July 7th

 The Presence of a Sovereign Lord

THE PRESENCE OF A SOVEREIGN LORD - July 7, 2026

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Control freaks are easily frustrated. We can’t take control, because control is not ours to take. The Bible has a better idea. Rather than seeking control, relinquish it. Peace is within reach, not for lack of problems, but because of the presence of a sovereign Lord.

Rather than rehearse the chaos of the world, rejoice in the Lord’s sovereignty, as the Apostle Paul did. From prison he wrote, “The things which have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to the rest, that my chains are in Christ” (Philippians 1:12-13).

In the innermost of his being, Paul was a man who believed in the steady hand of a good God, protected and preserved by God’s love. He lived beneath the shadow of God’s wings. Do you?

 Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World

ReadThe Presence of a Sovereign Lord

THE PRESENCE OF A SOVEREIGN LORD - July 7, 2026

Play00:00…

Control freaks are easily frustrated. We can’t take control, because control is not ours to take. The Bible has a better idea. Rather than seeking control, relinquish it. Peace is within reach, not for lack of problems, but because of the presence of a sovereign Lord.

Rather than rehearse the chaos of the world, rejoice in the Lord’s sovereignty, as the Apostle Paul did. From prison he wrote, “The things which have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to the rest, that my chains are in Christ” (Philippians 1:12-13).

In the innermost of his being, Paul was a man who believed in the steady hand of a good God, protected and preserved by God’s love. He lived beneath the shadow of God’s wings. Do you?

Read: Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World

Psalm 19

The Message

19 1-2 God’s glory is on tour in the skies,

    God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.

Madame Day holds classes every morning,

    Professor Night lectures each evening.

3-4 Their words aren’t heard,

    their voices aren’t recorded,

But their silence fills the earth:

    unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.

4-5 God makes a huge dome

    for the sun—a superdome!

The morning sun’s a new husband

    leaping from his honeymoon bed,

The daybreaking sun an athlete

    racing to the tape.

6 That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies

    from sunrise to sunset,

Melting ice, scorching deserts,

    warming hearts to faith.

7-9 The revelation of God is whole

    and pulls our lives together.

The signposts of God are clear

    and point out the right road.

The life-maps of God are right,

    showing the way to joy.

The directions of God are plain

    and easy on the eyes.

God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,

    with a lifetime guarantee.

The decisions of God are accurate

    down to the nth degree.

10 God’s Word is better than a diamond,

    better than a diamond set between emeralds.

You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring,

    better than red, ripe strawberries.

11-14 There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger

    and directs us to hidden treasure.

Otherwise how will we find our way?

    Or know when we play the fool?

Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!

    Keep me from stupid sins,

    from thinking I can take over your work;

Then I can start this day sun-washed,

    scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.

These are the words in my mouth;

    these are what I chew on and pray.

Accept them when I place them

    on the morning altar,

O God, my Altar-Rock,

    God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

Our daily bread:

Today's Scripture & Insight :

1 Kings 3:16-21, 24-28

The Message

16-21 The very next thing, two prostitutes showed up before the king. The one woman said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. While we were living together, I had a baby. Three days after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone—there wasn’t anyone else in the house except for the two of us. The infant son of this woman died one night when she rolled over on him in her sleep. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son—I was sound asleep, mind you!—and put him at her breast and put her dead son at my breast. When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, here was this dead baby! But when I looked at him in the morning light, I saw immediately that he wasn’t my baby.”

24 After a moment the king said, “Bring me a sword.” They brought the sword to the king.

25 Then he said, “Cut the living baby in two—give half to one and half to the other.”

26 The real mother of the living baby was overcome with emotion for her son and said, “Oh no, master! Give her the whole baby alive; don’t kill him!”

But the other one said, “If I can’t have him, you can’t have him—cut away!”

27 The king gave his decision: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Nobody is going to kill this baby. She is the real mother.”

28 The word got around—everyone in Israel heard of the king’s judgment. They were all in awe of the king, realizing that it was God’s wisdom that enabled him to judge truly.

Insight

As King Solomon began his reign, “The Lord appeared to [him] during the night in a dream” and told him, “Ask for whatever you want” (1 Kings 3:5). He asked for “a discerning heart to govern [God’s] people” (v. 9). God granted his request (3:10-14; 4:29-34), and he began well (3:28). Yet his personal life became a shambles due to his habit of marrying women who practiced other religions (11:2). He “loved many foreign women” (v. 1) and “as [he] grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods” (v. 4). Despite what God had given him, he disregarded his own wisdom. Today, we can ask God to direct our paths and help us walk in the way of wisdom.

By: Tim Gustafson

The Way Wisdom Works

They held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice. 1 Kings 3:28

As a child, I brought home a report card with all S’s, which stood for Satisfactory. My sister, who was five years older than me, had a mixture of A’s and B’s. I thought our report cards proved I was smarter because I had what I thought was the equivalent of all A’s. My older brother then proceeded to offer us a test. He went to my parents’ bookshelf and pulled out a book. He asked me to read a passage. I stumbled, only recognizing a few words. My sister read the passage flawlessly. My brother declared her the smartest.

Lesson learned. His test proved to be wise.

The people in Israel learned a lesson on wisdom from King Solomon. Two women had delivered babies. One baby died when his mother accidentally “lay on him” (1 Kings 3:19). This mother then tried to claim the living baby as her own. The women went to Solomon to ask who should keep the baby. When he heard the complaint, he ordered that the living baby be cut in two so both women could have a half of the child (v. 25).

The woman who was not the mother agreed to this order, but the true mother said, “Give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” (v. 26). When she spoke up to save the child, Solomon ruled that she was the mother and said to give her the baby (v. 27). Solomon’s God-given wisdom was on full display.

As God helps us, our actions can show others the true wisdom that comes from Him too (Proverbs 2:6).

By:  Katara Patton

Reflect & Pray

What decisions do you need wisdom for today? How can you find wisdom?

All-wise God, please give me the wisdom I need to know which way to go.

All Noble Things Are Difficult

BY OSWALD CHAMBERS

Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. —Matthew 7:14

If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus Christ, we have to remember that all noble things are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but the difficulty does not make us faint and cave in; it rallies us to overcome. Do I so appreciate the salvation of Jesus Christ that I give my utmost for his highest?

God saves humanity by his sovereign grace through the atonement. He works in us “to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). Our responsibility is to work out our salvation in practical living. If we begin to do what God commands, and to do it on the basis of the redemption, we will discover that we have all the strength and resources we need to succeed. If we fail, it’s because we haven’t practiced; we haven’t developed the habit of obeying God. When a crisis comes along, it reveals our level of preparedness. If we’ve been practicing in our daily life what God has put into us by his Spirit, then in a crisis our own nature will stand alongside the grace of God to support us.

Thank God he does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also heroic and holy. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is “bringing many sons and daughters to glory” (Hebrews 2:10), and God will not shield us from the requirements of a son or a daughter. God’s grace never produces cowards or weaklings; it produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the noble life of a disciple of Jesus. It is always necessary to make an effort to be noble.

Job 34-35; Acts 15:1-21

 

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The great thing about faith in God is that it keeps a man undisturbed in the midst of disturbance.

Notes on Isaiah, 1376 R

The "I Love You" At the Finish Line - #10302

By :

Ron Hutchcraft

Scripture:  Titus 2:4-5

My regular routine doesn’t allow me as much time for exercise as I’d like. In the past, when I had a few days away and my schedule permitted, I would enjoy doing some biking or hiking, or running. Of course, my body always told me that I hadn't been doing it enough. I ended up hurting in places I didn’t even know I had places! But it’s good to get some extra exercise when you can.

One of those times, my wife and I were away, and I had a chance to do some jogging on the beach at sunrise. I was chugging along trying to cover those last few hundred yards, which seemed like the longest and pounding back down the beach all tired and sweaty and disgusting. My muscles were saying, “Stop this, will you!” And then I saw my wife in the distance. Well, that was a great motivation to finish, and to finish strong. So I kind of picked up the pace a little bit, and had almost reached her when I saw what she had written in huge letters in the sand, “I love you, Ron.” Oh boy, there it was! What a happy ending to my run…or for any man on any day.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “The ‘I Love You’ At the Finish Line.”

Our word for today from the Word of God is about "wife-ing" actually, and it’s in Titus 2:4-5. It’s actually instructions to the older women in the church as to what they should, from their well of experience, train the younger women to be like. He says, “Then they can train the younger women…” First and foremost notice now, “…to love their husbands and children. To be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands so that no one will malign the Word of God.”

Actually, this passage is referring to two generations of loving wives, because obviously the older women had to do it in order to be able to teach it to the younger women. So, in both generations, the very first word to the women is, “Love your husband.” Proverbs 31, that great description of the woman every godly woman wants to be, the Proverbs 31 Woman, well here’s what it says about her in verse 12. “She brings her husband good, not harm, all the days of her life.” Notice, each 24-hour period. In other words, she brings daily goodies into his life. Now, there’s that picture of me running on the beach, coming toward the finish line, tired, feeling like quitting. And suddenly I see these words, “I love you, Ron.” It gave me incentive to cross the finish line.

I’ll tell you, that’s a picture of many days in the life of a man close to you - a husband, a son, a brother. He comes home tired from today’s run. Few things mean more to a man than to know that he will find an “I love you” at the finish line. I think a man can handle almost anything if he’s sure that he will be safe and appreciated and loved when he gets home. You know, “All’s well that ends well.” Lots of pressure, lots of stress, but I can handle it if I know there’s going to be security at the finish line.

There are a lot of ways to say it to him. First, just verbally express it. Don’t just say, “I love you until further notice.” No, tell him often. Touch him affectionately. Provide peace in the house as much as possible when he arrives home; maybe that special meal or special card or special note. Now, it’s hard, because you’ve had a long run too. But God will give you strength to put your husband first when you feel like being first yourself.

By the way, what a tremendous surprise it is if that wife is greeted by a man who’s more concerned about her needs than his own. If you’re a woman, say “I love you” in his language; not just on Valentine’s Day or anniversary, but remember “I love you” never means more than after that finish line that he crosses after a long day’s run.