Musings from a Country Pastor

08/04/2026

Recently, I read Theo of Golden. I found it profoundly theological in a casual way. I mean that it is not overtly Christian, but it does not hide matters of faith.

Theo has a profound faith that he seeks to live out in the real world. The book reads like a real-world event, even though it is a work of fiction.

The following is a quote. Theo and a woman named Ellen are talking about her hard life.

"You don’t need to apologize, Mr. Theo. It’s not your fault."

"Maybe no. But, maybe yes. Ellen, the older I get, the more convinced I am that every hurt the world has ever known is somehow the fault of every person who ever lived. Maybe not directly, and never entirely, but, somehow, I fear, we own all the world’s hurts together."

This quote struck me because very few humans believe our sins contribute to the pain of this world. However, I believe it has been true since Adam and Eve.

I recommend the book. Let me know what you think of it.

24/02/2026

This last Sunday, I preached at Littlefield Methodist Church. I mused about a common way that Christians get stuck in the Spiritual life when we look back. Here is the YouTube video of that service. Enjoy!

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18/07/2025

“Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the seconds turn to minutes turn to hours?” Gordon Lightfoot should have added, turn to days, turn to weeks, turn to months. Today marks two weeks since the Hill Country floods. The timing is different for our friends in NM and NC, but Gordon’s lament is coming true for victims and those working to clean up and find the bodies. In my observation, the doubts hit the strongest between two weeks and two months. So, what do we do when the seconds turn to weeks?
First, we do not treat doubt flippantly, whether it is ours or anyone else’s. Larry King, the late great talk show host, had Billy Graham as a guest. King asked him if people struggled with their faith during a disaster. Oh yes, replied Graham. King asked next. Do some even lose their faith? Oh yes. Rev. Graham went on to not belittle those who struggled. He owned and accepted it. So should we.
Second, we acknowledge that some things are difficult to explain. This subject, which theologians refer to as theodicy, is the most challenging aspect of theology. We struggle to reconcile God’s love, power, wisdom, and goodness simultaneously. We can understand three and especially two at the same time, but all four? We just do not get it. We should own the hardness of the questions.
Third, we share our honest doubts with God and encourage others to do the same. When your children are mad at you, do you want them to quit talking to you? No, you may not like their honesty, but they are talking instead of avoiding you. With God, the Bible is full of people who tell God their doubts, even those who tell God off. God enjoys our honesty. Yes, I said, enjoys. God rejoices when we speak to him, mad or not.
Fourth, we search the Scriptures for our answers. They will not be the answer God gives to others. They will be our answers. God will respond to us through his Word as individuals. Please refrain from seeking answers from others until later. When we are suffering, we need to let God speak for himself and consider others’ answers later. In this piece, I am not attempting to answer the questions; I am trying to share how to react to the pain of suffering.
Fifth, we give God time. Job suffered for months, and his friends (I use the term very loosely) only made matters worse. He waited, and then God spoke out of the whirlwind. (Job chapter 40ff) I do not know how God will answer you or our friends in the Hill Country, NM, NC, or elsewhere. I do know that God welcomes us, with our doubts, anger, and all. I encourage you to embrace him, even when he doesn’t make sense. Hang on for dear life.

09/01/2025

My latest devotional is "Did I mean it?" It is based on the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer and Matthew 6:33.

Scripture Reading: Matthew 6:25-34

Key Verse: Matthew 6:33

Sherrie and I were engaged and attended a New Year’s Eve party/service at First United Methodist Church in Abilene, Texas. We played games, watched movies, and, around midnight, participated in the Covenant Renewal Service set up by John Wesley. It was very different from the New Year’s Eve services I had attended with my youth group growing up. Those services were powerful, but this was more so.
Why an almost two-hundred-year-old service? Sherrie’s pastor, Rev. Dr. Charles Whittle, led that church to follow the traditions of John Wesley more closely than most preachers. He saw, rightly so, great power in our Methodist heritage.
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, saw the first of the year as an opportunity to recommit your life to God. His point was that the New Year’s resolutions were not nearly as important as our life with Jesus. Thus, he encouraged his followers to recommit themselves to God with a unique service for the first of the year. At the heart of that service is this prayer.

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt; rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low by thee.
Let me be full; let me be empty.
Let me have all things; let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven. AMEN.

I began to pray Wesley’s prayer every New Year after that and several times throughout the year most years. It seems simple, but God used it to change my life several times. Let me share one.
In a remarkable church, we were growing in attendance and giving. At district meetings, our superintendent frequently said, “What new and exciting thing are you doing in your church, Brad.” She held me up as an example for the whole district. We won the award for the fastest-growing church in our district three years in a row. We had a large amount of money set aside as reserves. How? We were taking in more money than our finance committee anticipated—a lot more. We were overfunding our budget.
When success happens beyond human understanding, you can be humbled, bring yourself before God, and say, “I did not do this. You are blessing me beyond measure. I do not deserve this grace, but receive it from your hand.” The other response is to let it go to your head. In addition, the devil had set a trap for me in my soul. Now, I had an answer for family members who kept telling me I was in the wrong profession. Indeed, one of the family friends told members of my family, “You may not believe that Brad is a good pastor, but there are Methodists who are quite convinced that Brad is a good pastor and not wasting his life.” So, I picked the sinful response between being humble or letting it go to my head. As is usually the case when I wholesale sin, I did so in a way that disguised itself from me. My self-deception meter ran high. But, deep inside, I believed that God blessed me because he knew a good thing when he saw one. Meaning me. Oh my, the depth of my sin was deep. God still used me to make a difference in his world and kingdom. For my sin, though, God had a plan.
When the time came to leave that church, I received an appointment that did not make human sense. I became seriously underemployed, and instead of working 60+ hours a week, I could easily get by with 20. I did get a raise with that move but wondered what to do with myself.
Divine sense is another matter, but I did not initially see it. I found myself wrestling with God in prayer. I do not mean a day or a short season, but for 2 to 21/2 years. At the time, I walked when I prayed. I walked in a circle on a concrete pad right at dawn. I wore out that concrete. I also wore out heaven. My questions to God were pointed. Why? What are you doing? The good news was I was still praying. I could have gone in a corner and sulked. I encourage you not to quit praying when you do not see the divine sense of your situation. Even if you are only complaining, keep talking to God. In the end, praying saved me as God started talking back. (Please understand God still blessed my preaching and work, and my life was not all gloom and doom. However, I struggled. A lot.) When I say God talked to me, I never mean that God said something to me audibly. So far, he has never talked to me that way. I also do not usually mean that God gave me a thought. He has talked to me in that way, but not very often. Usually, God talks to me with a nudge in my spirit. A nudge that somehow I can put words to. In the following, I am condensing several months, even a couple of years of prayer conversation, but here is the condensed version.
“Why am I here?”
“I sent you here.”
“The Bishop sent me here.”
“The Bishop trusts that I did, and I did. I answered his prayers, the Cabinet’s prayers, and your prayers.”
“You still have not said why.”
“Trust me.”
“I am trying, but it is hard.”
“I know it is hard, but I have a question for you.”
“Yes, God.”
“Did you mean it?”
“Mean it! Mean what?! I have been obedient to you. I answered your call, preached what you want me to, etc. Lord, the list of my obedience is long.” (I have that kind of relationship with God; if I am mad, I tell him so. I have learned God likes honesty.)
“You have obeyed me in the main, and I am glad. Still, did you mean it?”
“Again, mean what?”
“The prayer. You have prayed it a lot.”
“Which one, Lord?”
“Look, you will find it.”
I started looking through my list of written prayers—the Lord’s prayer, not that one. The prayer of Jabez, not that one. The prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, not that one. The prayer of Saint Patrick’s breastplate, not that one. And the Wesleyan Covenant prayer. Oops, there it is. Over the next few months, I came before God with that prayer, and he unraveled my sin.
I am no longer mine own, but thine. A firm whisper, DID YOU MEAN IT!
Put me to what thou wilt. A firm whisper, DID YOU MEAN IT!
Rank me with whom thou wilt. A firm whisper, DID YOU MEAN IT!
Put me to doing, put me to suffering. A firm whisper, DID YOU MEAN IT!
Let me be employed by thee, or laid aside for thee. A firm whisper, DID YOU MEAN IT!
Exalted for thee, or laid aside for thee. A firm whisper, DID YOU MEAN IT!
Let me have all things; let me have nothing. A firm whisper, DID YOU MEAN IT!
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. A firm whisper, DID YOU MEAN IT!
I did mean it, but I had quit meaning it. As I kept praying, God kept peeling more of the layers of sin away. Sometimes, I walked with God pinkie to pinkie instead of hand to hand. Usually, I was comfortable following him at a distance. I saw that I enjoyed being a pastor more than I enjoyed God. In that previous church, I had 4 to 5 nights worth of meetings every week. I went to work early; I stayed late. I still went to my kid’s activities, but my mind was elsewhere. I had made serving God about me—not God. Oops. Oops. Double and triple, oops. I was
While I was no longer distracted by serving God over time, I noticed something amiss in my personal life. My wife was slowly dying before my eyes. Chrisie and I gave her 2 years. It took some doing, but she saw a series of doctors over a few months, and slowly, she came back from the brink. That was God’s reason why I was underemployed at my new church. I needed to wake up, see the obvious, and focus on my wife. God knew what he was doing; I did not.
Now, consider praying this prayer. Yes, God WILL miss with you when you pray this prayer. He will expect you to mean it when you say it; it is a mouth full. Yes, the consequences can be frightening. However, you will walk more closely to God when you do, making it all worthwhile. The spiritual life is a fight, and God wants us closer to him, not because he needs us, but because he wants us to be near him.
Count the cost. Decide if you mean it. If you do, then pray this prayer today and often.

I preached this devotional at First Methodist in Melrose, NM. They were kind enough to make a video copy, which I posted on my YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/1bItxj7pIPg.

My journey with the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer

24/12/2024

Here's the written version of my last devotional. Jesus is our Prince of Peace. Enjoy!

It will be at least two weeks before my next devotional.

Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9:6
Prince, we understand—a future or present ruler of great power. Jesus, of course, is that. Peace is the word for shalom. Scholars translate Shalom as peace, but that does not work well in English. Shalom is a very pregnant word. Shalom is an internal wholeness that results in inner peace that can result in external peace, but it starts on the inside, not the outside. Further, external peace is an acceptance of present circumstances caused by our internal peace.
The New Testament knows the concept as well. James 4:1,2 put it this way, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.”
A negative example is King Herod the Great. Insanely jealous, he killed off two of his sons because he feared they were plotting to take his throne. He could not bring himself to feel at ease. He lacked internal peace, and that caused him to lack external peace, which caused him to take the lives of two sons and the male children of Bethlehem, among many others. He was jealous because he did not have Shalom.
There are positive examples of this truth. The disciples, except for one, were executed for their faith. What happened to the one? The Romans exiled John to the island of Patmos in the Mediterranean. Yet, we know they had some “moments,” such as Peter’s trip to Antioch when he failed to practice the Gospel, but, in the end, they held to their faith, the faith of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 2:11-21) How? They were at peace internally, and that changed their external circumstances or made them irrelevant.
However, is it just an ancient problem? While in college, I heard a survey that struck me from one of the Lubbock TV stations. What did people want for Christmas? The overwhelming majority said peace. Please understand this was 1978. The Vietnam War was over. Our country’s leaders were not in any mood for military adventures. Yes, the Cold War still raged, but the Soviet Union weakened, and that threat looked distant. As a country, we were at peace. However, the reporter noted that people referred to personal peace in that survey.
A pastor in the Chicago area faced a momentous decision. The church he pastored was suffering from the 2008 banking crisis, and he needed to start a building campaign. They were growing in numbers, had no more room, and their finances required help, not a new challenge. A competent sailor, he sailed his sailboat out onto Lake Michigan on a calm day. He planned to pray earnestly. His word to God was, “I am not leaving until I have prayed through to peace.” He found peace. How do we?
That phrase, “prayed through,” may give us a hint. The early American Methodists would not have trained counselors at their altars when they led the Second Great Awakening meetings. They wanted people to pray through to peace with God. It could take hours. The preachers would even prolong it if they felt it necessary. One many came to the altar drunk. God delivered him from the effects of alcohol, 1and he said, “I believe God saved me.” One preacher led him back to the altar, “God just delivered you from the demon of drink. You need to pray through to God.”
While at Gruver, I struggled to find peace. I could not understand what God did and was doing. For 21/2 years, I wrestled with God. While returning from a hospital visit in Amarillo, I prayed/sang because I did not have peace. Finally, peace came as I drove over Lake Meredith’s Sanford Dam on the way home. I needed peace, but this discussion raised a question. When do we need to pray through to peace? The following list is not exhaustive but illustrative.
Guidance. We need to know what to do, whether it is a big or small decision. We need an answer.
Power over difficult circumstances. The list here is long but includes family trouble, work trouble, financial trouble, and health trouble.
We need peace as we search for power over sin. We struggle and struggle, pray, work at it, and trust God, and still that sin remains.
How do we pray through to peace?
We come to an end of ourselves. James helps us again, “3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says in Proverbs:
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Look at that list of verbs. Submit, Resist, Come, Wash, Grieve (over sin), Humble—quite a lot to accomplish at the same time. I found it challenging to do, as my example from Gruver shows.

However, I have found a key that I cannot reiterate enough. We focus on Jesus, not our sin, not our problems, not our stress, not our work. It is not easy, especially when our troubles seem to compound. Still, I have not found peace any other way.

Isaiah names Jesus the Prince of Peace. We can find peace from him this day and always.

24/12/2024

Sunday's Sermon on Prince of Peace. A written version will come soon.

Prince of Peace Brad Reeves Scripture: Isaiah 9:1-7Date: 12-22-24

16/12/2024

This week's devotional is about Jesus's name of Everlasting Father from Isaiah 9:6.

The first couplet we explored was wonderful counselor. Next, there was almighty God. Our next couplet is Everlasting Father. The Hebrews used this term for godly kings and other royal officials. In particular, the Jews used the term everlasting father for King David and his lineage. However, the Old Testament never uses this term to refer to God the Father.

Nevertheless, Jesus is called the Everlasting Father. Jesus is a King, even the King himself, but he is a King who has Father-like qualities. Most Kings are quite pretentious in their rule; Jesus is a Father King, a loving, benevolent but firm King.

Dad was the parent who comforted me. I was raised in the country, outside of Tulia, during the 60’s and early 70’s. In the mid to late 60’s, we had a lot of storms with lots of hail; at least, that is my childhood memory of it. My bedroom had a window facing the west, and hail would pound on the hail screen mercilessly. When a storm came up, I would run to my parent’s bedroom looking for my father. He held me to the window and said, “Jesus is watering the flowers.”

However, Dad also disciplined me. I found myself facing a storm when I did wrong. Once, I was arguing with Dad when I took a swing at him. Not only did my swing not land, but I also found myself on the ground in the blink of an eye. Watching all of this, my brother thought the old man can move. Dad had been carrying a grubbing hoe, removed the hoe from the handle, and the handle was swinging inches above my nose. As impressive as all this was, what I remember the most was Dad’s face. He was crying, no, he was bawling, and I knew his extreme sadness over my behavior caused those tears. My rebellion was breaking his heart. That fact broke my heart. Later, I would realize that Dad was acting like Jesus. In Mark 3:5, Mark tells us that Jesus was angered and grieved by the Pharisee’s hardness of heart. Both emotions at the same time.

Dad was the one who stood by me. He promised to stand by me even when I had done wrong, and he knew I was wrong. I was his son, and he would not leave me. I never tested that promise, but I knew it was true and could rely on it. However, Dad could not be my everlasting father. How could he? He was mortal, and I can visit his grave in Amarillo, Texas.

However, Jesus IS our Everlasting Father.

There is the discipline of the Everlasting Father, Jesus. We sometimes forget that Jesus disciplines every child he receives. (Hebrews 12:6) How? First, God outpours grace. We see this clearly in the Gospels. He is patient. How do you explain his actions towards the Pharisees? Toward the disciples? Toward his family? It is a long list. Jesus disciplines through love.

Next, Jesus removes the dome of his protection. As I shared last week, God promised me his protection with my heart even if I faced death. At times, like all of us, I faced temptation. During one such time, I prayed about my temptation. God assured me, “You can go that way if you want; you are free. However, I do not go with you if you do.” Oops. That settled that temptation.

Sometimes, Jesus rebukes. Jesus told the disciples that his suffering at the hands of the elders would result in death. Peter could not believe it and replied, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” Jesus rebuked him, “Get behind me, Satan!” That’s a pretty strong rebuke! Matthew records all this in Matthew 16.

Sometimes, Jesus, the Everlasting Father, disciplines us in a different order, but not usually. We face his loving discipline throughout our lives. For certain, I have. I am not grown up yet.

Then, there is the presence of the Everlasting Father, Jesus. Jesus stands with us as we face the consequences of our sin and the consequences of other’s sins. He forgives us, and we are relieved of our eternal consequences, but many of our more temporary ones remain.

A friend once told me, “If I am laying on the road with an 18-wheeler coming for me, I want to know I have obeyed Jesus, and therefore, he is with me.”

Finally, there is the comfort of Jesus, the Everlasting Father. Psalm 103:13, “God has compassion on his children.” We can receive the compassion of Jesus.

When Sherrie and I were much younger, a group invited us to a retreat at Ceta Canyon, the Methodist campground east of Happy, Texas. The retreat speakers were Louis and Melissa McBurney. They ran a counseling retreat center for pastoral families in the mountains of Colorado. Louis won many awards for his work and was highly qualified. I am sad to say I do not remember what he said, though I know I said many profound things. However, Melissa, I remember. She taught us how to sit in God’s lap. This thought intrigued me because my daughter loved to sit in my lap during the children’s sermon. She beamed with contentment while sitting there.

She encouraged us to use our “sanctified imaginations” and place ourselves in Jesus's lap like a child would. I encourage you to try this prayer experience. Start by bowing your head while looking at these instructions. Please take as long as you need.

First, see yourself standing alone.

Next, see Jesus walking toward you.

Now, see Jesus sitting down and inviting you to sit in his lap.

Next, see yourself sitting in Jesus’s lap.

Finally, hear Jesus telling you that you are his child and he is well pleased with you.

Now, sit in Jesus’s lap for a few moments.

I encourage you to repeat this exercise till the new wears off or it no longer feels weird. Whichever comes first.

Regardless, Jesus is our Everlasting Father, now and always. I pray you always remember this truth in your heart.

16/12/2024

Here is the video of my sermon/devotional over Jesus's name of Everlasting Father in Isaiah 9:6.

Everlasting Father Brad Reeves Scripture: Isaiah 9:1-7Date: 12-15-24

09/12/2024

Jesus is the Mighty God! Isaiah 9:6

Jesus was a son given to us from a source beyond us—GOD. We need this son, this child.

Isaiah’s next couplet is Mighty God. Mighty is the Hebrew word gibbor, used for the most valiant warriors or persons of great integrity and personal power. King David, his mighty men, and Ruth are called gibbor. God is one of the traditional Hebrew names (El) for God.

How does it apply to Jesus?

First, he is mighty in Creation. I am a minor amateur astronomer. The current estimate is that there are 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. That number has grown considerably since using the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes. Stars by themselves are enormously powerful. Our sun is a moderate-sized star. Yet, it heats this planet from 96 million miles away. That is Jesus’s mightiness on a macro scale.

The human body is incredibly complex. There are eight bones in a human wrist, which is just for starters. Jesus organized our cellular structure down to the molecular level. One little thing becomes off, and we die.

There is only one of each of us. God knows us by name and knows the number of hairs on our heads (some of us have hairs that are easier to count than others). Jesus created it all both on the macro scale and the micro-scale. All this God created by just speaking. Speaking. No arm work or heavy lifting was required. (more on this later)

While here, Jesus cured various diseases, including raising the dead. He fed the four thousand with just seven loaves of bread, and the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. He made the sea still by his voice command. The list goes on.

However, how does Jesus the Mighty God interact with us?
I went to visit my doctor for a skin problem. I noticed that I was aware of my heartbeat in the waiting room. She routinely checked my lungs because of my asthma and could hear my heart while listening to my airways. She stopped, left the room, returned, and listened more. She left again, returned, and said, “I want you to go to the Amarillo Heart Group right now. Do not wait on your wife; pass Go or collect 200 dollars. Dr. Rodriguez and his team will meet you at the door.”

“What is wrong?”

“I do not like what I am hearing. A cardiologist needs to check you out.”

Skin problem? What skin problem? On reflection, I am grateful she did not call an ambulance. She scared me enough as it was.

Several days of tests showed no problem with my lungs, heart plumbing (90 to 95% clear), and my heart valves were good. But my heart’s electrical system was malfunctioning. I had four different kinds of heart rhythm issues, and they switched me to an electrocardiologist. The new doctor told me that I was a prime candidate for a specialized surgery, but they would try medications first. Also, they determined that sleep apnea caused my heart issues.

That doctor placed me in the hospital two times to get a medication regulated. It helped a little, but not enough. Surgery looked like the best option, and they said surgeons performed this type of surgery in Dallas, OK City, or Austin. They recommended Austin as the doctors invented the procedure, and the Amarillo Heart Group had better results when people went there.
While we were still working on the medication fix, the church staff and I went to a church in a Houston suburb where the United Methodist Renewal Services was putting on a Holy Spirit weekend. United Methodist Renewal Services call themselves Aldersgate Renewal Services after the Methodist split. Sherrie and I had attended some of UMRS’s national events, and thus, I expected a time for healing prayer. I eagerly awaited the retreat as much for me as the church.

As anticipated, the time for healing prayer arrived. The group stationed groups of two people throughout their fellowship hall. I went to a couple. After I told them my need, the woman asked if she could place her hand on my chest. During the prayer, I felt a warm sensation in my chest and a nudge in my spirit to which I could somehow understand the words. I knew the Holy Spirit was speaking. “I am not healing you now, but go to the doctor in Austin. Regardless of the outcome, the Mighty God has you in his hands. You are safe regardless of the outcome. Even death.”

My attitude changed. I was calmer about my heart condition even though it got worse and started to affect my work. Several months later, I went to Austin for the first of two heart surgeries. The surgeries fixed my heart, and that fact was later confirmed a few years ago by a doctor in El Paso who the Austin doctors trained.

Is healing the only way Jesus the Mighty God shows up? No. On Sherrie’s and mine honeymoon, our first worship service as a married couple was in Fort Sumner United Methodist Church. We went to the evening service and noticed the banners. Receive the Spirit. Go forth in power. After the service, the lady who made the banners told me that she made them because the Holy Spirit’s power transformed her life from one of sin to a God-glorifying one.
Jesus provides power in healing, overcoming sin, witnessing, forgiveness, love, and using us unexpectedly. In short, he wants to give us the gifts of the Spirit (God lists this in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4, and others in the New Testament in the Old Testament, the gifts exhibit themselves but are not listed), and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23).

How do we receive the Power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus the Mighty God? First, we need to acknowledge some mistaken thoughts that cause us trouble.
1. Though we believe that Jesus can be mighty over all the universe, we do not think he can care for little o’ us. After all, there are 8.2 billion of us on this one planet. There are 2 trillion galaxies; we believe the Milky Way has between 100 billion and 400 billion stars. The human mind cannot comprehend keeping up with all that expanse. Yet, God does. Perhaps we think that Jesus does not love us enough. I encourage you to ask Jesus to show you how powerful he is and how well he knows you. He will show you he cares and cares for you. Yes, little o’ you.
2. We cannot comprehend that much power at the macro and micro levels. If so, we need to ask Jesus to show us how much power he has. Powerfully. He will.
3. We are afraid of what God will ask us to do. I have a high school classmate who lived petrified that God would send him to Africa. He might. He may ask you to forgive the neighbor across the street. Either way, we will be happier when we are no longer disobedient.
4. We do not trust Jesus with our life. We trust him in the main, but not in every detail. I recommend that you pray that Jesus show you his wisdom. He is more wise than you are. After all, how good a job are you doing with your life? How is that working out?
5. We want to hang on to our favorite sin. It may be small, and we may believe it is inconsequential. It is not, and Jesus wants you to repent so that we will be whole.

So, I ask you. Do you have the mighty God, Jesus, working in your life? Do you seek him and only him always? When you do, you will discover that the son given to us, the child born for us, will change your life.