In I John 2:1, John writes that Jesus is our advocate. Our Savior continually stands up for us before his Father. He loves us that much. That made me wonder if he did the same for his own earthly brothers and sisters when they did something wrong. Maybe little brother James came in late and lied about where he had been. Would Jesus have talked to James, encouraged him to ‘fess up and say he was sorry, and then asked his parents to have mercy on him. I think he might have because it just sounds like him.

As Jesus and his followers heard the wails of the widow and the mourners surrounding the laid-out body of her only son, he felt sorry for her plight. A woman in that time with no husband and no child to support her would likely be poverty stricken. Perhaps he also remembered Mary’s grief when Joseph died. For whatever reason, Jesus felt a gut-wrenching compassion for the woman and brought her son back to life. Jesus entered into a place of death and lament and brought life and joy. He is the same loving Savior today, bringing comfort and peace to the grieving.

I usually check my mail outside by my recycle bin because most of it is junk. While going through the mail one day, I noticed when I held a piece in the sun I could read it without my glasses. God said let there be light! How wonderful is light! Without light there would be no life as we know it on this earth. That reminded me our Savior is light, the light of the world. He’s the one who brings light and he’s the one who by that light reveals truth. And truth, truth is what makes us free!

In the scene in The Chosen when Jesus calls Matthew, Matthew can’t believe Jesus is inviting him, a hated tax collector, to join him. His other disciples find it hard to believe too! I relate to that call and maybe you do as well. “Me, do you mean me?” “Yes, you,” Jesus says. Like Matthew, he called us from the cages we had built for ourselves to freedom as his followers. I couldn’t free myself and neither could you. True freedom is in Christ! The least we can do is give our lives to him in thankfulness.

When I was a kid I wanted my parents, especially my dad, to be proud of me. He was a man of few words, but I knew when he was proud of me, and that made me happy. During my prayer time this morning, it came to me that I want my heavenly Father to be proud of me. But when I look back over my life and the mistakes I’ve made, I wonder how he can be. That’s when I’m reminded Jesus erased my sins. God is proud of his Son and through his Son’s righteousness, he’s proud of me. That makes me happy.

Are there days when you feel not much has been accomplished. Maybe you slept in late or didn’t feel well when you woke up so got a late start. You realize so far all you’ve gotten done is your prayer and devotion time. Don’t worry, that time you spent in praying for your and others’ needs and thanking and praising your Lord for all the blessings he so generously shares are the most important responsibilities of your day. Everything else is primarily maintenance.

Do you get those requests for donations that say if you give so much it will be doubled or tripled? I get them all the time. They make me think that even if we can do only a little to help others, if we give what we can or do what we can, it’s enough. We can trust our God to take our small efforts and double and triple them. We may not be able to do much, but he’s able to do tremendous work with what we have. Remember the widow’s mite. What we can do may seem so small, but nothing is beyond him. He has no limits.

Lots of talk about how AI will affect our futures. It already does, of course. It’s on our electronic devices. Airlines use it as well. The trash trucks where I live use AI to check if yards have tall grass or trash is left unattended. Some of the rental car companies use it to check on scratches to their cars. I think of AI as like one of those mythical Greek or Roman gods, it can be helpful but you can’t trust it. And, it acts with no mercy or forgiveness. Unfortunately, some think God is like that, always checking to see if we’ve broken one of his rules and ready to zap us if we have.

If you’ve ever heard a pastor say, “God is good,” you know the response is, “all the time.” The pastor then says, “All the time,” and you say, “God is good!” Yes, God is good, and God is also good at being God. He doesn’t need us. We don’t need to worry about all that is going on in our lives because God is good at being God. He can handle all our worries and concerns. He’s got it. It’s OK. God is very good at being God.

While watching my great granddaughter play flag football, younger brother Wyatt came and sat down in front of me on the bleachers. As I hugged him, he leaned his head back on my knees and said, “I’m getting baptized.” I hugged him again and told him how happy that made me. How precious it is to see the next generation acknowledging Jesus and following in his footsteps. Especially when it’s one of your own. “I can see a celebration happening in your future,” I said. “And, the angels are already partying in heaven!”