S – Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 

² Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe

Psalms 107:1–2 CSB

O – The psalmist brings out two concepts – gratitude and sharing one’s story.  Both are important to one’s walk with God.  

“redeemed” – gâ˒al,  to redeem, i.e. to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative’s property, marry his widow, etc.):— × in any wise, × at all, avenger, deliver, (do, perform the part of near, next) kinsfolk (-man), purchase, ransom, redeem (-er), revenger.

 The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words 

A – When we truly appreciate the price paid for our redemption, it should cause us to be grateful to God and want to tell others so they can be redeemed.  The word redeemed means to buy back.  We couldn’t do it ourselves.  We must not forget who purchased our sins.  We should share our story with others.  Each one is different and greatly impacts those in our lives.

R – Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus redeeming us.  We could not save ourselves, so you sent your Son to pay the price.  We will share our story today so others can hear the good news.  Give us the courage to let others know of your love for them.

S – The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. ²⁰ Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, and fight our battles

1 Samuel 8:19–20 CSB

O – Commentary:

God had set Israel apart from the nations (Lev 20:26; Num 23:9). By insisting on a king and desiring to be like the nations, they were rejecting God’s plan (see 8:5–7; cp. Deut 17:14). • judge us and lead us into battle: Kings performed three basic functions: (1) waging offensive and defensive war, (2) administering law, and (3) ensuring economic well-being

 New Living Translation Study Bible 

A – Israel rejected God’s plan.  How often do we do that?  Two things jump out of this scripture.  First, they wanted to be like other nations.  Comparison is an unhealthy way to live.  Learning from someone or an group is healthy.  Losing your identity to be like them is not healthy.  Secondly, they are bringing judgment on themselves.  This is inviting problems into their lives instead of eliminating them.

R – Heavenly Father, you are the source of who we are.  We want to grow and learn.  Keep us from comparing ourselves to others.  We want to accomplish the purpose and plan you set for us. Help us to avoid judging others.  Let us show your love in all situations today.

S – Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. 

John 6:15 CSB

O – Commentary:

The people saw His sign, but they did not perceive its meaning. They wanted to seize Him and make Him King. This marks the highpoint of Jesus’ popularity and a great temptation for Him. Could He have the kingdom without the Cross? No. Jesus’ kingdom would be given to Him by the Father (cf. Ps. 2:7–12; Dan. 7:13–14). It will not come from this world (John 18:36). The path of the Father’s will lies in another direction. Before He can be the reigning Lion of Judah, He must be the Lamb who bears the sin of the world

  “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures,

A – After an amazing miracle, the people wanted to make Jesus their king.  The temptation to allow this must have been great.  Jesus didn’t want to give up his true kingship for a “substitute.”  We don’t want to trade God’s plan for our own.  The “victory” may be for this season but God has the eternal perspective.  

R – Heavenly Father, we surrender our will to yours today.  We want to know the true purposes and calling you have for us so a substitute does not sway us.  Give us the discernment and understanding necessary to know and follow your truth.

S – A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Proverbs 14:30 CSB

O – Commentary:

A person’s emotions affect his physical condition, as it is well known today (cf. 15:13, 30; 17:22; 18:14). A heart at peace (or, “a mind of health,” i.e., a healthy disposition) helps produce a healthy body, but envy, an ardent agitating desire to have or achieve what one sees in others, produces adverse effects physically

“Proverbs,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures

A – When we walk in peace, it affects us in a good way.  We wouldn’t say we envy others because that seems too strong.  But, comparison to others that causes us to want something or be like someone else is just as bad.  God wonderfully created each of us and endowed us with our own gifts, talents and personalities.  We can walk in peace that God has given us all we need to have an amazing life!

R – Heavenly Father, thank you all for blessing us today.  We are equipped to do your will and purposes.  We invite your Spirit to lead us and give us wisdom.  We will fix our eyes on you and enjoy a heart of peace.

S – One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?” 

John 5:5–6 CSB

O – Commentary:

thirty-eight years The man’s age is unknown, but he had been sick for longer than many people lived in antiquity.

sickness The Greek term used here, astheneia, refers to any kind of debilitating condition. Since the man is unable to move into the pool on his own (v. 7), it’s assumed that he is either disabled or paralyzed.

Faithlife Study Bible

Do you want to get well? was designed to focus the man’s attention on Him, to stimulate his will, and to raise his hopes. In the spiritual realm man’s great problem is that either he does not recognize he is sick (cf. Isa. 1:5–6; Luke 5:31) or he does not want to be cured. People are often happy, for a while at least, in their sins.

“John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures

A – We are similar to the disabled man.  We create routines and patterns in our lifetime that cause us to get stuck in our thinking and actions.  Our relationship with Jesus causes our focus to shift from ourselves to Him.  He will not force us to change.  He asks – “Do you want to align with My character, thinking and actions?”  The choice is ours.

R – Heavenly Father, thank you that you cause us to look at You alone. You are God and there is no other. Give us the courage to break from our routines and habits that draw us away from you. In You, there is the miraculous, peace and hope.

S – Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. ¹² May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

Ruth 2:11–12 CSB

O – Ruth’s choice to honor her mother-in-law was done in private.  Yet, word gets to Boaz opening the door of provision and blessing.

A – God sees obedience, faith and honor in private.  He rewards our lives in many ways.  For Ruth, it started as a provision for her and Naomi. It developed into a relationship, marriage and son in the lineage of Jesus. Simple steps of obedience and honor are the catalysts of blessings.

R – Father, thank you for your blessings.  When we submit to you in reverence, honoring you in obedience, it opens the door for blessings we can not imagine.  We love you today.

S – But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth

John 4:23–24 CSB

O – Commentary: 

With the advent of the Messiah the time came for a new order of worship. True worshipers are those who realize that Jesus is the Truth of God (3:21; 14:6) and the one and only Way to the Father (Acts 4:12). To worship in truth is to worship God through Jesus. To worship in Spirit is to worship in the new realm which God has revealed to people. The Father is seeking true worshipers because He wants people to live in reality, not in falsehood. Everybody is a worshiper (Rom. 1:25) but because of sin many are blind and constantly put their trust in worthless objects.

4:24. God is Spirit is a better translation than the KJV‘s “God is a Spirit.” God is not one Spirit among many. This is a declaration of His invisible nature. He is not confined to one location. Worship of God can be done only through the One (Jesus) who expresses God’s invisible nature (1:18) and by virtue of the Holy Spirit who opens to a believer the new realm of the kingdom

“John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures

A – The intersection of the spiritual and human realm brings true worship.  When we in our human state gain access to God through Jesus, it realigns us back to God.  That has been his heart all along.  He wants a relationship with man and is worthy of man’s worship.  

R – Heavenly Father, we surrender and worship to you today.  You are the one, true God and no other worthy of our worship and adoration.  We know this because of Jesus.  In our fallibility, we are grateful that we can have a relationship with our Creator.

S – For the one whom God sent speaks God’s words, since he gives the Spirit without measure. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands

John 3:34–35 CSB

O – Commentary: 

Jesus gives the perfect truth of God as He speaks the words of God, because He has the full endowment of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit without limit. The Old Testament prophets had the Spirit only for limited times and for limited purposes.

The Apostle John referred to Jesus as the One whom God has sent. Thirty-nine times the Gospel of John refers to Jesus being sent from God. This affirms Jesus’ deity and heavenly origin, as well as God’s sovereignty and love in initiating the Son’s Incarnation (cf. Gal. 4:4; 1 John 4:9–10, 14).

3:35. The relationship between the Son and the Father is one of loving intimacy and complete confidence. The Son is endowed with all authority to accomplish the Father’s purposes (5:22; Matt. 28:18).

“John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures

A – We too have the Holy Spirit without limits because He is one with God (who has no limits).  We need to maximize how we interact and use the Holy Spirit in our lives.  It allows us to accomplish God’s purposes and grow in intimacy with Him.

R – Heavenly Father, thank you for our relationship that draws us to grow in intimacy and understanding of who You are.  Thank you for the Holy Spirit that helps us in these.  You have no limits – don’t let us constrain our faith in what you can do.  Let us walk in courage and humility today.

S – Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit

John 3:5–6 CSB

O – Commentary:  

Various views are given to explain Jesus’ words about being born of water and the Spirit:

(1) The “water” refers to the natural birth, and the “Spirit” to the birth from above.

(2) The “water” refers to the Word of God (Eph. 5:26).

(3) The “water” refers to baptism as an essential part of regeneration. (This view contradicts other Bible verses that make it clear that salvation is by faith alone; e.g., John 3:16, 36; Eph. 2:8–9; Titus 3:5.)

(4) The “water” is a symbol of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37–39).

(5) The “water” refers to the repentance ministry of John the Baptist, and the “Spirit” refers to the application by the Holy Spirit of Christ to an individual.

The fifth view has the merit of historical propriety as well as theological acceptability. John the Baptist had stirred the nation by his ministry and stress on repentance (Matt. 3:1–6). “Water” would remind Nicodemus of the Baptist’s emphasis. So Jesus was saying that Nicodemus, in order to enter the kingdom, needed to turn to Him (repent) in order to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit

“John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures

A – There is a physical and spiritual birth needed for salvation.   When someone decides that God is rightfully the One and only God, it causes us to recognize our own sinful nature.  It establishes the relationship of God to his creation and we repent of those sins.  We physically do this. This allows for the spiritual birth to happen as we are awakened to the spiritual realm and the Holy Spirit.

R – Father, we surrender and worship You as  the one, true God.  You are Holy and there is no other god.  We surrender and worship you today.  We offer our physical bodies today to be used by you to accomplish your will.  We invite the Holy Spirit to align us with your character as we love You and others today.

S – The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison. ²² But his hair began to grow back after it had been shaved. 

Judges 16:21–22 CSB

O – Samson’s disclosure of his strength leads to his capture and punishment.  This strong warrior is reduced to pushing a grain press while imprisoned. I love verse twenty-two…”But his hair began to grow.”  Hope and redemption started…

A – We all sin.  We are all broken.  We all have our “kryptonite.”  When we face the results of our mistakes, we have to turn to hope and redemption.  The source of Samson’s strength was his vow to God displayed in his hair.  Our source is our relationship with Christ.  Even in our worst, going to God in confession and forgiveness begins the “growth” process.

R – Lord, forgive us for our sins.  Our pride and fear cause us to feel invincible until we think, say or do something that shows us we are not.  You are the source of life and redemption.  We confess our sins and ask your forgiveness.  We surrender our will to yours and worship you in your holiness.