The only way we can love like Jesus

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” —1 Peter 1:22–23

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you” (John 13:34a). If we were in the first-century group of disciples and heard those words, we would stop whatever we were doing or thinking in order to hear the words that follow. The word commandment is the opposite of the word “suggestion.” Jesus was telling his disciples that he was about to teach them a spiritual “requirement.” An extra note for disciples today: Jesus’ words were spoken to his disciples in the upper room, a short time before he would go to the cross.

This is Valentine’s week. According to the National Retail Federation, Americans are expected to spend 29.1 billion dollars for Valentine’s Day this year. I could add a few thoughts and opinions about that, but I will leave you to your own! Instead, let me finish the verse above. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34b).

A commandment only believers can follow

Jesus didn’t issue this commandment to the crowds. This lesson was for his followers, his disciples. According to John’s gospel, this lesson was taught right after he announced to the room that one of them would betray him. John tells us that Judas Iscariot took a quick bite of bread and then quickly left the room. After his betrayer left the room, Jesus spoke his commandment to the disciples who would carry on his work. He said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’” (vv. 31–33).

It was then that Jesus handed his disciples, minus Judas, the new commandment to “love one another as I have loved you.” The reason: only believers would be equipped to obey that commandment.

The word for love in this passage is the Greek word “agape,” which means “the love of God.” Agape love cannot be produced by human beings. People cannot “love one another” like God can love us. Why then would Jesus make this a commandment?

Jesus provided the answer to that question when he said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once” (v. 32). That was difficult for those first-century disciples to understand. In fact, they didn’t fully understand Jesus’ words until after Pentecost.

Only believers can obey Jesus’ commandment because only believers have experienced the power that makes our obedience possible. Jesus was fully God and fully man. His humanity made it difficult for him to accept the last day of his earthly life. It would be the power of God and the priority of his earthly purpose that enabled Jesus to endure his suffering and accept the cross. And it was agape love that enabled him to die for us.

Jesus would die because of God’s love for us, the love that the deity of Jesus was able to share with others. That love can only be received by us as a gift, or a product of God’s Holy Spirit.

Only believers who have been filled with God’s Holy Spirit can produce “agape love.” Only believers who have received God’s love can then give that love to others. The commandment is to receive God’s love so we have it to give. Only then can our love be God’s agape love and bring him glory.

Jesus could give that commandment to those disciples in the upper room because he also knew that his Spirit would enable them to obey it. 

The apostle Peter had to learn this lesson the hard way.

Disciples today must learn what Peter learned

Upon hearing Jesus’ words in the upper room, Peter jumped up to say, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you” (v. 37). Jesus’ response probably seemed harsh when he asked Peter, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times” (v. 38).

We know the rest of the story. Peter couldn’t love Jesus yet like he thought he could. Peter did deny Jesus and was brokenhearted later when he heard the rooster crow and saw Jesus’ face. After his resurrection, Jesus spent some private time with Peter. John 21:15–19 describes those moments with Jesus.

Twice Jesus asked, “Peter, do you love me?” using “agape” for love. Twice, Peter replied that he loved Jesus, but he used the word “phileo,” meaning “friendship” love. The third time, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you ‘phileo’ me?” and Peter said he did. Prior to Pentecost, this was all Peter could offer.

Peter had not yet received the “power of the Holy Spirit” to love like Jesus had commanded. Could it be that Jesus wanted Peter and all his future disciples to understand an important lesson? He needed them to understand that disciples can’t give the agape love we are commanded to give, apart from the Spirit. We must receive agape love from God in order to share that love with others. The truth of that is seen in Peter’s life later on.

Peter loved others as Jesus loved

After Jesus had issued his commandment to “love one another,” he told his disciples, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Jesus makes it clear that other people will know that Christians love God when we share his agape love with each other.

Our strongest witness is love. Not our human love, but our ability to love others with God’s love. Catholic tradition identifies Valentine as a saint because of the way he loved others. But the best example of Jesus’ lesson is the apostle Peter.

One day Peter would be stretched out on a cross of his own, asking the soldiers to crucify him upside down, because he shouldn’t die in the same way as his Lord. His death has been an example to disciples throughout history that our witness is to be filled with agape love, God’s love. Jesus made it a commandment so that we would rely on the power of his Spirit to bring glory to God.

Who do you need to share agape love with for Valentine’s Day?

“Love” will cost the world $29.1 billion this week for Valentine’s Day. “Agape love” cost Jesus, Peter, and many others throughout history their very lives. Buy a few cards and maybe some chocolate for those you love. But for the rest of the year, love should cost God’s disciples a great effort. The world around us will know we love God when we share his love with others. 

Who has the Lord given you a burden for as you read this blog post? How will you share God’s agape love this week?

Why should we strive to think like Jesus?

“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” —1 Corinthians 2:16

I enjoy watching a lot of news, but each hour I spend doing so requires significant effort on my part. I’m learning to watch the news while making the effort to think about it the way Jesus would. I love the tagline for my husband’s Daily Article: “News discerned differently.” That tagline could be a spiritual guideline for all of us.

Television and internet news should now be considered forms of entertainment. Walter Cronkite has left the building. The cultural failures of the past decade are causing a lot of upheaval and restructuring for television networks today. Most news anchors are simply props, reading content produced by one side of an issue or the other. Truth has been exchanged for influence. 

Because we can no longer expect to hear objective truth from a news source, we are tasked with discerning truth for ourselves. Everyone must accept the fact that we can no longer listen to a news anchor and know what to think and believe. There could be a few Walter Cronkites hired in the future if viewers and voters value and demand that type of reporting.

Until then, how should we be influenced by the right people? How should we view every news story we read or hear? 

The answer to those questions is provided in God’s Word. We must strive to know what the Bible says, to obey God’s commands, and to live with God’s values. We need to choose to think like Jesus, our Lord.

Charlie Kirk tried to think like Jesus

I focused last week’s blog post on Erika Kirk’s recent interviews about the upcoming worship services for TPUSA, the ministry her husband began. One of my favorite things about Charlie Kirk was his thoughtful use of blunt, biblical truth. 

Charlie Kirk wasn’t a perfect teacher, but I admired his efforts. Every Bible teacher, myself included, will trip over their personal motivations. Jesus didn’t have that weakness.

Jesus is the only perfect teacher we will ever know. His Holy Spirit was his great gift, given to empower God’s children to think his thoughts. The Holy Spirit should be the most powerful influence we seek, because he can help us think like Jesus. Paul told the believers in Phillipi, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). The verses that follow in Paul’s letter illustrate the many ways the Holy Spirit will cause us to think like our Lord.

How can we think like Jesus?

Paul told the believers in Phillipi:

  • Even Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (Philippians 2:6). We cannot think like Jesus until we realize we cannot think God’s thoughts on our own. We live in a culture that pursues the wisdom and ideas of intelligent people and forget that God bluntly said, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8). How will you step away from human ideas to seek God’s thoughts today?
  • Jesus, “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7). While Jesus lived “in human form,” he chose to humble himself “by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (v. 8). When Jesus chose to become a human being, he understood he would need to recognize that his humanity would require his complete submission to God’s direction. Jesus begged his Abba Father to spare him the suffering on the cross, but he was willing to obey whatever God’s perfect holiness required. Our own perfection will one day, in heaven, be the result of the humility Jesus understood was required for all humanity. Jesus took on flesh in order to be our example. How do you need to humble yourself today?
  • Jesus lived in human form to be our holy example. “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (vv. 9–11). We will think like Jesus when we humbly submit our ideas to our “highly exalted” Savior. He is, once again, fully God and no longer fully man as well. Any thought the Holy Spirit of Christ authors in us is perfect wisdom. Every other thought must be considered as possibly human.

Let’s pray for Romans 8:28 out of the daily news

The apostle Paul wrote Philippians while under house arrest in Rome. Some “news anchors” of that day said Paul should be viewed as shamed because of his imprisonment. Many teachers of that day taught that people should view Jesus the same way because he had gone to the cross.

After Saul of Tarsus met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was compelled to repent and to align his life with God’s good purpose. We wouldn’t have the church growth from Paul’s missionary work if Paul hadn’t learned to submit his plans to God’s. We wouldn’t have the book of Romans and the rest of his theology in our Bibles if Paul and the early Christians had refused to think like Jesus. 

Ananias wasn’t thrilled about going to visit the dangerous man named Saul, but he did! The Jerusalem Christians weren’t thrilled with Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles at first, but you and I are likely descendants of those Christians. Will we learn to value and think in ways that call us to God’s good and holy purpose?

You are able to think like Jesus

We must think the thoughts of our exalted Savior today. His answers are the only solutions that will enable his blessings.

God’s answers and his discernment are available to disciples who will humble themselves and submit their thoughts to God’s. The example Christ set for humanity is always perfect truth for our lives. Let’s pursue his humility and access his thoughts as we submit our own ideas to his perfection.

Maybe we will have another Walter Cronkite someday, but even that person’s words will be imperfect. Let’s seek the discernment of Christ as we turn on today’s news and then again when we turn it off. We don’t need to be entertained or influenced by slanted, human ideas. We need to be inspired by God’s perfect thoughts through the Spirit of Jesus.

We are able to think like Jesus. Will we humbly do what is necessary to obtain his thoughts?

Are we making heaven more crowded?

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” —Matthew 28:19–20

Erika Kirk is in the news because TPUSA has announced its new tour of worship events. The name of this tour is “Make Heaven Crowded.” I loved the name and the stated purpose behind these gatherings. The webpage says: “The Make Heaven Crowded Tour is a gospel centered gathering calling people to repentance, faith, and bold obedience to Jesus.”

The event is described as “a powerful night of worship, preaching, and ministry as we believe God will move in hearts and lives.” Attendees are told to “come expectant and bring someone who needs hope.”

I love the title, the goals, and the outcomes the TPUSA organization hopes to achieve. They would like to see revival in this country, especially with young people. There were a few protesters outside the first event in Riverside, CA, but Erika Kirk, in an interview afterwards, said, “As long as I remain obedient to God and abide in his word, and I’m in the jet stream of his will, the opinions of this world mean nothing to me. Nothing.”

Erika Kirk has been through a great deal of trauma over the past several months. That trauma, in God’s hands, is a testimony to the truth of Romans 8:28, for a woman who has been “called according to God’s purpose.” Her husband, the late Charlie Kirk, would be very proud of her today.

I’ve attached a link so you can attend one of these events if you are able. A Fox News report said that Erika Kirk wanted to give people an experience similar to the one at her husband’s memorial service. She said many people had commented on the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit during that service. She wanted to help people experience what those in that service had experienced. I’m prayerful these events will make heaven more crowded.

When people physically experience the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, they are likely to want to know the One they have experienced. The Holy Spirit is the continued, tangible ministry of Jesus in this world, working through those who will be disciples.

Today’s article is about that. How often do people experience the presence of the Holy Spirit simply because they are in our presence here on earth? Christians, who intentionally allow the Spirit of Christ to make them disciples, bring the Holy Presence of Christ into each place they go. When is Jesus able to continue his earthly ministry through you?

Is heaven more crowded because of your ministry?

What draws a crowd today?

Erika Kirk was well pleased by the numbers that showed up to their first “Make Heaven Crowded” event. TPUSA is hoping to hold at least 29 more of these services and praying each city will experience similar crowds and results. They are skilled at using social media to get the word out, and people are responding. Some will attend out of curiosity, while others will attend seeking Christ. I think the ministry will do its best to ensure that the presence of Jesus is honored and invited into each service. It will be important that Jesus is a tangible reality in the crowds through his disciples.

It will be interesting to see how the media describes the crowds following the subsequent events. The protests will likely grow due to the crowd culture that has developed in our world today. Much has been said lately about this phenomenon. Every crowd can help create a video that goes viral, and many people are motivated by that sense of personal “success.” There have also been many questions and concerns about whether some of these protesters are actually paid to shout, inflame, and disrupt crowds. Scripture cites many examples of Jesus and his disciples experiencing the same thing.

The Pentecost experience sent Spirit-filled disciples into the crowded streets of Jerusalem in the first century, and the world was changed forever.

Will the TPUSA events inspire attendees to make heaven more crowded because they are filled with people who choose to be, or become, his disciples?

Will we enter crowds as his disciples?

  • Every Sunday we enter a crowd at church. Speaking as a pastor’s wife, I can promise you that many of those you see each Sunday are not yet saved, sanctified, and serving God with their lives. Are you actively working to bring the Spirit of Jesus into the church each time you attend?
  • Every sporting event draws a crowd. How will you intend to be a disciple there?
  • Every mall, grocery store, or line you stand in is a crowd. How can you be the presence of Christ there?
  • What crowds do you invite into your lives? How do you create opportunities for Jesus to enter a room and be known by those who attend?

Let’s make heaven crowded

Most of us will create small “crowds” for others to be part of. Will we share TPUSA’s goal and invite people to “come expectant and bring someone who needs hope”? How can God use our homes and lives for his kingdom purpose?

Jesus told his disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19–20).

If we want to spend time with Jesus, we need only choose to be his disciples. Jesus said when we fulfill that calling, he is with us, “always.” 

Jesus is present with those who will work to make “heaven crowded.” How will that thought impact you the next time you head out the door? It won’t be hard to show people Jesus when all you have to do is point to the One who is already and always “with you.”

Let’s make heaven crowded, too. We have all eternity to celebrate and enjoy our forever family, our brothers and sisters in Christ.

How do you live an inspired life?

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” —Philippians 1:6

What does God’s inspiration look and feel like? How can you know God just inspired a thought or a moment? Why should living an inspired life be our high standard for each day?

Our 2026 will be dramatically different if we take God’s holy standard to heart. Our eternal lives will be dramatically different as well. Whatever God accomplishes through our obedience on earth has eternal value in heaven.

What if we choose to live the rest of our lives for the sake of our lives eternal? How would that standard change our lives today? Does that idea seem impossible? Obscure? Unrealistic? Encouraging or defeating?

God would not author a standard for our lives without making it possible. The Lord told his people multiple times, “Be holy because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44–45). It’s easy to hear that phrase and think of God as an idealist, rather than a realist. A lot of people look at Christians today and think the same thing about our faith in God.

God called us to be holy and taught us how to make holiness possible. The Old Covenant explained God’s laws and had a sacrificial system that provided people a way to repent and return to God and his holiness. The New Covenant gave us Jesus, “the way, the truth, and the life,” so that through faith in him people could be made holy. Then God provided a way for Jesus to indwell our lives through the Holy Spirit. We are holy because we have God’s Spirit. 

How can we act like the people we have been reborn to be? Answer: We choose to live an inspired life. 

How do you live an inspired life?

You can use the question above as a spiritual exercise for knowing God and his voice. 

First: Don’t just read the question.
Second: Take a minute, right now, to seek God’s face and ask him, “How do I live an inspired life?”
Third: When you truly want to hear his answer, read the familiar verse below as if God is answering you, only you.
Fourth: Ask your Father: “How do I live the life you have inspired?” 
Now: Hear him speak his answer, in his voice – to you:

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:28–31).

God says:

  • How is it you don’t know me yet! I am the “I AM.” I am your everlasting God, the Creator of everything. “I AM” sufficient for whatever you need for every moment of your life.
  • “I AM” always here for you, and I always understand your every need.
  • “I AM” always able and willing to provide you with the words, the wisdom, and the strength you need to live a blessed, holy, inspired life.
  • “I WILL” inspire your life if you will just wait on me and rely only on the perfect love and leadership I provide.
  • “I know the plans I have for you” (Jeremiah 29:11). Do you want to know my plans?

Did God’s voice impact your heart?

It should break our hearts to hear our Father say, “Have you not known? Have you not heard?” God gave the world the Bible so everyone could know him. God gave the world Jesus so that everyone could be made holy through faith. God gave the faithful the right to become his children and provided his Holy Spirit so we could always be near him and hear him. How is it that this world, and so many of his children, still don’t rely on his inspiration?

God cannot inspire our lives until we trust his perfection and love. God’s inspiration requires the realization that our ideas are the product of imperfection unless his word inspires them through his Spirit.

He inspired Paul to tell Timothy, and all of us, that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Every time we study Scripture, we are reading God’s inspiration. The words we read are his voice, breathed into our lives as our inspiration and power to live a holy life.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? 

Is your heart broken by his voice and his need to ask those questions of you today? 

God can inspire you right now

God’s people will change the entire world if we allow the great “I AM” to inspire the moments and choices in our lives. We need God to revive our witness so others can know our Abba, the great “I AM.”

I closed my Bible study last week with this quote from Henry Blackaby, showing how God can inspire revival in his children:

“Revival is a divinely initiated work in which God’s people pray, repent of their sin, and return to a holy, Spirit-filled, obedient, love-relationship with God.”—Henry Blackaby

God will inspire revival when he is able to inspire his children. How well do you know the great “I AM”? How well do you know Scripture as his holy and perfect truth? How faithfully do you follow the personal leadership of his Holy Spirit?

God will inspire and enable us to be holy, because he is our holy Father and wants his children to be like him. Let’s “mount up with wings like eagles” and soar through the rest of our lives, inspired to live only for the standard and plan our perfect God has set before us.

We can all learn from Yancey’s confession

I grieved learning about Philip Yancey’s eight-year affair with a married woman. My initial feelings were anger and frustration that a great author and my teacher in so many ways had compromised his very effective ministry and witness due to a lengthy affair. Then I read the letter of confession and admission that he sent to Christianity Today. I was surprised by how quickly the feelings I had at first melted away. I encourage you to take the time to read it.

Yancey’s book, What’s So Amazing About Grace, was a needed teaching in my life. I can honestly say that nothing about his affair removes a single word of truth from that book, and maybe from any other book he has written or sermon he has preached.

Yancey isn’t accountable to us. He is accountable to God, and his letter of confession to Christianity Today reads like a thoughtful, Davidic confession. That’s what I want to talk about in this article today.

What can all of us learn from Yancey’s mistakes, and especially from his confession?

Are you sick of sexual sin?

Before I write another word, I want to say clearly and bluntly: I am married to a preacher who has never been anything but faithful to me and our marriage vows. Don’t spend any time reading between these lines and wondering about that. We have been married forty-five years and counting. I jokingly tell people (even previous pulpit committees who were looking to hire him) that I have always told Jim, “If you ever have an affair, the last thing you need to worry about is losing your ministry!” I just think it’s good to be blunt and honest about most things! “Vengeance is mine,” says the Lord, but it’s good to let your spouse know you are next in line.

I am blessed to be married to one of the straightest arrows you will ever know. That said, I have accused Jim a few times over the years of prioritizing his relationship with a church over his relationship with me. Almost every preacher’s wife who is reading this article is nodding her head and shouting “amen” right now. Truthfully, ministry wives (and husbands) are just as called to the ministry as their spouses. They give a great deal of themselves to the churches they serve, but in return, they receive many blessings.

One of the biggest problems we encountered in our pastoral ministry was the staff members who fell into the area of sexual sin. When a person in ministry falls, it impacts everyone and everything he has accomplished while on staff. Satan is a brilliant economist. When a Christian leader falls, many of those they have ministered to also fall. That’s why I wanted to write this article. 

Are people in ministry more prone to sexual sins? 

I am not a counselor or statistician, but we have dealt with this issue a lot more often than I would have thought. We have learned a few things along the way. I read a great article from a Pentecostal minister that is worth reading. We should pray for everyone in a position of public ministry. Each day, they arrive at work with a target on their backs. Ministers don’t need to wonder about that; they need to know that. Satan is after those in ministry and desperately wants them to fall. Almost everyone in ministry is gifted by God to do their work.

Here are my thoughts on the “why” those targets exist.

  • God often blesses a person’s ministry for the sake of others, even when he is unable to bless their own lives because of their sin. People line up to tell ministers how a sermon or church program was a blessing to them, making it easy for preachers to think, “Well, God is still using me, so it must not be that bad.”
  • Many in the church treat the person with respect, even if the person is not respectable.
  • Ministry can appeal to the broken who are seeking admiration and respect, thinking that God will “fix them” if only they attend seminary or serve a church.
  • The vast majority of a church staff are called, equipped, gifted, and compassionate people. The weak side of those gifts can sometimes lead to wrong choices. 

And ALL of those points above are true for every Christian, even a gifted man like Philip Yancey.

What should we learn from Yancey’s confession?

  1. Philip Yancey wrote: “To my great shame, I confess that for eight years I willfully engaged in a sinful affair with a married woman.” He was blunt and honest, boldly confessing to God and everyone about his sin. He did not make excuses or explain, hoping to find understanding for his sin. He understood it was sin and that he needed to be forgiven. The apostle John wrote, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). I believe God has forgiven Philip, and that’s how I should feel.
  2. Philip Yancey’s wife said, “I, Janet Yancey, am speaking from a place of trauma and devastation that only people who have lived through betrayal can understand. Yet I made a sacred and binding marriage vow 55½ years ago, and I will not break that promise. I accept and understand that God through Jesus has paid for and forgiven the sins of the world, including Philip’s. God grant me the grace to forgive also, despite my unfathomable trauma. Please pray for us.” James, the half-brother of Christ, told his church, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16). Janet Yancey has asked us to pray for her. I feel called to pray for her right now. Will you?
  3. Philip Yancey also accepted the consequences of his sin. He said, “I am now focused on rebuilding trust and restoring my marriage of 55 years. Having disqualified myself from Christian ministry, I am therefore retiring from writing, speaking, and social media. Instead, I need to spend my remaining years living up to the words I have already written. I pray for God’s grace and forgiveness—as well as yours—and for healing in the lives of those I’ve wounded.” The apostle Paul told us, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

I was so glad that Philip Yancey confessed his sin to so many who have been blessed by his ministry – and confessed with the same honesty we see with King David in the Bible. Even great servants of God fail; they always have and always will. That target Satan has placed on Christians in leadership is dangerous. If you want a powerful witness, then you need to understand that you are accepting that target. 

A powerful ministry requires an effort to maintain a strong dependence on God and a strong effort to walk in humble desperation for the strength only his Holy Spirit provides. When tempted, we are to submit to God, run away from Satan’s ideas, and beg for God’s thoughts through prayer, Bible study, and an overwhelming desire to walk in his ways.

Yancey’s letter is a powerful lesson. How does God want us to apply his confession to our own lives? Pray for the Yanceys, the other family that was involved, and then allow the Spirit to turn your prayer inward. We all have things to confess with a pure heart, and choices to make that will move us toward God’s higher standards. 

Our prayers can prompt the Romans 8:28 of another minister’s fall and bring God glory as we work to help bring about his kingdom purpose. 

Trusting God from the seat of a chariot 

I work hard to maintain my trust in God, but I’m truly grateful for the “chariots and horses” the USA owns. I hadn’t even brewed my first cup of coffee Saturday morning before my husband Jim informed me of the capture and arrest of the Venezuelan president and his wife. Later that morning, we watched the president’s address together.

Whatever your politics are, you can be proud of the strength of our armed forces and their military capabilities. The news Saturday morning reminded me of Psalm 20:7, which says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Americans have to work harder than most to understand the importance of that verse. Most of us work to trust in the name of the Lord our God from the seat of a powerful chariot.

Our hope is built on nothing less

Edward Mote wrote that hymn after experiencing his spiritual calling to full-time ministry. He became a Baptist preacher in England and, in addition to pastoring, wrote the words to several hymns. His hymn encourages Christians to trust in nothing less than “Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” The chorus says that Christ is the solid rock where we should choose to stand because everything else is “sinking sand.”

When times are tough, I sing those words with greater depth in my soul than during the easier times in my life. Do you?

The people of Ukraine, the Christians in oncology care or the ICU, or those who struggle each month to pay their bills, probably sing that hymn through tears and fears. Those of us who sing the words from the seat of a chariot probably sing with good intentions rather than deep convictions.

Truthfully, anything we trust more than the character or “name” of God is something less. We are taught to place our hope and trust in “Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” The hymn teaches us to “wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”

How do we keep from building hope in something less?

My son Ryan’s article last week included a quote from former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse. The fifty-three-year-old Sasse recently told the world, “I have been diagnosed with metastasized, stage four pancreatic cancer and am gonna die.” Ryan provided a quote from Sasse that he said, “describes the hope he and his family have found in light of his diagnosis.” Sasse said, “Often we lazily say ‘hope’ when what we mean is ‘optimism.’ To be clear, optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient. It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son. A well lived life demands more reality—stiffer stuff. That’s why, during the Advent, even while still walking in darkness, we shout our hope—often properly with a gravelly voice soldiering through tears.”

That’s what the psalmist meant when he taught us not to trust in “chariots and horses.” This world and all of its possibilities require us to “trust in the name of the Lord our God.” That’s why a Baptist preacher from the 1800s taught us to sing, “On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”

I regret that I won’t be able to vote for Ben Sasse one day. He didn’t just speak words to gain the Christian vote. His life was a testimony that verified his words and still does. Even today, facing certain death, his “hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” Sasse’s hope has been rooted in his faithful trust in Jesus for many years, and now his words validate that trust. 

How do we build that kind of trust in God now, before a crisis? How do we fully trust in God instead of lesser things?

What are your chariots and horses?

What do you trust in more than God? It’s alright to be grateful for the “stuff” we accumulate in this life. God blesses his children every day. I’ve often said we should choose to live lives God is able to bless. That’s why we study to know God’s word and then obey God’s word. God blesses us when we follow his will for our lives. Sasse’s family is likely struggling to feel blessed right now. It will take an eternal focus to trust God for their present realities.

The single greatest blessing from God is the hope we gain in this world because of the promise we have of heaven. Our eternal lives are insured by our trust in Jesus. Everything else we trust is something “less.” 

I’m grateful for a bank account, good reports from the doctors, family, friends, medical insurance, and a home and church to enjoy. I’m glad to live in a country that embraces freedoms, especially religious freedoms. I’m grateful for the people who enlist and serve in the military to keep us safe. We are blessed to live in a country that has LOTS of chariots and horses. 

We are blessed, unless we trust in those things more than we trust in the Lord our God.

When will our trust in God matter most?

The last stanza of Mote’s hymn reminds us, “When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found; dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.”

None of us will arrive in heaven “faultless” on our own. We have eternal life today because of the blood of Jesus Christ and our faith in him. We can trust the words of the hymn because we trust in the name of Jesus and the name of the Lord our God.

Everything else is just a chariot or horse. It’s okay to be grateful for our chariots. We just need to make an effort to acknowledge that our chariots are not what we should trust. As we prepare to face God, we should work daily to stand on Christ, our solid rock. The chariots and horses are always something less. They are the temporary things of this life that we will simply enjoy for a little while.

On Christ the solid rock we stand. Everything else we tend to trust is just “sinking sand.” Do you need to hop out of a chariot today? You can trust the solid Rock to be waiting.

2026 – Seeeven

We can embrace 2026 with new meaning if we just attach the number “Seeeven” to the end of it. If you spent any time this Christmas season with a child or grandchild, you probably heard someone say, “Six-seeeven.” Nobody knows what the phrase 6-7 means, but according to an article by Jenna Kruse on our Denison Forum website, “dictionary.com” named “6 7” its official “Word of the Year.” (Jenna’s written a great article about the phenomenon of “6 7” and how it can encourage us to share our faith.)

I heard a recent news report that a couple of fast-food restaurants have actually removed the number “67” from their order lineup because of the commotion it caused when it was called out. Apparently, the typical response to that number is loud and energetic.

If you ask Merriam-Webster what “6 7” means, it calls the phrase “a nonsensical internet slang term and meme, most often used by teens and tweens.” 

I turned sixty-seven last November and will spend most of this year living with a number that is a cultural phenomenon, apparently with no real meaning. But it means a lot to me.

I’m glad to be still alive

According to several doctors, I should be glad to still be six seeeven. I conked my head and developed a brain bleed that continued to do harm for way too long. By the time I actually realized I had a problem and went back to the doctor, I could have had a massive stroke or some brain damage. (I imagine I will be hearing a few wisecracks from close friends and family about that last sentence!)

My son told me that I should be glad I had watched so much Fox News over the past few years. When I asked him why, he said, “Because it shoved my brain so far to the right, it gave me more room for the hematoma to develop.” Honestly, that was my favorite wisecrack. 

I have a lot to be thankful for. Family and friends prayed, and God responded. I will never know this side of heaven all the many ways God cared for me. I truly experienced the truth of Job 14:5 that says, “Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.”

I plan to enjoy and appreciate every day of my “2026-seeeven” year on this earth!

What “6 7” means to me

I decided to write this article for the new year because of the phenomenon that Merriam-Webster defines as “nonsensical internet slang.” Jenna Kraus also wrote, “Knowing that a meaningless phrase like ‘6 7’ can spread so universally brings encouragement. If it can spread so universally across a nation—and include a wide demographic across racial, gender, and generational lines—what does it say about the possibility of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ?”

The phenomenon of “6 7” reminds us that, due to the internet, information and influence can spread rapidly around the world and impact the way people behave. Charlie Kirk’s death last year provided the critical reminder that Christianity and choosing biblical standards for our lives can have a far greater influence in this world than many of us had come to believe. 

Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” God already knows everything that will happen in this new year, and he has a plan to rejoice in or redeem all of it. Our spiritual goal for this new year can be to make every effort to follow God’s plan for our lives and serve him faithfully. The apostle Paul said, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

If Paul were writing on the internet today, he might say, “Because of the power and all-knowing character of God, we can say ‘6 seeeven’ to everything else.” 

Will we live this year with God’s priorities?

I have often said or taught, “If it doesn’t matter eternally, it doesn’t matter very much.” Our treasure is being stored for us in heaven. Our eternal family will consist of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our future is eternal. How do we need to adjust the rest of our earthly moments for God’s eternal purpose?

God has our days numbered already. Until then: 

We need God to “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). If something isn’t wise, just say, “6 7.”

We need to remember that Paul taught: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15–17). If something isn’t worthy of our time and energy, just say, “6 7.”

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). If it’s something you want more than you want God’s will, just say, “6 7.”

2026 – 7

A couple of months of recuperation have me saying, “6 7” to a LOT of things. I think my sixty-seventh year on this earth has new meaning. There are a lot of choices and emotions to place in our “6 7 file.” There is also a lot to look forward to accomplishing that will have eternal purpose. Everything is either God’s purpose for my life, or I should file that choice in my “6 7 file.” Some things in this world are “nonsensical.” Some things are temporary moments with no eternal significance. Some things are the path to his blessings, while others simply distract us from his plan.

Let’s make this new year one of our best. Our days are numbered, and that’s God’s great gift to us. May our “6 7” file of choices increase, and may our treasure in heaven grow as a result. May this be a great year because we spent most of our days choosing to serve God’s kingdom purpose! 

Happy New Year to all of you.

We serve a GREAT God, and I look forward to spending eternity with all of you!

A Blessed Christmas

I will say more next week, but I want you all to know that this has been a Christmas season of blessings for me. In a previous article, I wrote about the fall I took in October while playing soccer with my grandson. I thought I was fine, but then, a month or so later, I found out I wasn’t fine at all. I had developed a slow brain bleed that wasn’t discovered until many weeks later. After a CT scan, I was rushed to the ER and had surgery. Since then, I have spent the weeks sitting very still and counting my blessings. A few days ago, the doctor cleared me to return to my normal life…carefully.

I’m referring to this Christmas season as the season of 137 Christmas movies! That’s about all I was allowed to do. But it is truly so much more.

Jim got help putting our Christmas tree up before I came home from the hospital, and I have thoroughly enjoyed my Christmas decorations this year. I prayed for the patience to sit still and rest so that hopefully, I would be almost well by the time we put the decorations away. God answered my prayers! I have been blessed by texts, emails, and cards sent by friends, family, and so many others. Thank you for praying and caring.

As with everything that happens in our lives, God redeems it for our good if we will just give him the chance. This was the most peaceful, quiet Christmas season I’ve ever had. It was actually an amazing gift to me to “be still and know” that he is God. 

I will say a bit more in next week’s blog post, but for now, I just want to say with confidence that Christmas is still a season of miracles. All of us who are God’s children are loved, cared for, and part of God’s family of faith. We are blessed, and we can live our lives to be a blessing to others.

Now I want to encourage all of you, as I have been encouraged, to use this Christmas season to share the reality of the Christmas story. God loved us so much that he gave us Jesus—the purest reason for this holiday.

I pray that Jesus will fill your home, your life, and be the center of your Christmas worship. He is worthy of all our worship and praise.

We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are family now, and eternally. If you still need to join the family of faith, then don’t allow this Christmas to pass until you have received the gift of salvation he was born to provide. It is the most important gift in this life, and the hope of your life to come. If you are a Christian, pray for the opportunity to share your gift with someone else. That’s Christmas, and God’s blessings are sure to follow.

Merry Christmas to each of you as we look forward to a blessed New Year!

Fulfilling Simeon’s and Anna’s Waiting

While Janet takes a break from blog writing for the holidays, we hope you will enjoy an excerpt from her latest Advent devotional over the next few weeks. If you haven’t yet ordered your copy of Waiting for Christmas, we still have a few copies available. Order your copy here.

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Fulfilling Simeon’s and Anna’s Waiting

Entry from December 17

The stories of Simeon and Anna are two of the best glimpses into the joy that so many missed in the first century. The shepherds knew the Messiah had been born. So did Simeon and Anna, two faithful people who were in the temple the day Joseph and Mary arrived.

Luke wrote, “there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him” (Luke 2:25). The “consolation of Israel” was Jesus, the Messiah. Luke said, “it had been revealed to him [Simeon] by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26).

Simeon might have been one of the priests who served at the temple in Jerusalem, because Luke points out, “When the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel’” (Luke 2:27–32).

Simeon may have served in the temple for many years, each day watching for his Messiah. The Holy Spirit had promised him he would not die before seeing him, and then one day the Holy Spirit said, “Here I am.” Was Simeon expecting a baby? We can’t know for certain, but we do know that he recognized the holy presence in the baby Mary and Joseph had brought to the temple. Simeon rejoiced, knowing his Messiah had arrived, and he understood that the small baby in his arms would accomplish great things for God’s kingdom. Scripture tells us that Mary and Joseph marveled at what was said about their newborn Son.

Simeon blessed the holy family that day, saying to Mary, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34–35). Years later, Mary would probably think of those words as she knelt at the foot of the cross and grieved for her son, the Messiah.

Luke also shared the story of Anna, “a prophetess.” We know she was “advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:36–37). Anna had spent the majority of her adult life living and serving in the temple. She came up to Simeon while he was holding Jesus that day and sharing his words of faith, and she affirmed all he said when she “began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).
Simeon and Anna recognized Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting a lifetime for. Their faith enabled them to hear the Holy Spirit say, “This is him.” Who do you know that is still waiting to meet Jesus and receive their Messiah? Pray for the chance to share the best news of Christmas. The baby in the manger was born to be their Savior too.

Yearning to be One with God and with One Another

While Janet takes a break from blog writing for the holidays, we hope you will enjoy an excerpt from her latest Advent devotional over the next few weeks. If you haven’t yet ordered your copy of Waiting for Christmas, we still have a few copies available. Order your copy here.

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Yearning to be One with God and with One Another

Entry from December 10

Christmas movies often show large families gathering to spend the Christmas Day celebration together. There is always plenty of food that is spread out for all to feast on, gifts that are opened with excitement and gratitude, and plenty of smiles and joy for the day.

Christmas movies don’t usually reflect the actual realities of Christmas. Someone had to shop for, pay for, haul home, put away, and eventually cook up all those groceries to make the meal. Some gifts are winners and others are not. Fairly often there are family members who have to put forth great effort to travel somewhere for Christmas. Every year the evening news shows families stranded on the road because of bad weather or having to spend part of their Christmas holiday waiting in an airport. There is someone who is really tired from all that time in the kitchen. There is someone who is cranky after a rough trip. And there is that someone in the crowd who tends to bring up politics, past mistakes, or something else that brings a cloud to the room. It isn’t always joy and fa-la-la.

Every now and then we experience a “Hallmark Christmas,” but most of our holidays have a bit of comedy and/or drama. That just means it’s an authentic Christmas, with real people, and a real family. As the saying goes, “Life is messy.” It always has been.

When you look at the list of characters in the Christmas story, you see normal people, living their normal lives, who were joined together by God through extraordinary experiences.

  • Joseph and Mary made a very difficult trip to Bethlehem.
  • Mary gave birth in a stable because there was no room in the inn.
  • The shepherds were busy all day, every day, tending their sheep.
  • Every pilgrim to Bethlehem had meals to prepare and chores to complete.
  • And poor Mary had a sleepless newborn baby to feed, clothe, and keep warm.

Then the heavens were filled with God’s glory. The angels spoke and the Messiah was announced. The shepherds laid their daily chores aside so they could go see the baby the angels had announced. Mary and Joseph might have been awakened or at least interrupted by the shepherds’ arrival. Many of the people in Bethlehem missed the Christmas miracles because they were trying to get in line, take care of the census, and just get back home.

The Christmas holiday is almost always a gathering of people with different ideas, agendas, priorities, and personalities. The unity and the joy of the holiday are witnessed as all these different people come together to celebrate the one baby King they all worship.

Some will wait all month for the celebration on December 25, and the day may disappoint. Some will miss the joy of Christmas because of earthly realities. Our job as Christians should be to follow the shepherds’ lead and take the time to pursue Jesus each day until we find him. Other things in this busy holiday season matter, but seeking Jesus will always matter most.