Monthly Archives: September 2026

September 7, 2026 · 5:53 AM

A Close Friend

In 2003 I was going through the toughest time of my life. I was going through a divorce, my business was failing and my life was falling apart. I had three people who showed up daily during that time. My brother would call several times a day to check in on me and encourage me. A coworker friend would come over each morning to force me out of bed and make me go to work. A friend from church would then come over in the evenings to sit with me. He said, “I’ve never been married nor have I owned a business so I can’t really relate. However, I know you don’t need to be alone.” Those three saved my life and kept me going. They showed me the power of friendship and why we need them.

During that period, I read the book of Job a lot. One of my favorite parts was in Job 2. He had three friends who had heard about the loss he had experienced and showed up to see him. When they saw him, they identified with his grief and began to grieve with him. Verse 11 says, “Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words” (NLT). Their presence was needed more than their platitudes. Sometimes people need you just to sit with them instead of searching for a solution or any advice you might give. Sitting in silence when suffering is too great for words often does more good than anything. Friends show up even when they don’t know what to say or do.

Proverbs 18:24 says, “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (NIV) Friends who stick closer than a brother show up and help carry a weight that’s greater than words. We all need friends like this, but we also need to be this kind of friend to someone. Life will always have hard times and bring moments too great for words. It’s in those moments when the godly friends mentioned in this verse rise to the top and show up. They refuse to let someone walk alone. We can’t afford to have unreliable friends nor can we be an unreliable friend. There’s too much at stake. Check in, show up and be present in someone’s life. You never know when you will need a close friend too.

Photo by Jakob Linser from Pexels.

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September 4, 2026 · 5:59 AM

The Cloud of God

One of the threads throughout Scripture is when there is a major shift in history, God shows up and manifests His glory in the form of a cloud. Starting in Exodus, then at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, when Jesus left earth and when He returns, God uses a cloud. It was His way of letting His invisible presence be seen, to let people know He’s intervening and that He is not far away. I believe God still cares for each of us and shows up in major transitions. He doesn’t leave us wandering and His presence assures us that He is there with us, walking through the wilderness, giving peace in impossible situations, and marking transitions now and in the future. The next time life has you down, look up and know you’re not on your own. God’s presence is with you.

Here are some Bible verses where God showed up in a cloud:

1. Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the doorway of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tent door, all the people would rise and worship, each at his tent door.

Exodus 33:9-10 AMP

2. Whenever the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. And wherever the cloud settled, the people of Israel would set up camp.

Numbers 9:17 NLT

3. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.”

Mark 9:7 NLT

4. Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

Acts 1:9 NKJV

5. Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in a cloud with great power and glory. When these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your salvation is near.

Luke 21:27-28 GNT

Photo by Tomris🇹🇷 from Pexels.

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September 3, 2026 · 5:30 AM

Dealing With Doubt

Doubt is one of those things that we don’t really talk about when we go through it. The thoughts come in, we try to dismiss them away, but sometimes they linger. If you grew up in church and come from a family of generational Christians it’s natural for the enemy to try to plant seeds of doubt in your mind, especially after a tragic event of death of a close family member. We don’t talk about it because of the way we were raised, but if those thoughts linger, they will begin to show up in our actions. The good news is that when we go through periods of doubt, research shows that it gives us a chance to strengthen our relationship with Jesus and to let our roots grow deeper into Him. Doubt often produces a stronger faith. The Faith we talked about our whole life becomes real when we experience God intervene in our life and reveal Himself to us.

In John 20, Jesus had resurrected from the dead. Peter and John had been to the empty tomb, but Mary Magdalene saw Him. Doubt filled their minds I’m sure, but Jesus appeared to all of them that night with the exception of Thomas. He wasn’t in the room. When they tried to tell him their experience, he didn’t believe and famously said, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side” (verse 25 NLT). We’ve nicknamed him and shamed him by calling him Doubting Thomas, but the truth is we all doubt at times and need God to reveal Himself to us in a real way. We all look for those moments we can look back on and say, “I know that was God!”

In Psalm 94:19 David says, “When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.” Even King David, who slayed a giant, experienced doubts but he always went back to God’s Word and found comfort in God. Romans 10:17 reminds us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. When doubts arise, read the Bible, go to the Lord in honest prayer and let another Christian you know and trust pray with you. We all experience periods and moments of doubt. Let them drive you to know God more and to have that moment where you place your finger in His hands and put your hand in side so to speak. He is willing to let you experience it to grow your faith. Don’t let doubt chase you away. Use it to grow deeper in your relationship with Him.

Photo by Lisa van Vliet on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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September 2, 2026 · 5:32 AM

Leave The Starting Line

One of the mottos I try to live by is, “Go, set, ready.” Most of us have heard and used that phrase in the opposite order. What I’ve realized is that I can use ”ready” and “set” as excuses to keep me from going. I’ll tell myself, “It’s not ready yet. I need more time to get it ready.” I allow myself to use that excuse knowing it will never be “ready” enough. The other thing I do is feel like I have to “set” things in order before I can go. Again, all I’m doing is waiting for the right moment which never comes. Years will go by and I’m still standing on the starting line having never gone anywhere because I’ve kept myself busy getting ready and set. I’ve learned to go and get things in order after I start moving and to work on making them ready while in motion.

In Joshua 13, God told Joshua, “You are growing old, and much land remains to be conquered” (NLT). God wasn’t calling him a failure, but was pointing out that the job of conquering all the land He had given Israel was unfinished. There was more to do. Then God said, “I myself will drive these people out of the land ahead of the Israelites. So be sure to give this land to Israel as a special possession, just as I have commanded you. Include all this territory as Israel’s possession when you divide this land among the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.” God told Joshua to give it to the tribes before it was conquered. It was unfinished, inhabited and formidable. God was telling them if they would go, He would drive out the inhabitants for them, but they couldn’t stand still. The gift He was giving was greater than their capacity. They would never feel ready or set enough.

Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” There are some things that will remain unfinished and imperfect in your life. Don’t let that stop you from obeying. God is still working. In fact He began while we felt inadequate, but if we keep going, He will be faithful to complete what He began. The things He’s called you to may feel formidable, unfinished and unconquerable, but don’t let that keep you on the starting line. As you go to possess it, He will complete the work. He will drive out the inhabitants. Your job is to get off the starting line in faith. Quit making excuses. Go!

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

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September 1, 2026 · 6:05 AM

Trusting God’s Strategy

Several years ago I was a sales manager. There was another salesman in our district that had similar numbers to my team, but his checks were double. I set up a meeting and asked the secret, and he told me. In our weekly meeting I shared the secret. One rep jumped up, told the team I was a liar and to not listen to me. He couldn’t see how changing the mix of what he was selling could double his check without increasing the volume. Another rep said he would do it. I explained he would have to trust me for 8 weeks before he saw his commission check. He agreed to follow the formula. Eight weeks later, he brought his paycheck stub to the meeting. It was double. After that, the rest believed.

In Joshua 6, God gave Joshua a strange strategy to defeat Jericho. Instead of building a siege ramp to get past their walls, God told them to march around the city in silence for seven days and when they shouted on the seventh day, the walls would fall. Jericho residents mocked them and laughed at what they were doing. Every other successful battle against a walled city had followed the pattern of using siege ramps. They knew what needed to be done, but God was asking for obedience over understanding. The Israelites had to walk in silence each day trusting God’s strategy while nothing was changing. After seven days of obedience without a change to Jericho’s walls, they shouted anyway and God took down the walls. Their obedience had won the victory and not their own strength or strategy.

Hebrews 10:36 says, “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised” (NLT). Throughout the Bible and today, God asks us to follow His strategy over our strength. Can you continue to follow what He asked over a long period of time even when nothing has changed? Can you sustain your obedience even when it doesn’t make sense? Obedience isn’t just the path to God’s promises, it proves it was God who delivered the victory and not ourselves. Have patient endurance and continue to do God’s will even when it doesn’t make sense and nothing is changing. Then you will experience all that He promised.

Photo by T on Unsplash

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