Author: T82

6 Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. ² But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” ³ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ⁴ And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; ⁶ but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’⁷ Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’¹⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the people of Israel.”

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

¹² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. ¹³ Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits^[a] long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven,¹⁴ and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, ¹⁵ who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. ¹⁶ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ ¹⁷ Now therefore, O Lord, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.

¹⁸ “But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! ¹⁹ Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, ²⁰ that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. ²¹ And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

²² “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, ²³ then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

²⁴ “If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house,²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.

²⁶ “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict^[b]them, ²⁷ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way^[c] in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.

²⁸ “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, ²⁹ whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, ³⁰ then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind, ³¹ that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

³² “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, ³³ hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

³⁴ “If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

³⁶ “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, ³⁷ yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ ³⁸ if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, ³⁹ then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. ⁴⁰ Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.

⁴¹ “And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your resting place,
    you and the ark of your might.
Let your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
    and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.
⁴² O Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one!
    Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.”

Footnotes

1. 2 Chronicles 6:13 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
2. 2 Chronicles 6:26 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew answer
3. 2 Chronicles 6:27 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate (compare 1 Kings 8:36); Hebrew toward the good way

To God be the Glory.

Three words. Three words attached to a war ultimatum aimed at the ancient nation of Persia. Glory be to GOD.

Whether you interpret that as sincere piety, political performance, or something the Spirit is doing in ways none of us fully understand — you cannot read Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation and see that phrase on that day and simply scroll past. We are not called to scroll past. We are called to watch and pray.

“Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog… and prophesy against him, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog… In the latter years you will go against the mountains of Israel…”EZEKIEL 38:2–8 (ESV)

Where Things Stand Right Now

⚔ LIVE SITUATION BRIEFING — APRIL 4, 2026

The US-Israel war against Iran is now entering its fifth week. The conflict began February 28 with coordinated US-Israeli strikes against Iranian military and nuclear infrastructure.

The Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passes — has been effectively closed to US-allied shipping since the early days of the war. Iran has allowed some vessels from “neutral” nations (Turkey, India, China) to transit under coordination with Tehran, but has continued targeting others with missiles and drones.

Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum issued Saturday night demands Iran fully reopen the Strait or face strikes on its power plants and energy infrastructure, including the critical Kharg Island oil terminal — through which roughly 90% of Iran’s crude exports flow.

Iran has responded defiantly, calling the ultimatum “helpless and nervous,” and threatening to lay mines across the entire Persian Gulf and target US energy infrastructure in the region if attacked. Iran’s Defense Council stated that any assault on its coasts or islands would trigger mine-laying operations that could shut down shipping far beyond the Strait itself.

Meanwhile, a USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier has been sent to Souda Bay, Greece for repairs after a fire aboard. Indirect peace negotiations are reportedly ongoing — led by Vice President Vance and Iran’s parliamentary speaker, mediated by Pakistan’s military chief. Iran officially denies direct talks are happening.

As of today, the deadline hangs in the air. The world holds its breath. And believers who know their Bibles are watching the geography of ancient prophecy play out in real time on their news feeds.

“The king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind… he shall enter countries and overflow and pass through.” — Daniel 11:40

Why Easter Monday Matters

Timing, in the Bible, is never accidental. God is sovereign over the calendar. And the fact that this ultimatum — with its explicitly divine closing signature — was issued on the day after the global Church celebrated the empty tomb is something worth sitting with in prayer.

Easter is the declaration that death has been defeated. That the grave could not hold the Son of God. That life wins. And yet on the morning after that celebration, the most powerful military office on earth issued a 48-hour countdown to potential catastrophic war — and closed it with “Glory be to GOD.”

Brother, sister — we live in a tension right now between resurrection hope and tribulation shadow. Both are biblical. Both are real. And both demand that we be neither paralyzed by fear nor asleep in comfort.

“But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.”1 THESSALONIANS 5:4–6 (NIV)

Persia in the Bible — This Is Not New Territory for God

Iran is not just a geopolitical adversary. It is ancient Persia — a nation woven throughout the pages of Scripture. It is the empire under which Daniel served, under which Esther risked her life, under which Cyrus issued the decree that sent Israel home from exile. And it is the nation named in Ezekiel’s great end-times prophecy as part of the coalition that comes against Israel in the latter days.

“Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes — many peoples are with you.”EZEKIEL 38:5–6 (ESV)

I am not here to tell you we are definitively in the Ezekiel 38 war. Prophecy scholars disagree on the timing and the players, and I hold those interpretations with humility. But I amhere to tell you that what is happening right now — a direct military confrontation between the United States and Israel on one side, and Iran (Persia) on the other, over control of the biblical geography of the Persian Gulf — is not something we should read with glazed eyes. The Lord told us to watch. We are watching.

The Strait of Hormuz and Your Household

I’ve written about this before, and I’ll say it again plainly: what happens in the Strait of Hormuz does not stay in the Middle East. It comes to your gas pump, your grocery store, your feed store, and your fertilizer bill.

About 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas moves through that narrow passage in peacetime. That number is effectively near zero right now for US-aligned shipping. Global oil prices have been rising sharply. Fertilizer prices — already stressed — face further pressure as natural gas markets tighten. Fuel costs for every farmer and homesteader in America are tied to this conflict whether we feel it yet or not.

🌾 HOMESTEAD WATCHMAN CHECKLIST — DO THIS NOW

• Fuel storage: If you’ve been meaning to top off your diesel or propane, do not wait. Energy price spikes lag the news by days to weeks.
• Fertilizer and inputs: Spring planting season is here. Secure your nitrogen, potassium, and phosphate needs before prices move further.
• Food pantry depth: Aim for 90 days of staples. Grains, legumes, canned goods, salt, oils. Not out of fear — out of faithfulness.
• Water independence: Review your water storage and filtration situation. This is foundational regardless of what happens overseas.
• Seed inventory: If you grow a garden, make sure you have open-pollinated seed stock that doesn’t depend on a supply chain.
• Medication and medical: A 90-day supply of any essential medications, plus a solid first aid capability, is prudent preparation.
• Community: Know your neighbors. Know who has what. Build relationships now, not in crisis.

The goal of preparedness is not survivalism. It is stewardship. Joseph stored grain for seven years so that the nations around him could be fed when the famine came. He didn’t hoard — he stewarded. And when the crisis arrived, his preparation became a platform for God’s provision and God’s glory. That’s the model, family.

“A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.”PROVERBS 22:3 (NIV)

What Do We Do With “Glory Be to GOD”?

That phrase from Trump’s Truth Social post has rattled around in my spirit since I first read it. A sitting US president, on Easter Monday, closing a war ultimatum with a declaration of divine glory. What do we make of that?

Here is what I know: God is not surprised by it. He is sovereign over the kings of the earth — all of them. Proverbs 21:1 tells us that the king’s heart is a stream of water in the Lord’s hand; He turns it wherever He will. Whether Trump spoke those words with full spiritual intentionality or not, God can use the words of kings to accomplish His purposes.

What I also know is this: the God who received glory on the first Easter — the God of resurrection, of rolled-away stones, of wounds that became proofs of victory — is the same God watching over this geopolitical moment. He has not been unseated. He has not been surprised. He has not abdicated His throne.

“The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.” — Psalm 29:10

Our call is not to figure out the exact prophetic timeline. Our call is to trust the One who holds all timelines in His hands, to watch faithfully, to pray without ceasing, and to live in readiness — both spiritually and practically.

Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus. Even so — come.

🙏

A PRAYER FOR THIS HOUR

Sovereign Lord, King of kings and Lord of lords — we come before You in this moment of tension and uncertainty. We acknowledge that You are not alarmed. You are not pacing Heaven’s halls in worry. You sit enthroned above the circle of the earth, and the nations are like a drop from a bucket to You.

We pray for peace — true peace, the Shalom that only You can give. We pray for the leaders of nations — that You would turn their hearts toward wisdom and away from destruction. We pray for the innocent people of Iran, many of whom love You, many of whom long for freedom from an oppressive regime. We pray for Israel, and for the peace of Jerusalem. We pray for our soldiers and their families.

Lord, give us eyes to see what You are doing in these days. Keep us from fear. Keep us from apathy. Make us faithful watchmen — awake, alert, and anchored in the hope of the Resurrection that we just celebrated. Nothing that is happening in the Strait of Hormuz is outside Your sovereign hand.

In the matchless name of Jesus, who is risen — Amen.

✝   TO GOD BE THE GLORY   ✝

T

To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.^[a] A Psalm of David.

12 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;
    for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
² Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
    with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

³ May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
⁴ those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
    our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

⁵ “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord;
    “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
⁶ The words of the Lord are pure words,
    like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.

⁷ You, O Lord, will keep them;
    you will guard us^[b] from this generation forever.
⁸ On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

The world may call it a tragedy. But those of us who have been washed in His blood, who have heard our name called out of darkness and into light — we know the truth. Good Friday is the hinge point of all of history. The moment when the wrath of a holy God and the love of a merciful Father met on two beams of wood, and we were the reason.

So today, before we rush toward the empty tomb of Easter morning, let us linger here a moment. Let us stand at the foot of the Cross and simply be thankful. Let us bring our hearts — with all their failures, all their wandering, all their unworthiness — and lay them before the One who died to redeem them.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.ROMANS 5:8 (NKJV)

WHAT THE CROSS DID FOR US

Before we can pray with genuine thankfulness, we must sit with what was truly accomplished at Calvary. Jesus did not simply die a tragic death — He bore the full weight of every sin ever committed, every sin yet to be committed, upon His body. The prophet Isaiah saw it centuries before it happened: He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities(Isaiah 53:5).

Every lie we told. Every moment of pride. Every wound we inflicted. Every time we chose self over God. Jesus took it all — nailed it to that Cross — so that we would never have to stand condemned before the Father. That is not tragedy. That is the most magnificent act of love the universe has ever witnessed.

“He became what we are, so that we could become what He is — children of the Living God.”

And because He rose — because Sunday is coming — His death was not the end of the story. But let us not skip past the Friday too quickly. Let us honor what it cost Him. Let us let gratitude arise from that holy ground.

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 (NKJV)

A THANKFUL PRAYER TO JESUS

From the homestead fields to the quiet of your prayer closet — wherever you are reading this today — I invite you to pause, bow your head, and pray these words from a heart of gratitude. There is no more holy posture than a thankful soul kneeling before the Cross.

A GOOD FRIDAY PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

✝

Lord Jesus,

On this Good Friday, I come before You not with grief alone, but with a heart overflowing with gratitude — because what happened on the Cross was not a defeat. It was Your victory on my behalf.

Thank You, Jesus. Thank You for leaving the glory of Heaven and stepping into human skin — for walking dusty roads, weeping with the brokenhearted, and touching those no one else would touch. Thank You that You came not to be served, but to serve, and to give Your life as a ransom for many.

Thank You for Gethsemane — for sweating drops of blood in that garden and still saying “not My will, but Yours be done.” Thank You that Your love for me was stronger than the anguish of what lay ahead.

Thank You for the stripes on Your back — for bearing the wounds that purchased my healing. Thank You for the crown of thorns pressed onto Your brow — You who are the King of Kings, humbled to carry the curse of our pride. Thank You for the nails. Thank You for enduring the weight of separation from the Father — that cry of “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” — so that I would never be forsaken.

Thank You that it is finished. That the debt I could never pay, You paid in full. That the righteousness I could never earn, You freely gave. That the death I deserved, You willingly took.

I am not worthy of any of it, Lord. And yet — You looked down through time, You saw my face, You knew my name, and You said “yes” anyway. That undoes me. That is the thing that brings me to my knees.

So today, Lord Jesus, I lay everything at the foot of the Cross. My sins — forgiven. My fears — surrendered. My future — Yours. I receive again the gift You gave on Calvary, and I will not take it lightly.

Help me to live as someone who has truly been bought with a price. Help me to love the way You loved — sacrificially, relentlessly, without condition. Let the Cross not simply be something I remember on a Friday each spring, but the anchor of every day of my life.

Thank You, Jesus. From the depths of all that I am — thank You.

In Your most precious and holy Name I pray,AMEN  ✝  AMEN  ✝  AMEN

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.HEBREWS 12:2 (NKJV)

LINGER HERE TODAY

Friend, I want to encourage you — don’t let Good Friday pass like an ordinary Friday. Take time today to be still before the Lord. Read Isaiah 53 slowly. Sit with the account of the Crucifixion in John 19. Put on some hymns and let the words wash over you. Go outside and look at the sky and remember what was purchased for you there on that hill called Golgotha.

Let your heart be broken, yes — but let it be broken open. Because a heart broken open by the Cross has room for more of Him. And that is always, always a good thing.

Sunday is coming. The tomb will be empty. But for today — today we say thank You.

✝

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

Taylor

On being rejected by the world — and what that rejection means for those who belong to Christ

✦

DEVOTIONAL  ·  APRIL 2026

In Costa Rica, there is an old saying that cuts right to the bone of human experience: “The skinny dog gets the fleas.”It is a truth every downtrodden soul recognizes immediately — that in this fallen world, hardship has a way of piling on top of hardship, and the weak seem to attract trouble the way a wound attracts flies. Most of the world hears that proverb and shakes its head in resignation. But for the follower of Jesus Christ, it carries a hidden gospel beneath the surface.

I have watched this play out over and over again in real life. The person already struggling is the one the crowd overlooks, mocks, or avoids. The one with less seems to lose more. The humble are taken advantage of. The meek are walked over. The world, in its wisdom, calls this simply the way things are — survival of the fittest, every man for himself. And if we stop there, we are left with nothing but despair.

But God does not stop there. He never has.

COSTA RICAN PROVERB

“The skinny dog gets the fleas.”A TRUTH THE WORLD ADMITS — BUT CANNOT REDEEM

The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

Jesus stood on a hillside and turned the entire logic of the world upside down with eight simple declarations. Among them, perhaps the most radical — the most countercultural thing any voice has ever spoken — was this:

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.MATTHEW 5:5  ·  ESV

The world says the bold inherit the earth. The connected. The powerful. The ones who claw their way to the top. The meek, in the world’s telling, inherit nothing but more hardship — more fleas, to put it plainly. And yet here stands the Son of God, the Author of creation, and He says: I am going to give the earth to the ones the world has already written off.

Think about that literally. Not metaphorically. Not as a spiritual platitude meant to comfort the suffering in the moment. Jesus means this. The meek — the humble, the lowly, the ones pressed down by circumstance and rejected by society — they are the ones who will, in the fullness of time, stand on the earth that God made and know it as their inheritance. The skinny dog, it turns out, has the most powerful Master.

The skinny dog, it turns out, has the most powerful Master.

The World Will Hate You — And That Is a Sign

Then Jesus goes further. He warned His disciples — and He warns every one of us who bear His name — that the world’s rejection of us is not accidental. It is not random misfortune. It is the world responding to something real:

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.JOHN 15:18–19  ·  ESV

Now hear that in a literal harmonic sense. The world’s hatred is tuned to a frequency. And when the world’s rejection lands on you — when you are overlooked, walked on, mocked for your faith, excluded because of your values, left out because you refused to go along — that rejection is resonance. It means you are vibrating at the frequency of Heaven, and the world cannot tolerate it.

The skinny dog gets the fleas because the fleas belong to this world. They are drawn to what is weak in the world’s eyes. But the ones who belong to Jesus — who are meek before God, dependent on Him, stripped of the world’s armor of pride and self-sufficiency — those people are magnets for the world’s disdain precisely because they carry something the world did not give them and cannot take away.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.JOHN 16:33  ·  ESV

Rejoice! You Have Been Rejected by the World!

This is the stunning reversal that the Gospel announces to every downtrodden soul, every overlooked laborer, every quiet believer who has been mocked for their faith, every humble homesteader who has been dismissed, every gentle soul the world has run over:

Rejoice! For if the world has rejected you, it means you were never truly of the world. The very thing that marks you as outcast in their eyes is the same thing that marks you as chosen in His. You were not passed over — you were set apart. You were not forgotten — you were called out. The Lord Himself was despised and rejected among men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And He says to you today: “Come, follow Me.” The road is narrow. The world will not applaud. But the destination is glorious beyond comprehension.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.MATTHEW 5:11–12  ·  ESV

The most downtrodden among us — the ones the world has passed by, pressed down, and piled onto — need not live in shame or fear. You are not forgotten. The Lord sees every single flea the world has thrown on you. He sees every slight, every dismissal, every door that was shut in your face. And He says: Take heart. I have overcome the world.

The skinny dog gets the fleas — yes. But the skinny dog also gets adopted by the King.

The world’s rejection of you is not your verdict. It is His invitation.

A Closing Word of Encouragement

If you are reading this and you feel like the skinny dog today — pressed upon, overlooked, carrying burdens the world doesn’t see — I want to speak directly to you. Your hardship is not evidence that God has abandoned you. More often than not, it is evidence that you are walking the narrow road. The world does not pile on those who belong to it. It piles on those who do not.

Hold the line. Keep the faith. Lift your eyes from the fleas and fix them on the One who said the meek shall inherit the earth. Your inheritance is not in this age. It is in the age to come, with the One who overcame the world — and who calls you His own.

Hallelujah! Praise You, Jesus! Thank You, Lord!

CLOSING PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we come before You on behalf of every soul who feels downtrodden today — every man and woman who has been overlooked, mocked, rejected, or pressed down by the weight of this world. Lord, remind them that Your Son was rejected before they were. Remind them that the meek shall inherit the earth, that the last shall be first, and that the road You call us to is not the road the world applauds. Let them receive the world’s rejection as a confirmation of their calling rather than a condemnation of their worth.

Strengthen them, Lord. Give them eyes to see what You see in them. Let them trade their shame for the joy set before them — the same joy that Jesus Himself endured the cross to secure. We thank You that no flea of this world, no hardship, no rejection, no season of tribulation can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Jesus’ Holy Name — Amen.

✝

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY

Taylor

For the director of music. Of David.

¹ In the Lord I take refuge.
    How then can you say to me:
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain.
² For look, the wicked bend their bows;
    they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
    at the upright in heart.
³ When the foundations are being destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”

⁴ The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
    his eyes examine them.
⁵ The Lord examines the righteous,
    but the wicked, those who love violence,
    he hates with a passion.
⁶ On the wicked he will rain
    fiery coals and burning sulfur;
    a scorching wind will be their lot.

⁷ For the Lord is righteous,
    he loves justice;
    the upright will see his face.

April 2026  ·  By Taylor

I won’t pretend to agree with every decision made in Washington. And I won’t pretend the world feels steady right now — because it doesn’t. Fuel prices are climbing. Tensions are escalating abroad. Supply chains are straining. Families are watching the news with a low hum of anxiety they can’t quite name. The world is restless, and the people charged with leading it carry a burden most of us will never fully comprehend.

But here is what I do know: Scripture does not ask us whether we approve of our leaders before we pray for them. It simply asks us to pray.

“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

1 TIMOTHY 2:1–2 (NIV)

When I look at President Trump right now, I see something I wasn’t fully expecting to feel: compassion. I see a man in his late seventies carrying the weight of geopolitical fires, economic pressures, a fractured nation, and a watching world. Whatever your politics, that is a real and heavy burden. And the Bible has a great deal to say about what leaders need — and who alone can truly sustain them.

The heart of a king is like a watercourse in the hand of the Lord — He directs it wherever He pleases. Only God can steady what no human wisdom is strong enough to hold.

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will.”

PROVERBS 21:1 (ESV)

That verse is not a threat — it is a comfort. It means that no matter how chaotic the landscape appears, God is not wringing His hands. He is not surprised. He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and the nations are like a drop in a bucket before Him (Isaiah 40:15). The volatility we see is not beyond His reach.

And so today, I set aside the commentary and the politics and the noise. I open my hands and I bring this man — and the many people serving with him, and the many families caught in the crossfire of global events — before the throne of grace. Because that is what followers of Jesus are called to do.

A PRAYER

INTERCESSION

Heavenly Father, You alone are sovereign over the rise and fall of nations. You hold every leader — every president, every cabinet member, every advisor — in the palm of Your hand. And so we come to You today, not because we have all the answers, but because You do.

Lord, we lift up President Donald Trump before You. We pray for the weight he carries — the decisions that span continents, the pressures that don’t pause, the counsel that is never perfect, the sleep that doesn’t always come. Father, where he is weary, be his strength. Where he is proud, be his humility. Where he is uncertain, be his wisdom. Where he is fearful, be his peace.

We pray for his cabinet — for each man and woman seated at those tables of influence. May they counsel with integrity. May they speak truth even when truth is costly. May the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, be the compass in that room.

We pray for Melania, for his children and grandchildren, for those who love him privately and carry the burden of proximity to power. Surround that family, Lord. Guard them. Let the love of Christ break through whatever walls have been built.

We lift before You every family in America and around the world who is feeling the tremors of this hour — those watching fuel prices climb, those in regions destabilized by conflict, those who are afraid, those who are grieving, those who have lost sons and daughters to wars they didn’t choose. Father, You are the God of all comfort. Meet them where they are.

We pray for peace — the kind that only You can give. Not the peace the world offers, which depends on conditions and agreements and the absence of conflict. But the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding, that guards hearts and minds even in the middle of the storm.

And Lord — above all — we ask that Your Kingdom purposes would not be thwarted by the decisions of any man. That what You have decreed from before the foundation of the world would come to pass in its time, and in Your way. Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We trust You. We do not understand everything. But we trust You.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our King of Kings — Amen.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

PHILIPPIANS 4:6–7 (NIV)

I don’t know what tomorrow holds. I don’t know what decisions will be made this week in the halls of power, or what headlines will greet us by the time you read this. But I know the One who holds tomorrow. And I know that prayer is not passive — it is the most powerful act a believer can offer in an uncertain world.

So today, let us be people of prayer. Not people of fear. Not people of rage. Not people of despair. People of prayer.

To God be the Glory — now and forever. 🙏

I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
² No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning. Do you realize what the Scriptures say about this? Elijah the prophet complained to God about the people of Israel and said,
³ “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”
⁴ And do you remember God’s reply? He said, “No, I have 7,000 others who have never bowed down to Baal!”
⁵ It is the same today, for a few of the people of Israel have remained faithful because of God’s grace — his undeserved kindness in choosing them.
⁶ And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is — free and undeserved.
⁷ So this is the situation: Most of the people of Israel have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have — the ones God has chosen — but the hearts of the rest were hardened.
⁸ As the Scriptures say, “God has put them into a deep sleep. To this day he has shut their eyes so they do not see, and closed their ears so they do not hear.”
⁹ Likewise, David said, “Let their bountiful table become a snare, a trap that makes them think all is well. Let their blessings cause them to stumble, and let them get what they deserve.
¹⁰ Let their eyes go blind so they cannot see, and let their backs be bent forever.”
¹¹ Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves.
¹² Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it.
¹³ I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this,
¹⁴ for I want somehow to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some of them.
¹⁵ For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead!
¹⁶ And since Abraham and the other patriarchs were holy, their descendants will also be holy — just as the entire batch of dough is holy because the portion given as an offering is holy. For if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.
¹⁷ But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree — some of the people of Israel — have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree.
¹⁸ But you must not brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. You are just a branch, not the root.
¹⁹ “Well,” you may say, “those branches were broken off to make room for me.”
²⁰ Yes, but remember — those branches were broken off because they didn’t believe in Christ, and you are there because you do believe. So don’t think highly of yourself, but fear what could happen.
²¹ For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t spare you either.
²² Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off.
²³ And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree.
²⁴ You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.
²⁵ I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ.
²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, “The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness.
²⁷ And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.”
²⁸ Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
²⁹ For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
³⁰ Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead.
³¹ Now they are the rebels, and God’s mercy has come to you so that they, too, will share in God’s mercy.
³² For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.
³³ Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!
³⁴ For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice?
³⁵ And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?
³⁶ For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

🙏