Neighboring
Who is my neighbor? “So just who is my neighbor?” This question was launched by an expert on the Old Testament law to test Jesus. While it may seem innocent enough at first glance, underneath it was the push to find out just what is needed to qualify for eternal life (Luke 10:25). To put it crassly, “What’s my minimum requirement on being neighborly?” Jesus addressed the question in three powerful ways, never letting the “expert in the law” off the hook . Jesus was going to make sure this expert had to “own” his answer. Jesus asked the man to state his understanding of God’s truth twice, rather than Jesus giving the “expert” an answer (Luke 10:26; Luke 10:36). First, Jesus made clear the issue is about “neighboring”: intention and emotion are important, but godly compassion always involves action (James 2:14-17; 1 John 3:16-17). Jesus made this powerfully clear by answering the question by telling the story of “the good Samaritan” (Luke 10:30-35). The question is not, “Who is my neighbor [who I must serve]?” Instead, the question is, “Who needs neighboring: who needs my help and support?” And Jesus frames the story by the emphasis on “doing compassion” by framing the story with these two phrases: (1) “Do this and live” (Luke 10:28 TNIV), and (2) “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:35). Second, Jesus demonstrated what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself.” A simple scan of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – the books in the Bible that tell the story of Jesus – help us understand just what “neighboring” means. We meet men and women, religious and non-religious, leaders and powerless, rich and poor, able-bodied and those who are sick, dying, and dead. Jesus simply ignored the categories we so easily force people to fit. He broke social barriers, gender barriers, and religious stereotypes. He did not meet someone who was not his neighbor and he calls us to live the same way. Third, Jesus always kept the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” connected to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27). We become like the One we love! We cannot love God and not love others (1 John 4:7-21). So what’s the point of all of this? Simple: it’s not about figuring out who is our neighbor, but about neighboring those around us in need! Make a list of all the different kinds of people Jesus served – take a quick scan of the gospels to remind yourself of all the different kinds of people Jesus’ life touched in a redemptive way (Matthew 8:1-38; Mark 9:1-50; Mark 3:1-64; Luke 7:1-50 are a good start). What do you think the message is for you and how you are to “neighbor” others based on Jesus’ example? How would you describe what “neighboring” others means in your daily life? What leads you to keep from “neighboring” those who need our help? What makes it hard “neighboring” others you may not know? What makes it hard “neighboring” those you do know? About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author of VerseoftheDay.com, God’s Holy Fire (on the Holy Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four books, daily devotionals on each of the four gospels.
Living Beyond the Formula
Jesus > You + X (all your dos) + Y (all your dont’s)! Dear Church People, I used to be a math teacher. You might think, based on this whole writing gig, I would have been an English or Reading teacher… neh eh. I just cannot grade all those essays with all those words. Me? I really like a clear formula. I like a DEFINITE right or wrong answer, no wondering, no questioning. I like that 2+2=4 and will always equal 4. I will never have to ponder if it’s right or wrong. It’s black and white. Objective. You can’t argue it. I grew up in a faith that loved itself a clear formula. I grew up knowing all the rights and all the wrongs, all the dos and all the don’ts, all the get-into-heavens and all the heading-straight-for-hells. Don’t dance. (You’ll get pregnant.) Don’t drink a DROP of alcohol. (You’ll get pregnant again.) Don’t cuss. Don’t have sex. (For obvious aforementioned reasons.) But seriously, don’t touch boys. And I get it. It was a formula. It was a simple, easy-to-follow, surefire way to determine an outcome. X (all the dos) > Y (all the don’ts) = Z (eternity in heaven) It’s simple. Easy to understand. No gray areas. So I grew up tallying marks for and against, learning blacks and whites, and always worrying whether my X > Y. Now, I totally get how this happens. We humans love control. We crave to feel in control of everything. We plan and rationalize because that makes us feel safe and protected, in control of our lives and our destinies. We don’t want to ACTUALLY place something so significant in the hands of something or someone we can’t see or hear or touch. So we construct a formula that makes sense, gives us something concrete to refer back to. But the older I got and the more scripture I read, the more I wondered about the formula. Because the formula seemed to be missing something pretty big. What about Jesus? What about grace? What about my heart? What about the Holy Spirit? (Yikes, the Holy Spirit. Don’t go all willy-nilly.) The problem with formulas (one of them) is that it allows us to take credit for our own salvation (if we do enough and don’t do enough, we win. YAY.) which leads to pride, which leads to judgment, which leads to separation and division, which leads to being Literally The Worst. If you have been following the formula like I did for so long, don’t forget: you need Jesus. Maybe even more than the sinners you’ve been so quick to condemn. Jesus quoted Isaiah when he said to formula-keepers in his day: “‘These people [the Pharisees and teachers of the law] honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men’” (Mattew 15:8-9). Rules taught by men = The Formula. Jesus continued: “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile [that person], but what comes out of [that person’s] mouth, that is what defiles…” (Matthew 15:10-11). – – – – – I have a feeling the formula isn’t working for you. Maybe you can’t figure it out, or the anxiety of it all is pressing down against you, or you feel like you’re buried in Ys and will never be able to stack up enough Xs to climb out, to make you feel like you’re worthy. Or maybe you feel like you’ve mastered the formula but in the meantime have found it hard to connect with people. And your heart feels less full of joy and more full of anger and resentment because the world is going to hell in a handbasket and IF EVERYONE WOULD JUST LIVE THE WAY YOU DID… Jesus is saying that what you do or don’t do, what you DID or DIDN’T DO, isn’t what makes you unclean. It isn’t what sanctifies you, purifies you, or makes you worthy of love or redemption or heaven. It’s your heart. And you know how to make your heart clean? Well, YOU can’t. You cannot cleanse yourself. But if you bind yourself, attach yourself like a vine is connected to a branch, your fruit will be good, your heart will transform. You will produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). If you can’t see the production of those things in your life, it’s time to reattach. If you see a sinner and your initial reaction is fear and condemnation rather than love and compassion, it’s time to reattach. If you feel angry at everyone, it’s time to reattach. And probably detach from social media because this place will not always restore your hope in humanity. And for those of you who still need a formula, here’s a fool-proof one: Jesus > You + X (all your dos) + Y (all your dont’s)! – – – – – [Jesus told his disciples,] “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing [NOTHING!!]. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:5-8). Special thanks for the use of images related to Jesus’ ministry from The Lumo Project and Free Bible Images for use on this week’s post.
Why Won’t They Believe?
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, Some of you will be frustrated and hurt because people you know and love will choose not to believe in Me as Savior. Some will talk about intellectual doubts. Others will talk about life’s hurts and will wonder where We — Father, Son, and Spirit — were in the middle of their hurts. Some will say they have a hard time believing something they think the Bible says because they view it as a book of myths and superstitions. Others will see Christians who are weak and stumble, or who are hypocrites, and say they want no part of a religion like that. Some will say they just can’t believe in the miracles and My resurrection that they read about in Scripture. These reactions and feelings that you find frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking are not new. I faced the same thing. As you read about the events below, remember that I had done two “nature altering” miracles — I fed more than 5,000 people with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish as well as walked on the water to the disciples in their boat caught in a storm on the Sea of Galilee. Most of the people in the area knew of at least one of these miracles — that’s why they were back trying to get something else from Me. Many of them were also puzzling over the possibility of another miracle: How had I crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to be with My disciples without a boat? But before they would do the one thing I told them truly was “God’s work” — to believe in Me as the One the Father had sent, they wanted another miracle to show I was someone special. In other words, they saw or heard about the great works I had done, but refused to believe until they received the miracle they wanted from Me. My precious disciple, please hear Me: Some people don’t believe because they won’t believe. Another miracle wouldn’t have convinced most of the skeptics in the crowd you read about below. They were there for what they could get for free, not because they saw the sign that I had done and realized that it pointed to My identity as the Son of God. No one wants people saved more than We (Father, Son, and Spirit) do. No one’s heart breaks more than Our heart at the refusal of people to believe. I left the Father to share grace, offer hope, and bring true life to the people of your world. Some, however, refuse to receive that grace. Don’t burn up all your time and energy trying to convince people who refuse to believe. But don’t give up on them. Invite the Spirit to work on their hearts and in their circumstances. Live before them in a way that is good, gracious, and genuine. However, My dear disciple, please realize that you cannot make them believe, and I won’t force them to believe. Faith has to be chosen freely to be faith; do not use force or coercion on anyone, or it is not genuine faith! As much as you want someone to believe, you do not have the power to make it happen. Give that work over to the Spirit. Be ready as you look for the opportunity when the Spirit prompts you to reach out to that person you want to believe. A lot of folks in my day didn’t believe in Me until after My death, burial, and resurrection. Others didn’t believe until their lives came crashing down around them and they realized they needed help bigger than their circumstances. So be a real friend and a genuinely loved one of the people you want to believe. Be faithful and patient in loving them, but not pushing them or annoying them. Look for that moment of grace orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. Then, share your story of grace and let them know about Me. Remember what your “work” truly is. You must truly believe. You must trust that I AM the Son of God, your Savior and Lord, and then live that faith graciously before others. Your faith guarantees that your life is bound up with Me for eternity. It also gives you the best opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those you love. Verses to Live As you read today’s verses, remember what I told people was the true work that God wanted them to do: believe in Me! Please remember, if people you know and love are looking for a sign before they believe in Me — like the people in the verses below — then you and your faithfulness to Me may be the sign that they most need. Then, be patient… faithful… gracious… and ready to share your love and My grace with those you want to see come to faith. The following day [after Jesus had walked on the water] some people gathered on the other side of the sea and saw that only one boat had been there; they were perplexed. They remembered seeing the disciples getting into the boat without Jesus. Other boats were arriving from Tiberias near the grassy area where the Lord offered thanks and passed out bread. When this crowd could not find Him or His disciples, they boarded their small boats and crossed the sea to Capernaum looking for Him. When they found Jesus across the sea, they questioned Him. Crowd: Teacher, when did You arrive at Capernaum? Jesus: I tell you the truth — you are tracking Me down because I fed you, not because you saw signs from God. Don’t spend your life chasing food that spoils and rots. Instead, seek the food that lasts into all the ages and comes from the Son of Man, the One on Whom God the Father has placed His seal. Crowd: What do we have to do to accomplish
02 Feb 2026
Through His death on the cross and the resurrection, Christ set us free from the burden of the law. We were set free, not to do whatever we want, rather we were empowered to live for Him. That can only happen by faith expressed in love. Galatians 5:1-6.
A Walk with Our Shepherd
What does it really mean for us? I’m not sure on what David originally wrote down the famous shepherd psalm. It probably was sung in the field to calm his sheep before it finally made it into written form. Yet this psalm has brought comfort to millions over the years. With the words to the psalm are simple reflections on the meaning of each phrase. No one is quite sure of the origins of these simple reflections. Hopefully the words and the reflections will be a reminder to each of us how much God loves us and longs for us to build our lives around our his grace. The Lord is my Shepherd … — that’s relationship! I shall not want … — that’s provision! He makes me to lie down in green pastures … — that’s rest! He leads me beside the still waters … — that’s refreshment! He restores my soul … — that’s healing! He leads me in the paths of righteousness … — that’s guidance! For His name’s sake … — that’s purpose! Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death … –that’s testing! I will fear no evil … — that’s protection! For You are with me … — that’s companionship! Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me … — that’s security! You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies … — that’s hope! You anoint my head with oil … — that’s consecration! My cup runs over … — that’s abundance! Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me … — that’s blessing! All the days of my life … — that’s faithfulness! And I will dwell in the house of the LORD — that’s home! Forever! — that’s eternity!
It Doesn’t Fix Everything
What can money fix in your life? Money fixes things. At least, it fixes some things. It keeps a roof over your head and puts food on the table. It makes possible things such as education, medical care, and travel. If yours is a generous heart, it allows you to grace other people with blessings and opportunities they would miss otherwise. Contrary to the opinion of some, the Bible isn’t negative toward wealth and the things it can do. In the very same context where Paul gives his famous and oft-quoted warning about the “love of money being a root of all kinds of evil,” (1 Timothy 6:10) he affirms that it is God “who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (1 Timothy 6:17) But money has its limits. While it has the potential for fixing certain things and providing gratification, it won’t fix everything. It can also create a special set of problems unique to substantial wealth. Take Jack Whittaker as an example. Whittaker, 57, burst onstage on Christmas Day, 2002. He won the biggest-ever undivided lottery prize when he hit a record $314.9 million Powerball jackpot. There he was on everybody’s TV screen. Smiling. Big cowboy hat. Already a successful contractor. Ready now to donate ten percent of his lump sum payout of $113 million after taxes to his church and to help other good causes. A picture of the same man two years later hardly looks like the one we saw back then. He looks old. Tired. Whipped. And there are reasons for the change. Whittaker has had hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen from his cars, house, and office. He has pleaded no contest to assaulting and threatening to kill a bar manager. He has been arrested twice on drunk-driving charges and ordered into rehab by a judge. He faces charges of groping women at a racetrack. Shortly before Christmas, his 17-year-old granddaughter disappeared. She had been there on the day of his big win. The apple of Whittaker’s eye, he was going to make everything possible for her. She said she wanted a car. She wanted to meet her favorite hip-hop star. Life was going to be wonderful! She was found dead – her body wrapped in a tarp outside her boyfriend’s house. Press reports say she died of a drug overdose. No wonder Whittaker looks whipped and confused. Who wouldn’t be? His story isn’t so much a warning about quick wealth or the dark side of gambling as it is simply a tragedy of major proportions. God help him to get himself together. The next time you are tempted to think money would fix everything for you, remember Jack Whittaker. And focus again on what really matters. True religion with contentment is great wealth. After all, we didn’t bring anything with us when we came into the world, and we certainly cannot carry anything with us when we die. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:6-10 NLT) Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the living God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of real life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19) About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades, been a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities and a med school. He is currently Professor of Philosophy & Religion at Lipscomb University. He is the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles.
Have You Caught This Aroma?
What do you smell like? But thanks be to God! For through what Christ has done, He has triumphed over us so that now wherever we go, He uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Gospel like a sweet perfume. As far as God is concerned there is a sweet wholesome fragrance in our lives. It is the fragrance of Christ within us, an aroma to both the saved and unsaved all around us. (2 Corinthians 2:14-15 LB) In February our thoughts turn to love as Valentine’s Day approaches! Can’t you smell the aroma of perfume and the fragrance of the roses that will be in abundance? Beautifully decorated boxes of sweet chocolates will be given to our cherished ones. Hearts of every color and size will be splashed across those gifts so carefully selected in love. We can be grateful for these delicacies God has given us to enjoy, but the aroma that pleases Him most is the fragrance of Christ within us. That is the sweet perfume that He desires we spread to those all around. This year as that special day of love arrives again, I pray that our lives will send forth the pleasing aroma of Christ to both the saved and unsaved. May these hearts that beat deep within us be full of the sweet wholesome fragrance of Christ, as we allow Him to use us to help spread the good news of Jesus around the world. About the author: Melva Cooper is a member of the Just a Minute writing team.
Today’s Verse – Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. —Deuteronomy 6:4-5 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… So many times the evil one seduces us into a flat, 2-dimensional Christianity – going to church and doing good things. However, God calls us to a three-dimensional faith – one that involves our heart, soul, and strength (body). He wants us to love him with all of our heart, all our inner being, and all of our actions used mightily for him. God wants us completely aligned with his ways, his character, his compassion, and his faithfulness in every facet of our being. Hear, O [people of God]: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Yes! Three-dimensional faith. Three-dimensional discipleship. My Prayer… Dear Heavenly Father, I honor you as God Almighty. I appreciate all the kindness and blessings you have lavished on me. I love you because you first loved me in Jesus. I honor you as the universe’s Creator and greatest power. I am humbled by the sacrificial and redemptive love you have shared with me in Jesus. I worship you with all I am – heart, soul, and strength – because you are worthy of my worship. Father, my heart desires to demonstrate my love, respect, appreciation, and worship for you in all I love, am, and do. I offer this prayer to you, dear Father, in the mighty name and through the intercession of Jesus. 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.
The Greatest Treasure
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved of the Father, You are a child of God; so I want to open your heart to hear two incredible truths found below in two simple stories that I told long ago. Truth One: You are the Father’s treasure! Yes, I know that is not normally how the two stories below are read, but I want you to think about it for a minute. There is a truth that you must not miss behind this understanding of these stories. The Father sent Me, His greatest gift, to pay the price to ransom you back to Us. You are Our treasure — Our discovered treasure and Our searched for treasure. I was the willing purchase price paid to buy you back from sin and death. Truth Two: The kingdom is the greatest treasure you can ever find. For some, it will seem like an accidental and great discovery as in the first story — almost like the treasure found them! The key, however, is that when you have “accidentally” discovered this treasure, then you should be willing to give up everything else to make it your own! Others, as in the second story, will find the treasure of the kingdom because they have longed to find it and have searched far and wide to find it. Again, the key is that having found it, they rejoice in giving up everything else to make this treasure of the kingdom their own! Notice the truth that ties these two understandings together: true treasure is worth any price necessary. That is true with the ultimate price I paid in coming to redeem you. It is also true for the price you must be ready to pay for the kingdom if you are willing to follow Me! Verses to Live What is your greatest treasure? I made clear that you are My treasure when I left the Father’s side and came to give My life to buy you out of slavery to sin and death and to reclaim you as a child of God. Will you choose to see My way, My kingdom, as your greatest treasure? Jesus: The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that is hidden in a field. A crafty man found the treasure buried there and buried it again so no one would know where it was. Thrilled, he went off and sold everything he had, and then he came back and bought the field with the hidden treasure part of the bargain. Or the kingdom of heaven is like a jeweler on the lookout for the finest pearls. When he found a pearl more beautiful and valuable than any jewel he had ever seen, the jeweler sold all he had and bought that pearl, his pearl of great price. (Matthew 13:44-46) Response in Prayer O Father, all I can think about in response to these stories is Your great love that sent Jesus to ransom me and Jesus’ great love to come and pay the price for my sin. The words to the old hymn speak the emotions of my heart in response to this great love: Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.* May the lordship of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven rule my heart just as the sacrifice of Jesus has captured my heart and made me Your child. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. * From Isaac Watts’ hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” 1707. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2026, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Relationships Are Worth the Effort
Excellence in every area of life means relationships, too! Most of us know that excellence doesn’t come through shortcuts or along the path of least resistance. By its nature, quality requires exacting standards and attention to detail. So premium products cost more. More has been invested in them, so their value goes up. You understand that about your company and the product or service. Do you understand the same is true with relationships? A friendship maintained over time is costly. Not only does it take effort just to keep up with someone when both of you are moving around in your first few years of your careers but it also requires even more to deal with personality quirks, misunderstandings, and slights. Lacking the willingness to pay attention and to invest emotional energy, friends become mere acquaintances – and eventually become strangers all over again. Ever wonder why Scripture represents the church as the family of God? Why it pictures its members as sisters and brothers to one another? Maybe your cynical response is to say it is because we are so much like children fussing in the back seat in the family car. Granting that, the deeper truth is that we belong to one another in a significant way and are expected to look out for one another in a pinch, to take up for one another when the neighborhood bully (i.e., Satan) comes calling with the sinister intent of doing real harm to one of us. The most intimate of human relationships is the one between husbands and wives in our marital covenants. With sociologists telling us that about half of all first marriages are failing, something must be wrong with our thinking. Where is the “excellence” we are building into our roles as mates and parents? Research tells us that “till death do us part” has been laid aside as an archaic convention in wedding ceremonies of late. In its place are things like “for as long as our love shall last” or “until our time together is over.” How’s that for being open-ended? For leaving a way out? For some people, what they call “love” doesn’t last into the third month. Their “time together is hardly enough to unpack. “Make it easy on yourself” seems to be the rule of thumb for too many of us. So we are shallow in our faith, careless about our character, and weak in our commitments. We betray our spiritual potential. We abandon the ethical path. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive the one who offends you. Since the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive each other. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts (Colossians 3:13-15 NLT). Don’t forsake your highest ideals. True enough, you might still fall short of some worthy goals. But you will never achieve them on the path of minimal effort. About the author: Rubel Shelly preached for decades, been a professor of medical ethics, Bible, and philosophy at multiple universities and a med school. He is currently Professor of Philosophy & Religion at Lipscomb University. He is the author of more than 30 books and hundreds of inspirational articles.