STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS!

 

Saturday, February 21, 2026

 

STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS!

 

Heb 11:13

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

 

1 Peter 2:11

11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.

 

           Is is time to call the Mother Ship to come and pick us up! The world has gotten strange, and we are strangers.

 

          Only twice do we see the word “pilgrim” in the New Testament. In Hebrews the Greek is parepidemos which means “‎an alien alongside, i.e. a resident foreigner.” In First Peter the word “stranger” is paroikos which, in the Greek, means “having a home nearby; a by-dweller. Think of one who lives just across the border! He is an alien.

 

          The message is clear to me! If the world seems strange to me, it means that I am an alien in a foreign place. My citizenship is in heaven (See Philippians 3:20). I should not expect to feel at home here. I am a “by-dweller.” My true home is across the border in a land so far yet so close at hand. One day the Father-ship will come to pick me up.

 

Heb 11:16

16 But now they [we] desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

 

Dear Lord, it seems the world is becoming increasingly strange to me. I anxiously await your return to take me home. AMEN

 

RELIGION ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH!

 

Friday, February 20, 2026

 

RELIGION ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH!

 

Matt 25:1-10

25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

 

          A Parable is a simple story told to illustrate a moral truth. An analogy is a likeness in one or more ways between things otherwise unlike. (Merriam-Webster) Parables and analogies are problematic because they hint at the problem without thoroughly explaining it. In the parable of the ten virgins, five were wise and five were foolish. All ten are presented as being the same except for one important detail. Five had brought oil for their lamps and five had not.

 

          The lamps represent religion and though they may be ornate and beautiful in their form they are useless as guides without the oil of the Holy Spirit. Religion may be carefully attended to which is illustrated by the fact that all ten “trimmed their lamps,” but there was no power in half of them. When “tried by fire” half of the lamps failed without oil.

 

          There is a danger of mistaking religious formalities for true faith. There is a danger of mistaking human emotion for true faith. I’m afraid that some of our modern worship methodology promotes the possibility of a counterfeit religion. Like the Pharisees of old, they wear the robes and carefully follow the minutia of rules and regulations, but they had no heart. They stand singing with hands raised to heaven swaying to the music but there is no oil in their lamps. When all is said and done the oil is essential.

 

          The lamp alone does not point out the stumbling places along the way. It does not reveal the blemishes that need attention. Only when the lamp of religion is lit with the oil can we see clearly. To put it plainly, religion alone does nothing to transform the life and guide the way. Many are stumbling in the darkness while carrying beautiful lamps unlit.

 

Ezek 33:30-32

30 Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.

31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

32 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.

 

Dear Lord, may the oil of thy Holy Spirit be strong within us and upon us today that we might have light. AMEN

 

IT’S JUST STUFF!

 

Thursday, February 19, 2026

 

IT’S JUST STUFF!

 

Heb 10:34-35

34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

 

          Paul, the presumed writer of Hebrews, thanks and congratulates his readers for identifying with him in his imprisonments. They had not only endured but enjoyed the loss of goods and money by the tyrants who stole from them and the apostle to whom they gave. Stuff may be lost through neglect or destroyed by calamity, but stuff donated to the cause of Christ is never utterly lost. God provides stuff for us that we might provide stuff for ministry.

 

          Tribulation, patiently endured, produces experience and maturity in the sufferer and ultimately makes him or her bold! (See Romans 5:3-5) When that for which you have been holding back is taken away it becomes easier to simply not hold back. One literally has nothing to lose because it has already been lost. Now, freed from his stuff, he is at liberty to speak his mind. In fact, the word “confidence” as used in verse 35 is the Greek word parrhesia and it means “outspokenness; frankness; bluntness.”

 

          When we learn that our stuff is just stuff, our tongues will then be loosed to witness and to praise.

 

Dear Lord, let me see my stuff as it actually is. Let me consider that I have a better and enduring substance awaiting me in Heaven. AMEN

 

FOR THY GREAT MERCIES!

 

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

 

FOR THY GREAT MERCIES!

 

Dan 9:18

18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

 

          Daniel, the outcast captive, was praying for his homeland. The Babylonians had swooped down upon the city that was “called by His name” and had scattered the inhabitants. Daniel prays for forgiveness. “O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.” Dan 9:16

 

          The matrix of prayer is always the understanding of our sin! God opens the door when we knock with confession! Daniel confessed the sins of his people – and his own sins as well. It is there that he begins. Note again what he says: “for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.”  God in His grace gives us what we don't deserve, and God in His mercy doesn't give us what we do deserve. Warren Wiersbe

 

          We can’t shout at God! We can’t complain that we have been unfairly treated by the One who orchestrates the cosmos! We deserve everything we are suffering and more. When we pray, we kneel upon grace and bow before the altar of mercy. We dare not ask for justice lest our condition become worse. We ask for undeserved kindness. We ask for divine pity.

 

What a remarkable ministry Daniel had in Babylon! He was counselor to four kings, intercessor for the people of Israel, and a faithful witness to the true and living God. If you find that you have been carried away captive, maybe you need to open your window and pray!

 

Lord, we do not come before you based on our righteousness – but for Thy great mercies. Grant our petitions and restore your glory. AMEN

 

HE IS MY ROCK!

 

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

 

HE IS MY ROCK!

 

Ps 18:2-3

2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

 

          The world seems to be riding a wave of wild lunacy driven by hedonism and fueled by ignorance. A steady diet of breaking news is disturbing to the soul. The very soil beneath my feet seems unstable. I need a rock to stand on, and I have found such a rock in Jesus Christ.

 

          The word “rock” as it is used in our Bible portion is not a rock to be thrown but a lofty and craggy fortress. Because it is high, the one sheltered can look down upon the fray below. Because it is rugged, access is limited. It is a place of safety. There the birds sing, and the brooks laugh along far away from the clang and clatter of machinery and conflict. There the dew drenched moss cools our feet, and the air is swept clean.

 

          In the rock I am nourished and refreshed. There the bees have found a safe place to make their hives. “He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.” Deut 32:13

 

Edward Mote has written this familiar song.

 

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

 

Refrain

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

 

Dear Lord, How I need you to be my Rock today. Be for me a place of surety, safety, and supply. AMEN

 

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!

 

Monday, February 16, 2026

 

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!

 

Matt 5:14-16

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

 

A candle may resent the flame – but will always yield to it.

 

          Like a candle, we may resent the heat of the flame of ministry. We know that this flame will gradually wear us away, but we also know that this is our purpose and reason for existence. Fancier candles may give off their sweet perfume but that is not their essential purpose or design. They are to give forth light and to do that they must yield to the flame. We care because God’s care has been melted and formed within us. It is part of who we are as believers. We respond because the spirit of the Good Samaritan has been poured into us. We shine because the master regularly trims our wick.

 

          You too are a candle, formed and poured by the Lord. Do not resist the flame of obligation and duty. Do not hide your light under the basket of selfishness. Take your place on the candlestick and let your light shine. Men will see your good works and understand that God is at the center of them. Glorify God today! Go! Shine!

 

Dear Lord, I yield to the flame today! Use me to send forth your light. AMEN

 

THREE DAILY CHALLENGES!

 

Sunday, February 15, 2026

 

THREE DAILY CHALLENGES!

 

Phil 2:13-15

13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

 

          The Christian is faced with at least three daily challenges that make it hard to shine especially in business! We need to be reminded that the businessman who is neatly dressed and scrubbed clean may be hiding a corrupt mind and heart! Although he may seem friendly, his true friend is “the bottom line.” It is important that we remind ourselves that three daily challenges will greet us as we begin our day.

 

          First, the world holds to the notion that reason is always superior to faith! Even “church people” will compartmentalize these two so that they do not intermingle. They are thought to reside in two separate realms. Reason is reason and faith is faith. Because reason is based upon science and observable facts, it is preferred over faith, but God never intended the two to be separated.

 

Rom 1:28

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

 

          Second, remember that business practices are “amoral” or value free. Whatever cheating or scheming is necessary to “get the job done” is considered normal business practices. The religious idealist becomes very vulnerable if he applies the same rules to business that he finds at church! It is not necessary to abandon morality and decency but always remember that these do not necessarily exist in the business world.

 

Rom 1:29-31

29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

31 Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

 

          Third, it is important to know that we live in a world that does not respect rules! The world sees itself as morally emancipated, self-sufficient and free to do as they please. They smile at the Ten Commandments and obey them only when it is convenient or beneficial. The result of these three godless values has left the world friendless and fearful.

 

Judg 17:6

6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

 

          The answer for us, of course, is not to join the world in its scheming paranoia but to be alert to the evil around us.

 

Rom 8:2-4

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

 

Dear Lord, fulfill your righteous law in me today – but let me be wary of the evil world around me. AMEN

 

AN UNCHANGING GOD!

 

Saturday, February 14, 2026

 

AN UNCHANGING GOD!

 

Mal 3:6-9

6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord  of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

 

          Sitting in the shadows of the tithing issue is the important doctrine of the immutability of God. He is an essential being. He exists without cause and is Himself the cause of all things. From everlasting [before time] to everlasting [after time] He is God (Psalm 90:2).

 

          He is unchangeable in his attributes. There can be no increase or decrease in his power, wisdom, holiness, or love. We may understand them imperfectly but these never change.

 

          He is unchangeable in his purposes. Nothing catches Him off guard. He is not challenged by the suggestion of an improvement to His plans. He is not defeated by any supposed superior logic or argument. Those who cooperate with His plans are blessed by having their own plans succeed. Those who resist His plans fail in their own schemes.

 

          He is therefore faithful. Happy is the lender who lends to God for he has no fear of being repaid! Happy is the man who has Jehovah’s name upon a contract. The continued existence of the church is not due to her faithfulness but to God’s faithfulness. He who doubts the continuation of his salvation doubts the willingness and ability of God to keep promises. Verse 6 clearly states the case.

 

          Although God does not change, He is not an uncaring stone. He is relational and interactive. He is subject to appeal by those whom He loves. His heart is touched by our condition, and He moves to remedy our faults and supply our needs. Why would a God who does not need us be so responsive to those who need Him? Yet everywhere we see God acting in compassion and mercy and we take courage knowing that this too never changes. “He is kind to the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35).

 

Heb 4:15-16

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

 

Oh, unchangeable God! Hear our prayers when we call unto thee and let thy heart be touched by our condition. Be faithful to thy unfaithful ones. Be kind even though we are unthankful. Draw us to thy heart because you do not change. Establish us and make us like thyself. AMEN

 

CAREFUL AND TROUBLED

 

Thursday, February 12, 2026

 

CAREFUL AND TROUBLED

 

Luke 10:41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 

Luke 10:42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. 

 

          If I were to begin a sermon with these words, the congregation would likely be ready to praise Mary and think ill of Martha, but I hasten to explain that “acts of service” is one of the love languages. Martha was a servant. It was how she expressed love. Mary spoke “quality time.” Both were expressing love.

 

          The difference is expressed by Jesus in two words. Martha was “careful,” merimnao which means to be anxious. Earlier, in verse 40, Jesus used the word “cumbered” or perispao which literally means to drag all around or to be distracted. Careful and troubled. —The one word indicates inward anxiety, the other outward bustle. Mary on the other hand, chose “the good part.”

 

          Martha’s manner of expressing love was not wrong but her spirit was not right, and who could blame her for she had an additional 13 guests for dinner! Her focus was on the work and not the worship.

 

          Two old hymns stand facing each other proclaiming what seems to be opposing ideas. The one is “Work, for the night is coming,” and the other is “Take time to be holy.”

 

Lord, as we work, let our work spring from a heart of worship. AMEN

 

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

 

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

 

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

 

Gen 26:6-9

6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:

7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.

8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.

9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

 

          Valentine’s Day is nearing and love is in the air! Burly men are in a virtual panic trying to think of some gift that would show their love. Perhaps a new set of tools or a gun cleaning kit might be just the thing! It’s not easy for guys. Nevertheless, as our Bible portion suggests, you can’t hide love!

 

          Rebekah was a pretty thing! She was fair to look upon, and Isaac was afraid that the foreigners among whom he lived might kill him to take her. He claimed that she was his sister. This denial of relationship caused the king to take notice of one so fair. Considering the trouble that David got himself into, I think it is a bad idea for kings to look out of windows! This time, however, King Abimelech saw the love that Isaac had for Rebekah, and it was not a sibling kind of love!

 

          The word “sporting” means “to make merry; to laugh outright.” The manner of their play indicated a prior and ongoing intimacy that was hard to hide. You can’t hide love.

 

Dear Lord, thank you for the marvelous gift of my wife. Let me never hurt her but love her even as Christ loved the church. AMEN