From: October 29, 2025
“I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ” (Philemon 1:6 ESV).
Paul’s brief letter to Philemon is deeply personal yet profoundly spiritual. In verse 6, he prays that Philemon’s “sharing of [his] faith” (koinōnia tēs pisteōs) would become effective—energized and fruitful—leading to a deeper “knowledge of every good thing” found in Christ. The word koinōnia (here translated “sharing”) implies more than verbal evangelism; it describes the partnership of faith that believers experience as they live out and express the gospel together. Paul understood that as we participate in this mutual sharing—encouraging, teaching, and serving one another—our own faith becomes more active and mature.
There is a vital connection between sharing our faith and growing in our understanding of it. When we talk about Jesus with others, our convictions are clarified and our joy renewed. Teaching a new believer or answering a seeker’s questions often drives us back to Scripture, deepening our grasp of truth. Sometimes we discover questions we can’t yet answer, and the search to help another leads us into richer knowledge of God than we would have pursued on our own. Faith that is shared becomes faith that is strengthened. Like Philemon, we are called to make our faith effective—alive, practical, and fruitful—by participating in the gospel community and extending grace to others. As we do, we come to know “every good thing” that is ours in Christ, and He receives the glory.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for the gift of faith and for the privilege of sharing it. Forgive us for keeping silent when we should speak of Your goodness. Strengthen us to have an active and effective faith as we live and serve in Christ’s name. May every conversation, act of love, and step of obedience draw us deeper into the knowledge of all that is ours in Jesus, for it’s His name we pray, amen.
From: October 29, 2024
“I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O LORD, I will make music” (Psalm 101:1 ESV).
David understood something about God’s “love and justice.” He had learned both the loving mercy and the holy righteousness of God. He therefore determined to sing and make music to the Lord, worshiping Him in fullness of understanding.
Some today worship a false god. They have a false or inadequate image of God built on an “either/or” perspective. They “either” focus too much on God’s love, making Him a saccharine sweet, permissive push-over grandparent with a white beard (like Santa). “Or” they see an angry judge who is to blame for every war, disease, terrorist attack and natural disaster that befalls us.
However, the Lord’s character is not simply “either/or,” but “both/and.” He is both full of love and justice. The two traits are fully and equally His. Certainly the greatest revelation of God’s love and justice is seen in the cross of Christ. It was God’s great love that sent His Son and God’s perfect justice that was satisfied by Christ’s sacrifice. At the cross we see God’s love and justice made manifest.
Therefore, let us sing and make music to God, especially singing of Jesus, the supreme revelation of His love and justice.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we want to worship You in Spirit and in Truth, knowing that You are both steadfast in love and perfect in justice. We worship You with knowledge because You have revealed Yourself to us through Your Word and through Your Son, Jesus. Yet, we would know You more. Help us to grow in knowing and following You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: October 29, 2023
“I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar” (Psalm 101:3 NLT).
David wrote this psalm, beginning nearly every verse with the personal pronoun, “I.” The psalm shows his desire to have a predetermined and settled code of conduct in facing certain situations that might tempt him to sin. In verse 3, he declared a determination to practice a discipline of the eyes. When anything vile and vulgar crossed his path, he would refuse to look at it. The Hebrew word here translated “vile and vulgar” is “belial,” which can also be rendered “wicked, ungodly, evil, or worthless.” David couldn’t help it if something “belial” appeared before him, but he could refuse to set his eyes upon it for any length of time.
The temptation to look too long has plagued us from the beginning. Didn’t Eve gaze at the forbidden fruit too long, seeing that it was “pleasant to the eyes” (Gen. 3:6)? And so, she and Adam seeing it, decided to eat it, plunging all of humanity into darkness.
May the Lord help us to be as determined as David was to discipline our eyes. We can’t help what the world and its media parades before us, but depending on God’s divine power, we can decide in advance to avoid looking too long. We can refuse to set our eyes on that which is vile and vulgar.
PRAYER: Dear Father, there are many temptations in our world today. Help us to discipline our eyes to look away and to always look to You. Lead us away from temptation and deliver us from evil. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: October 29, 2022
BE WARY OF PREACHING THAT GIVES FALSE HOPE
Jeremiah lamented the failure of Judah’s prophets to preach God’s Word and to call His people to repentance of their sin. Instead they filled the people with false hope. The last days of Jerusalem before its fall to Babylon were marked by a people with “itching ears” and preachers who were happy to scratch them with what they wanted to hear.
The apostle Paul told Timothy to “preach the Word in season and out of season” because such a day was coming again in the last days. He wrote, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Tim. 4:3).
True biblical preaching preaches unto repentance, either unto salvation or sanctification. Such preaching leads to true hope. What is this hope? It is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). For our true and only hope is in Christ Jesus!
PRAYER: Dear Father, help us to always speak the truth of Your Word, caring more for Your approval than the approval of man. For we are Your ambassadors and we are called to say what you would have us say. Give us a holy boldness, yet always speaking the truth in love. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: October 29, 2017
Paul wrote a personal letter to Philemon on behalf of his runaway slave, Onesimus, who may have also stolen from his master (v.18). Under Roman law, a slave was property and could be executed for such. Yet, Paul, who wrote from a Roman prison, had led Onesimus to faith in Christ and now called him a “son.” He sent the letter to let Philemon know of this and also that he was sending Onesimus home to him. Paul pled with Philemon, who he had also led to faith (v.19), to accept Onesimus back, not as a slave, but as a “beloved brother” (v.16). This is the new way of Christ on exhibit, that master and slave would become as brothers. This is the grace of Christ that brings forgiveness and reconciliation to every relationship. Surely, Onesimus would have been fearful of returning to Philemon, but Paul knew it was the only way that he could be truly free.
From: October 29, 2016
The fiery strife of gossip and intrigue quickly goes out when the wicked “whisperer” is removed. Contentious talebearers must be treated as incendiaries. We must refuse to listen to their gossip, correcting them for such talk. And if they refuse to stop such inflammatory backbiting, we must break fellowship with them. Strife soon ceases and peace follows when those who fuel quarreling with their words are silent.