David’s world is noisy and threatening, but his heart lies down in the quiet confidence that God is awake, watchful, and completely in control. We are trained to feel safe when the doors are locked, the accounts are stable, and the plan is clear. But David says his security is not in any of those things; it is in the Lord alone.

That word “alone” slices through our props and backups. If everything else were stripped away, would God still be enough for you to rest? The sustaining hand of God is meant to be more real to you than the pillow under your head. The sleep David describes is the rest of a child who knows his Father is near. Think of how a little one can fall asleep in a noisy room simply because he is in his parent’s arms.

Sweet sleep is not for those who have no problems, but for those who entrust their problems to a greater Hand. You are never more vulnerable than when you are asleep, and yet that is exactly when God proves His care. This is a lifestyle call to refuse the lie that you are on your own.

We find this peace by remembering who our Father is. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

Adapted from biblehub.com’s Dawn 2 Dusk. © 2026 by Bible Hub Team

Significantly adapted from the 2/26/26 evening devotional on BibleHub. Read the original here.

Amos confronts a people who kept their religious rhythms while their streets ran dry of integrity. God isn’t impressed by polished gatherings if our everyday choices ignore what He loves. He calls for a life where worship spills out as justice, mercy, and steady obedience.

When worship sounds hollow
It’s possible to be busy with spiritual things and still be missing the heart of God. We can sing loudly, serve faithfully, and yet quietly excuse bitterness, dishonesty, or indifference to someone being mistreated, those who suffer in a lopsided society. Jesus said, “You have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23). He wasn’t dismissing discipline—He was exposing a heart that wants the appearance of holiness without the cost of it.

So here’s a gentle but serious question: if someone followed you from the sanctuary into your conversations, your spending, your online life, and your decision-making, would they see the same God you say you adore? Micah reminds us what the LORD requires: “to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Humility is the doorway—because justice begins when I stop defending myself and start fearing God and loving my neighbor the way I love myself.

Let justice have its momentum
Amos doesn’t paint justice as a drip from a leaky faucet; he says, “But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24). A river doesn’t need hype; it needs a clear channel. God is inviting you to open the channel—at home, at work, in church, in how you speak, hire, listen, and repent.

Justice “rolling” means we don’t only avoid doing wrong; we learn to actively do right. “Learn to do right; seek justice. Correct the oppressor; defend the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17). That might look like telling the truth when a lie would be easier, refusing to laugh at cruel humor, protecting someone who has less power, making restitution when you’ve benefited from what wasn’t fair, helping the oppressed find freedom to live the abundant lives God created them to enjoy.

Righteousness that keeps flowing
If you hear this and feel overwhelmed, that’s actually a good sign—you’re realizing you can’t manufacture righteousness. God doesn’t call you to perform; He calls you to be transformed. “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The river starts at the cross: forgiven people become changed people.

And God doesn’t leave you to grit your teeth through obedience. Jesus promised, “Streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:38). The Spirit makes righteousness an “ever-flowing stream”—not perfection overnight, but a real direction, real conviction, real courage, and real love. James gets wonderfully practical: “Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). That’s what river-life looks like.

Father, thank You for loving what is right and for giving us the opportunity in Christ to see justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream – in us personally, in our neighbors’ lives, in our communities. Search me, cleanse me, and make my worship overflow today in justice, mercy, and obedience.

Suffering and death is a daily reality for true believers all over the world, especially in northern Nigeria right now. If we aren’t committed to martyrdom, we are taking the Name of the Lord in vain. May the Lord revive his people to make disciples of all the nations.

Apostasy is so much more comfortable a life than discipleship.

In 2009, a newly elected President declared his intention to “fundamentally transform” the US. The borders were opened. Police forces neutered. Criminals put back on the streets by soft-on-crime DAs and judges. Whole sections of cities set ablaze by “peaceful protestors.”

Do you understand why “progressives” wanted to import millions of people accustomed to taking their grievances into violent street protests? What do you think the “fundamental transformation” of the US looks like when the strategic goal is finally accomplished?

Feel free to go back as many generations as needed and submit as many forms as are required. Most of us can identify many oppressors as far back as we can trace our histories. 

Please note: Your people group likely oppressed another at some point. You will be liable for that. Please download that form and submit it as well. 

Note also: If your ethnicity derives from multiple people groups, you will need to account for all those on each form.

Are you experiencing a sinking feeling? Don’t be too concerned. You have merely stepped off into a bottomless pit. Only the Almighty can sort this out. That’s why he said, “Vengeance is mine. I will repay.”

Better we all just forget this business and find something constructive and redemptive to put our hands to that we can do with all our might. We’ve got folks depending on us and neighbors who need our help. 

Everyone is asking why (again), and everyone seems to have a different answer. Leaving aside the fact that membership has little or nothing to do with discipleship, I’ll offer my own two-word explanation for the fall-off in most major Christian denominations.

Cultural captivity.

Like the biblical Israelites, God’s people have deceived themselves into believing they can live like the pagans around them and still receive the benefits of the Covenant. 

The people are consumers who think the Church, like the businesses around them, exists to provide the services they want. Church leaders are therefore completely invested in developing, maintaining, and expanding organizations that can thrive in the service economy.

We have no heart, no desire, no courage to be holy as God is holy, to be salt and light in a rotting culture, to wholeheartedly devote ourselves to advancing God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, to speak Truth to our neighbors dead in their sins, much less to our own wicked selves.

Our lips praise God but we would be shocked to understand how far our hearts are from him. We devote our time, talent, and treasure to the same self-indulgent pursuits as our pagan neighbors.

Their good news is ours.

We have made our homes in Egypt, and gladly so. We don’t understand what apostasy is, much less recognize it in our lives.

Many in the congregations need awakening, and the rest need revival. Thank God for the remnant he has preserved who have hearts to rescue the perishing, pursue God’s justice, and make disciples among the pagans.

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.” (Luke 14:34-35)

“Thrown out”? I’m sure I’m not being salt the way the Lord wants, but I don’t want to be thrown out. Is there no way to make me truly salty?

Mark’s gospel records the same question, but there he includes Jesus’ answer – though it’s probably not the answer we want to hear:

“Everyone will be salted with fire.” (Mark 9:49)

Good news. Bad news. I can be made salty, but with fire? I’ll ask what that means, but I’m afraid I already know the answer.

Look to Peter: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12)

“Fiery ordeals.” Great. The Lord is testing how much salt is left in me, and the ordeal is adding the salt I need so I won’t be judged worthless and thrown out of the house.

Peter has exciting news for us, however:

“Rejoice! Because by these ordeals you are participating in the sufferings of Christ …. And those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” (1 Peter 4:13,19)

Do you know, deep down, that you aren’t being “the salt of the earth” Jesus intends you to be? Are you suffering in a fiery ordeal?

Don’t despair. The ordeal is a sign you aren’t worthless in God’s sight. He’s testing you and adding into you the salt you are supposed to be.

Even better: Your suffering isn’t punishment. You’re actually joining Christ in his own suffering which, you will recall, is how he paid (and pays) the price to redeem all humanity from the power and penalty of our sin.

So don’t be discouraged. You are suffering by the will of God and alongside Christ himself. Double down on your commitment to the Lord and keep doing good.

Because doing good is how you are the salt of the earth.

I’ve completed a little ebook project designed to help people with their “read through the Bible” efforts. It’s called “Bible Book Summaries” and includes a quick summary of each book, an overview (key verse, title and author, etc.), and lists of the book’s themes and key events. It also offers links to multiple Bible reading plans and tips for reading the Bible better.

We hope this resource will encourage more people to read all the Bible and that it will increase both comprehension and understanding as it is used. It’s available in epub, pdf, Pages, and Word formats.

For example, in my adult life, everywhere I’ve lived I have tried to be part of a church start. It seemed to me I could be more helpful in a setting like that, rather than an established church where I might be just another face in the crowd.

So when I moved to Little Rock, I asked around and learned a new congregation was meeting in a subdivision clubhouse not far from where we were living.

I was pleased to see how energetic the worship was. We had a passionate preacher with a heart for evangelism. The church was growing nicely. Volunteers moved our equipment in and out each week. The nursery was housed in a motor home parked in front of the clubhouse.

Before long, I was approached about serving as a deacon and I agreed, on the condition that all church members had an opportunity to participate in the laying on of hands. I had long disliked the “ordained men only” practice, and many of the women who paused to pray over me cried as they did so. It was a powerful experience for me and many others.

Soon we found the clubhouse too cramped for our growing congregation and discussion began about the need for our own building. Agreement was unanimous and we moved forward: property was purchased, a building designed, and volunteer builders recruited to help lower costs.

The people were united by the cause, and spirits were high the day we dedicated the new building.

AS I RECALL, however, we quickly found ourselves facing new problems.

— We had shorted ourselves on educational space. The sanctuary gave us plenty of room for growth, but we couldn’t provide enough places to teach the growing number of children, youth, and adults.

— Our pastor had a hard time transitioning from his evangelist / church planter role to that of a pastor / church manager. Even though we had members with solid experience as managers in their work lives, he found it difficult to delegate roles to capable people.

— We didn’t have a “mother” church to guide us. The local Baptist association couldn’t find one congregation with the vision of planting a new church, so they signed up five or six to share the responsibility. That ignored the adage: “Everybody’s business is nobody’s business.”

— We failed to vet the members we picked up by transfer from other churches. The sponsoring churches didn’t send “stack pole” people to form a core for the new church. Several couples joined who were on the outs with their previous pastors, and they brought their baggage with them. It wasn’t long before they were in conflict with our pastor (himself a stubborn redhead with a fiery Irish temper).

— The unhappy members didn’t hesitate to share their feelings with neighbors. They began talking among themselves about firing him. Church attendance began to fall off. The congregation was becoming a byword in the community.

— The unhappy couples had quit attending and giving. We had financed too much of the construction cost. As attendance declined, it became more and more difficult to meet the mortgage payment. As a result, stress on church leadership increased, and the conflict intensified.

Our deacon group was determined to not set a pattern of “solving” problems by firing the pastor. I knew, as the son of a pastor who had faced conflict with factions, that a day could come when our faction showed up at a business meeting with non-attenders they had mobilized to vote the pastor out.

As I sat in business meeting one Wednesday evening, I was overwhelmed by a feeling that we were close to seeing that revolt. On the spur of the moment, I made a motion to suspend the voting rights of specific members until they agreed to conflict mediation. I hadn’t talked to our pastor or the other deacons about it, but the idea resonated and the vote was unanimous.

I received a phone call the next day from one of the couples we had voted on. As a family, we were close to two or three of them, but this particular one had been babysitting our daughter when she took her first steps. They were surrogate grandparents to our baby girl.

It was well known in the church that this family was talking up the idea of firing our pastor. The deacons knew which families were involved. Our pastor certainly knew them.

Yet this couple was calling me to deny they had any problems with the pastor and to ask why I had not come to them personally before putting forward that motion at business meeting.

Though they had never spoken to me directly about their conflict with our pastor, they were right that I should have talked with them personally before taking the step I did. (Not to mention speaking with our pastor and the other deacons.)

By making that motion, I may have added the straw that broke the camel’s back. The church’s decline sped up. Our pastor’s doctor told him he had to resign because the stress was affecting his health. Although we called another pastor, the instability was just too great. It took some time, but the church eventually closed. Our good folk scattered to other churches.

One mission board has some excellent resources on how to plant a church, in addition to material that helps with conflict and revitalization. I wish we’d had those resources in hand back then. I hope others will take advantage of them now.