

Paul ends this letter to Timothy with a warning I think too many Christians don’t think applies to them. And I believe the Church is seeing a negative effect as a result.

Paul says to guard your heart because if you don’t, you are in danger of walking away from the faith. He doesn’t say guard your heart because if you don’t, that means you were never really saved in the first place. He doesn’t say guard your heart because if you don’t, you won’t have an effective testimony.

Some translations say Paul begins verse 20 with the words, “Oh, Timothy.” Don’t you get loving Father vibes from that? Isn’t this the voice of someone who dearly loves and is pleading with his loved one to hang on, make good choices, be careful because the one who loves sees danger ahead? Even if verse 20 in your translations simply says, “Timothy” you can hear Paul’s love for and concern for young Timothy throughout the letter.

Here’s the thing. If Timothy was in no danger of wandering or walking away from the faith, there would be no reason for Paul to say anything. There is clearly a warning concerning a very real danger. For Paul to end his letter this way tells me this is urgent

I say the Church is seeing the negative effect of Christians not heeding this warning because of the false teaching that has infiltrated our ranks and is being accepted as truth. Too many Christians seem to think that because they are saved, God won’t let them go no matter what they do, or believe. So they accept the “godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge” and don’t consider the consequences. They not only do not guard their hearts, they freely give their hearts to the lies.

We Christians, you and I, need to guard our hearts. How? Read the Bible. Do a word search and find all the verses that use the word you choose. Faith? Truth? Repentance? Sin? Hell? Money? Tolerance? Do you know for yourself what the Bible says about these things?

Find a Bible believing church and hold your pastor and teachers accountable for what they say. Ask questions. Research for yourself. Guard your heart.

Turn off the religious channels on your TV. I can confidently say there is more false teaching than truth there. Guard your heart.

Stop spending more time reading about the Bible than you do opening the pages of God’s Word and devouring it for yourself. It’s not up to an author to guard your heart. Guard your own heart.

Quit thinking God forgives all your sin because one day years ago you accepted Jesus as your Savior. Friend, it is true God forgives your sin… if you confess. You ought to be confessing and repenting every time God brings to mind a sin you are committing in the present. Don’t assume He turns a blind eye to any sin. Guard your heart.

I will say this: if Timothy, the young preacher entrusted with overseeing the Church, the spiritual son of Paul needed to guard his heart, I most certainly need to guard mine. I ought to be reading these verses and ask God, “Are you talking to me?”

Do you honestly think He would reply, “No. You’re the exception?”

All the Riches of God

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1 Timothy 6:17-19

I read a devotional by AW Tozer every morning, and today he reminded me I have a right to claim all the riches of the God-head, “in mercy given.” Jesus spoke about riches. Paul warns us about riches. Their message is clear: we have got to stop equating God’s riches with things that moths and rust destroy, and things that can be lost or stolen. (Matthew 6:19-20). God’s riches are NOT financial or material in any way. They are so much more!

Jesus said in Matthew 6:21 “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.”

This time of year the phrase, “what do you want for Christmas?” is the theme of the day. Sometimes you don’t even have to ask a person what they want. Wives buy what they want and slap their husband’s name on it. Kids don’t have to be asked. They WANT you to know. Some people have ongoing wish lists on Amazon so you get them exactly what they want.

And some people approach God with the same bravado. I want. I want. I deserve.

Dear one, we have a treasure more precious, more intimate, more personal than any beautifully wrapped gift under the Christmas tree. And sadly, it’s the gift most ignored.

Recently a house in our area sold for $30 million. One house. $30,000,000.00! What if the guy bought it with the intention of giving it to his wife for Christmas this year? We’d say that would be an extravagant gesture of love. But hear me when I say, that generous gift would be worthless when the owner steps from this life into eternity, no matter how much love was attached to it.

Worthless.

Listen to Tozer describe a gift much more generous, a truly extravagant gesture of love:

“What a blessed thought – that an infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children! He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives ALL of Himself as fully as if there were no others.” (emphasis mine)

Can you imagine? God gives ALL of Himself to anyone who receives Him. The God of the Universe, Holy God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine, the One who punished Himself without mercy so that I, so that you, can be forgiven. I have 100% of His love and attention 100% of the time. And so do you if you believe. I can’t explain how. But I know it’s true.

And that’s the gift that’s worth everything. That’s the only gift I will take with me when my life on earth is ended. That’s the gift that will usher me into heaven and a glorious union with God forever.

If you’ve never surrendered to God and received this incredible gift, do it. God wants to give you Himself, all the riches of the God-head wrapped up in the baby in the manger and in the perfect sacrifice on the cross for your salvation. He is the gift of light in this dark world, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and He is yours for the taking. All of Him!

Don’t let another day go buy with that unopened gift at your fingertips. Receive it. It will change your life in ways you can only imagine.

And if you are already a child of God through the blood of Jesus, check your heart. Even we can get distracted, especially this time of year. Remember where your treasure is, that’s where you heart is.

Thank you, God for the extravagant gift of Yourself! My mind can’t fathom the richness of it, but my heart accepts it with all the love I can give back to you.

Unwholesome Talk

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1 Timothy 6:3-5

What is unwholesome talk? Certainly coarse language falls under that umbrella. There’s nothing wholesome about gossip, either. Paul says false doctrine is unwholesome.

Unwholesome talk reveals a prideful person, someone who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and he doesn’t realize how foolish he sounds. He often just likes to hear himself speak.

Unwholesome talk leads to envy, strife, reviling, and evil suspicions. I had to think about that for a bit. But you know if you listen to gossip, you begin to suspect what you are hearing is true. It can change the way you feel toward someone. Unwholesome talk drives a wedge between people, and that does not honor God.

Paul says this about unwholesome talk: it is the useless wrangling of men of corrupt minds and destitute of truth.

Ouch.

The idea of unwholesome talk has been heavy on my heart lately. I won’t go into details but it is what is causing strife, hurt feelings, discord among people I love, just like Paul warned. I wish I could say I’ve remained faultless.

James tells us to control our tongue, that what comes out of our mouths reveals what is in our hearts. I don’t think we stop and consider the power in our words, or the fact that those words are like an x-ray into our souls.

I don’t want my conversations to be described as the wrangling of a woman with a corrupt mind, destitute of truth. I represent Jesus, after all. I am His voice to a lost world. My words matter.

And so do yours.

Honoring Parents

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1 Timothy 5:2-8

Many families in our society are so disconnected. It seems a lot of young people move away from their hometowns as soon as they are able, to follow a job, or look for a better life somewhere else, or because they marry someone from another place. There are some good and honest reasons to relocate. And, unlike my generation, younger generations seem to be able to pick up and move many times during their lives.

Two of my sisters stayed in our hometown and raised their families close to our parents. I think they and their children would agree that proximity was a blessing. Two of their children have also stayed in our hometown and are raising their children close to their parents, my sisters and their husbands. Grandmas and Grandpas who love to babysit, who go to soccer games and school programs and buy every fund raising candy bar the kids are selling. But the majority of our family is scattered throughout the country.

There’s nothing wrong with moving away. There’s nowhere in the Bible that says, “Thou shalt live next door to Mom and Dad.” But we have to admit that living away from our parents makes caring for them more difficult. We are not off the hook, however, just because of the miles between us.

Caring for parents from a distance often looks like finding a nursing home or hiring a sitter to take care of them. To some people, it seems caring for their parents looks like an occasional phone call. Others actually think this command to honor our parents doesn’t apply to them because their parents weren’t perfect, so they cut them off, repaying evil for evil.

The Apostle Paul tells us if we aren’t caring for our parents we are worse than unbelievers. Yes, he is specifically talking about caring for widows. But come on. It’s not a stretch to say what he is proposing is in line with the commandment God gave Moses.

The fifth Commandment doesn’t say honor only Christian parents, or honor only parents who didn’t mess you up, or honor parents who you think deserve your care. It says honor your parents.

What does that look like? You honor your parents when you take care of their physical and emotional needs, when you show them the respect they deserve as your parents. Maybe it means you become a better son or daughter than they were as a parent.

Next week is Thanksgiving, a time when the pressure of family is felt most deeply in our country. I hope you are looking forward to family time, helping Mom with the food and cleanup, or going out of your way to get Dad to the table. This time of year makes the loneliness of separation heavier than usual. Take care of your parents.

That’s what is pleasing to God. Plus, it’s not an option if you are a Christian.