03 Jul 2025
Walking in step with the Lord enables Him to order our steps. We allow ourselves to be led of Him. It starts with surrendering our lives to Him and agreeing to be led by the Holy Spirit. Engaging in studying and meditating on His word, prayer, and fellowship help to constantly hear Him. Isaiah 30:21.
Today’s Verse – John 17:1
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” —John 17:1 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… John 17:1-26 is one of the most moving chapters in the Bible. Jesus knows he is going to die. He knows he is spending his last few hours before his death on a cross with disciples. These disciples do not understand what he is about to do and why he is about to do it. Jesus has two key goals in mind as he prepares himself and his disciples for their life ahead without him: Jesus wants his disciples to be one so they can remain strong and influence the world that the Father sent Jesus to show the world his love. Jesus wants what he is about to do on the cross to bring glory to the Father, unite his disciples, and reach the lost world with the love of God. As Jesus faced humiliation and abandonment, his chief concern and focus were to bless others. Yes, he was in agony, but he desired to honor the Father and bless others. We will also face hardships, trials, and persecutions (John 15:20). What will be our goal when we face these difficulties? Hmm? No wonder the Holy Spirit reminded us to fix our eyes on Jesus and follow his example (Hebrews 12:1-3), as we yearn to bless those who persecute and mistreat us so they can come to know our Savior (Matthew 5:10). My Prayer… Loving Father, I cannot fathom the mysteries of anguish and grace that touched your heart as Jesus made his way to the Cross with such honesty and selflessness. LORD Jesus, I cannot thank you enough for leaving me a powerful example of how to endure life’s heaviest burdens. Holy Spirit, please use me so my life can be a blessing to others, and I can live with courage to serve and bless even in hard times. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
02 Jul 2025
If we remain in touch with the Lord, we will know what He is doing. Constantly worshipping God and walking in step with Him will help us identify how He works in our lives. The opposite is also true. If we don’t invest in our relationship with Him, we become estranged. Numbers 9:15-19.
Stretching for Our Gods
What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve or find? Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it (Matthew 16:24-25). I will show him how much he must suffer for my name (Acts 9:16). Some people will go to almost any length to look good — literally, go to any length. The Chinese Ministry of Health has issued an official statement that one of the most popular cosmetic surgeries in large Chinese cities poses serious risk of disfigurement. Ministry spokesman Mao Qunan warns that the surgery, which is available in many clinics alongside more conventional cosmetic procedures, “must only be carried out for strict medical reasons and performed in authorized hospitals.” At least ten people are reported to have been badly disfigured by the surgery in the past year. The surgery in question is leg-lengthening. It involves (grab hold of something) breaking the legs and stretching them on a rack. Apparently, height is often listed as a requirement for most jobs and many schools in China. Many employers require a height of 1.65 meters for women and 1.75 meters for men. Height has also become increasingly important to potential mates, as both men and women want taller children. Because of those expectations and ideals, many Chinese are choosing to undergo the painful and potentially disfiguring surgery. I wonder where the Chinese got the idea that being thought of as attractive, or getting a better job or into a better school, was worth suffering for? I wonder how they could have possibly come to the conclusion that having your body broken, manipulated, rearranged, and altered by a surgeon simply to meet their society’s standard of beauty is worth paying for? That’s so … so … American. Really though, despite the fact that we live in a country in which people pay large percentages of their income to have their noses broken and reshaped, or their tummies tucked, or fat sucked out of one part of their body and injected into another, or botulinum toxin injected into their faces, America has hardly cornered the market. Human beings have always practiced the “modifying” of the body to meet certain standards of aesthetic or moral value. Frequently those modifications are painful, and sometimes even horrific. It seems that human beings all understand that some things are worth suffering to achieve. It’s just a question of what matters most. The media tide that rises around our knees every day carries images and ideals — idols, even — that human beings choose to believe is worth their suffering. If we aren’t willing to have surgery, many of us sweat at gyms hoping that a treadmill will transform us into the body type our gods demand. Or we pay ridiculous amounts of money for labels and styles and fabrics that the fashion gods decree are “holy” — or at least popular in Milan and Paris. Many studies suggest that eating disorders among young women and even young men are rising to unprecedented levels. The harsh gods of Beauty and Style even make a claim on what and how we eat. So we know what it is to suffer for our gods. Strange that we don’t seem to be so willing to suffer for our faith. Christianity, throughout its history, has all too often morphed into some sort of unrecognizable civic religion that creates good citizens, but not real disciples. It’s been packaged and promulgated by many well-intentioned people as a faith full of promises and short on demands. “Cheap grace,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it. Cheap grace is receiving the favor of God without recognizing that his favor comes with some demands on the transformation of our character. As Bonhoeffer elegantly put it, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” And Bonhoeffer didn’t make that up out of thin air. Jesus equated being a disciple with carrying a cross — and a person only carried a cross to his death. In a great contradiction, he claimed that life is not found in holding on to it with a white-knuckled grip, but in giving it up for him. It’s human nature to preserve the self, of course. Quite intelligently, we shy away from stepping out onto limbs that look too thin to support our weight. And yet that’s what Jesus asks us to do: take note of the fact that the limb doesn’t look like it’ll hold us, and then step out onto it anyway, knowing that whether it holds or breaks we’re following our Master. It was onto just such a limb that Jesus invited Paul, then called Saul, to step. The Lord called Saul to leave behind a life of relative ease, comfort, and respect for a bending, swaying branch of constant travel, death threats, poverty, prison, and turmoil. And, no doubt trembling a little, Saul took the step, because what else could he do? Jesus had spoken to him. His Lord had bid Saul to come and die, and so Saul went and died. If we think that Saul’s story is unusual, it’s only because we have such a limited idea of what following Jesus involves. It doesn’t always make life easier; sometimes it makes life harder. It doesn’t always answer all our questions; sometimes it just raises new ones. In this age when churches trip all over themselves to provide more services to their “customers,” in the end, following Jesus isn’t about consuming services as much as it’s about being consumed by service. It’s pouring out our lives, offering up our preferences and desires and dreams and hopes in favor of his. “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name,” Jesus said to Ananias about Saul. He could say it about any of us, too. And we need to hear. We need to hear him tell us
Daily Prayer for July 2
I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Proverbs 4:11–12, NIV Dear Father in heaven, you are our God. You rule and guide us, and our trust remains in you even when many needs pull at our hearts and try to draw us into their whirlpool. Protect us, we pray. May your divine hand govern us so that we remain aware of the calling we receive from you and always have a light shining into our lives to show us how to serve you. Let your power work wherever hearts respond to you on this earth, wherever the strength of Jesus Christ is revealed, so that people acknowledge his deeds to your honor. Be with the lowliest and least noticed of your children. Keep them in your hands and enable them to be fellow workers who persevere courageously and confidently until the time when you reveal yourself to all peoples on earth. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Merelots: Armenia’s Day of the Dead Narine Abgaryan “What use do the departed have for liturgy?” an Armenian mother reflects on a visit to the grave of her step-son, in this short story. Read now The Exploitation of Immigrant Care Workers Hazel Thompson Hidden in plain sight, foreign health aides in UK care homes face exploitation. Read now Against Self-Optimization David Zahl The wellness industry sells you a version of yourself it can’t deliver. Hope lies elsewhere. Read now In Defense of Pint and Pipe Malcolm Guite Smoking and drinking carry known risks. Here’s why I haven’t given them up. Read now In Pursuit of Homefulness John Swinton The biblical understanding of health is not biomedical. Read now
Today’s Verse – Psalm 127:1
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. —Psalm 127:1 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… “It’s all up to me!” That’s the prevailing mindset for high achievers in our world. But this assumption is wrong. Our efforts to build and be a part of something great and lasting are ultimately in vain if the LORD doesn’t bless them and empower them. They may flourish for a time under our intense efforts, but if the plans and the construction of great things are not from the LORD, they won’t stand the test of time. However, when we partner with the LORD and seek him and his kingdom first, he is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). My Prayer… Almighty God and Eternal Father, please forgive me for trying to make everything happen by my own efforts and relentless work. You can do far more to advance my work for your kingdom than all my worry and fretfulness could ever accomplish. Please take the lead in every aspect of my life and ministry; defeat me in efforts not in harmony with your will, and please empower those efforts to bring you glory and draw others to your grace. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
01 Jul 2025
The reason I am convinced to focus on worshipping the Lord no matter what I’m going through is that He is the Almighty God. Nothing is too difficult for Him. Can you imagine the stress the event planner and the couple getting married in John 2:1-11 were going through? Jesus sorted it out in an instant. Let’s not obsess too much with the situations around us at the expense of focusing on God. Let us trust that He can show us a way out, even perform a miracle.
Daily Prayer for July 1
People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last. Luke 13:29–30, NIV Dear Father in heaven, Almighty God, grant that the nations come under your rule, under your judgment from morning to evening, from east to west, from north to south. For your will must be done, and your name must be honored among all nations. Yours alone is the kingdom; all kingdoms belong to you. Your heavenly kingdom must come so that at last we learn to be at peace and become your children, who submit to you. For your Christ shall carry out your loving, merciful, and perfect will throughout the world. We thank you for all the good you want to provide for us. May your angels watch over us this night. Be with us in all we do or leave undone. Help us with your strong hands, that we may rejoice at heart in all the good you give us. Amen. Recent articles on Plough The Exploitation of Immigrant Care Workers Hazel Thompson Hidden in plain sight, foreign health aides in UK care homes face exploitation. Read now Against Self-Optimization David Zahl The wellness industry sells you a version of yourself it can’t deliver. Hope lies elsewhere. Read now In Defense of Pint and Pipe Malcolm Guite Smoking and drinking carry known risks. Here’s why I haven’t given them up. Read now In Pursuit of Homefulness John Swinton The biblical understanding of health is not biomedical. Read now What Is Health? Peter Mommsen My grandfather’s best summer was the one he spent dying. Read now
Today’s Verse – Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. —Matthew 6:33 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… “Seek first his kingdom”!” “Seek first… his righteousness”!Seeking the kingdom of God first is the primary focus of today’s verse and the Sermon of the Mount where it is found. “Seek first…” is Jesus’ robust, prioritizing command. God’s kingdom must be the passionate pursuit of our lives. Seeking the LORD’s kingdom, and his righteousness must not just be our wish, our hope, our dream — it must be our passion. We will pursue God’s kingdom at all costs. We will pursue it with all of our passion. Seeking God’s kingdom first will be our consuming effort until we find it our home! My Prayer… Forgive me, dear LORD, for letting my passion for your kingdom and your character get pushed to the side in my priorities. I want to make it first. I want to seek your kingdom and your righteousness first! So, please awaken me each morning with a sense of prioritizing focus for your work and your will for each day. Father, I want to be a passionate seeker of your kingdom first, so please make me restless for your kingdom as my home. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Servants to the Nations
Note from Jesus Dear Friend, Two powerful themes from the Bible converge in this one story in today’s Scripture about Philip and the Ethiopian dignitary: After My resurrection, I poured out the Spirit at Pentecost and the good news message about Me spread throughout the Mediterranean world, and then far beyond this part of the world. My message spread out from Jerusalem just as I had promised (Luke 24:45-49; Acts 1:8). The early disciples reached three of the Mediterranean area’s four major cities to serve as hubs to send My message down the major highways and seaways to the nearby regions and to the rest of the world. The four largest cities at this time were Antioch in Syria, Ephesus, Rome, and Alexandria. Acts tells the story of how the good news of the kingdom of God reached the first three. Just as My disciples took the good news to all the Mediterranean region when they left Jerusalem because of persecution (Acts 8:1-4; Acts 11:19-22), Luke hints that the “dignitary from Ethiopia” took My message with him as he returned home to Ethiopia (Africa). The last half of the prophetic book of Isaiah has a series of prophetic songs calling My people (Israel) to be the servant of the Lord — the servant who would lead the nations to follow the great “I AM” of Israel. In your day, these prophetic songs are called the “Servant Songs” of Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-9; Isaiah 49:1-13; Isaiah 50:4-11; Isaiah 52:13-15 with Isaiah 53:1-12). When Israel did not fulfill the call of these prophetic songs, I came as their complete fulfillment. The Ethiopian was reading from one of these songs (Isaiah 52:13-15 with Isaiah 53:1-12) when the Spirit sent Philip to share My story with him. The passage the Ethiopian was reading has been known to most of My followers over the centuries. They have recognized this song as speaking about My sacrifice on the cross for them. Philip began with this song that looked forward to Me as the suffering servant and taught him about Me and then baptized him. I want you to recognize several important principles from the Ethiopian’s conversion: Long before I came to earth (1 Peter 1:20), the Father had the plan to save the lost world He loves (John 3:16-17). The Spirit inspired the prophets with messages that were intended to convict the people in their time, yet the messages also pointed to the Father’s plan to send Me to the world to save the world (1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:19-21). This plan always included the salvation of all people, just as Israel was to be a blessing and bring all people to honor the great “I AM” as the only true and living God (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; Genesis 12:1-3). The fulfillment of this world-wide salvation began to unfold through the leading of the Holy Spirit and the willingness of My disciples to share My story with all people (John 12:20-33). The Father has the plan to save the world. As the primary part of that plan, I came as the Savior of the world. After My sacrificial death and return to the Father, the Spirit empowered My disciples to share that message with the world. Acts tells how My story was initially told to the Mediterranean world. Verses to Live As the book of Acts unfolds, you read about the Holy Spirit leading My disciples to share the saving message about Me (Acts 1:8). They began, first, to share that message with those in Jerusalem and then those in all of Judea. In Acts 8, you see the message shared in Samaria. In future readings from Acts, you will see the message go throughout the Mediterranean world. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, nothing had the power to stop that message. As Luke tells this unfolding story, the events in Acts 8 are huge stepping stones in the triumph of the good news about Me. Just as those early disciples fearlessly shared My message with their world, I want you to share that same message with your world. As you do, the Holy Spirit will lead and empower you, too! A heavenly messenger brought this short message from the Lord to Philip during his time preaching in Samaria: Messenger of the Lord: Leave Samaria. Go south to the Jerusalem-Gaza road. The message was especially unusual because this road runs through the middle of uninhabited desert. But Philip got up, left the excitement of Samaria, and did as he was told to do. Along this road, Philip saw a chariot in the distance. In the chariot was a dignitary from Ethiopia (the treasurer for Queen Candace), an African man who had been castrated. He had gone north to Jerusalem to worship at the Jewish temple, and he was now heading southwest on his way home. He was seated in the chariot and was reading aloud from a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Philip received another prompting from the Holy Spirit: Holy Spirit: Go over to the chariot and climb on board. So he started running until he was even with the chariot. Philip heard the Ethiopian reading aloud and recognized the words from the prophet Isaiah. Philip: Do you understand the meaning of what you’re reading? The Ethiopian: How can I understand it unless I have a mentor? Then he invited Philip to sit in the chariot. Here’s the passage he was reading from the Hebrew Scriptures: Like a sheep, He was led to be slaughtered. Like a lamb about to be shorn of its wool, He was completely silent. He was humiliated, and He received no justice. Who can describe His peers? Who would treat Him this way? For they snuffed out His life. The Ethiopian: Here’s my first question. Is the prophet describing his own situation, or is he describing someone else’s calamity? That began a conversation in which Philip used the passage to explain the good news of Jesus. Eventually the chariot passed a