A writer named William Somerset Maugham said: “If fifty million people say something foolish, it is still foolish.”*

His words are a helpful (and accurate) reminder that we need to evaluate ideas based on their merit, not popular opinion. 

As followers of Christ, we also need to evaluate ideas based on whether or not they agree with his teachings. If fifty million people say something is wise, but if it goes against what Jesus taught, then it’s not wise. And if fifty million people say that Jesus’ teachings were foolish, they’re still wise. 

The point isn’t how many people say something. It’s who said it.

In Galatians 1:10 Paul wrote: “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

In John 12:43 we learn about some leaders who believed in Jesus but wouldn’t admit it because they didn’t want to be scorned by their peers: “they loved human praise more than praise from God.”

Let’s be more concerned with pleasing God and less concerned with blending in with popular opinion. We’re striving to be Christ-pleasers, not people-pleasers.

“If fifty million people say something foolish, it is still foolish.”

True. So let’s evaluate ideas based on Christ, and let’s calibrate the compass of our heart to him.

Notes:

-After some vacation time, this devotional is back five days a week. I also return to preach and teach at Westminster in Barrie this Sunday, September 7, 2025. Click here to learn more.

-The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on September 8, 2025.

-*Quoted in: Rolf Dobelli, The Art of Thinking Clearly (Harper Books, 2014), 12.

-Bible quotes are from the NIV. 

The words of Psalm 143:10 are a good prayer for all of us: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

As followers of Jesus, we want to do God’s will. Sometimes his will is clear. Sometimes it is not. What do we do when God’s will doesn’t immediately seem clear about a job, relationship or big decision?

What do we do when the path before us is uncertain?

In those situations, it is helpful to pause and remember our big purpose in life. We are here to glorify God. We are here to know God and to serve God. We are here to be disciples and to make disciples. We are to share and show the grace and truth of Christ as we get in on the ways he is bringing heaven to earth. 

In light of that here is a helpful question for us to ask ourselves when the choices before us are unclear: Will this decision help or hurt my ability to glorify God as Jesus’ hands and feet?

Perhaps you’re offered a promotion at work. It’s a lot more money, but it will frequently take you away from home and from your young children who really need you. In that case, since you want to be a godly parent, especially in this impressionable stage of life, perhaps the promotion isn’t a good idea because it will hurt your ability to glorify God as Jesus’ hands and feet in the sphere of your home.

Or perhaps you’re wondering if you should pursue a romantic relationship with so-and-so. The other person is less then perfect, but they are a sincere Christian. They are caring toward you even if some of your interests are different. In that case, maybe the relationship is a good idea to pursue because it will help (more than hurt) your ability to glorify God as Jesus’ hands and feet. The biggest issue isn’t whether you have all the same hobbies, but whether they help or hurt your ability to serve God.

As you face uncertainty and difficult choices, keep this key question top-of-mind: Will this decision help or hurt my ability to glorify God as Jesus’ hands and feet? Your big purpose in life should be making an impact on your day-to-day experiences.

“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

Notes:

-After some vacation time, this devotional is back five days a week. I also return to preach and teach at Westminster in Barrie this Sunday, September 7, 2025. Click here to learn more.

-Bible quotes are from the NIV.

“Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17).

As you begin September, do you need a reminder that with God all things are actually possible?

As modern people, we can get sucked into the prevailing skepticism of our time. If we’re not careful our default setting can be doubt. I realize that we sometimes have doubts. But if that’s our default setting, there might be a problem. 

This attitude can influence how we read the Bible too.

Several years ago I was teaching about Jonah. I highlighted that some people think it is a “myth.” How in the world could a large fish swallow a person like that?

In that same series I stated my own position. I think it is a historical fact, meaning that Jonah was a real person, that God spoke to him, that he was swallowed by an actual huge fish, that he repented of his disobedience, that he was vomited out on shore three days later, and that he went on to successfully preach to the Ninevites.

An online listener emailed me to criticize my apparently naïve view.

But why would they think that? 

First, Jesus spoke about Jonah’s experience as if it were a real event. 

Second, God is almighty and can do anything. If he can create the universe and raise the dead, a man-swallowing fish is not surprising.

Third, there are reports of whale sharks in the Mediterranean Sea measuring forty feet long. That’s where this story took place. These whale sharks are filter feeders. They go around with their mouths open swallowing whatever they come across. There are even modern accounts of humans and dogs who were swallowed whole and then recovered alive between two and six days later!*

My point is this. God is actually God, then and now. The God of Abraham, Jonah and the Gospels, is our God. And he is still at work among his people, including you.

Put your trust in the Lord. Follow Christ. And believe big things.

Notes:

-After some vacation time, this devotional is back five days a week. I also return to preach and teach at Westminster in Barrie this Sunday. If you don’t have a church home, you’re invited! Click here to learn more.

-*See: The NLT Illustrated Study Bible (Tyndale House Publishers: Carol Stream, 2015), 1569.

-Bible quotes are from the NIV.

“All who are prudent act with knowledge, but fools expose their folly” (Proverbs 13:16).

If you ever get caught under a colossal pile of snow as a result of an avalanche, don’t dig blindly. Spit first. Let me explain.

Science Magazine told the story of an individual who, after being trapped under the snow, died. But before he died, he dug thirty feet in the wrong direction. Instead of digging up he dug down. He dug deeper into the snow, and further from the possibility of escape or rescue.

He had been caught in air pocket. But in those air pockets gravity still works. If he had taken a moment to spit first he would have been reminded about gravity. As a result, he would have been able to spend his energy digging in the right direction (up not down).*

Life can seem like an avalanche. It gets busy and fast-paced. Things pile up. Decisions keep coming at you. How often do we spend all of our precious energy digging and working in the wrong direction, instead of the right one?

Do we think before we act? Or do we just work and work and work and do and do and do without taking the time to first think about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. 

In the proverb listed above, the “prudent act with knowledge.” In other words, their actions are based on knowledge. They don’t live blindly. They live deliberately.

I encourage you to do the same, even when life feels overwhelming. 

Is this or that activity a wise way to spend time and energy, or will it simply perpetuate a hamster wheel that keeps me away from what matters most? 

Let’s think first, then act.

Why would we want to spend all our time and energy digging in the wrong direction?

Notes:

-After some vacation time, this devotional is back five days a week. I also return to preach and teach at Westminster in Barrie this Sunday. Click here to learn more.

-*As told in: Kyle Idleman, The End of Me (David C Cook: Colorado Springs, 2015), 63-64.

-Bible quotes are from the NIV.

Hello and welcome back to The Up Daily Devotional. I’ve been taking some vacation time but am now back five mornings a week to your email inbox, social media and podcasts feeds, and radio airwaves.

I also return to teach and preach at Westminster this coming Sunday.

Okay, here we go.

I often say that September is the real New Year’s. It’s when people tend to lock into schedules and patterns that will shape their lives for the next twelve months.

What better what to begin September than Jesus’ own definition of wisdom. Do you want to be wise? Do you want your wisdom to bless others? If so, read on.

Jesus told a parable often called ‘the wise and foolish builders.’ Here is how he describes a wise person: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

There it is. It’s so simple it’s easy to miss. According to Jesus, wisdom is hearing his words and putting them into practice.

‘Hearing,’ however, isn’t just about listening. It includes accepting, agreeing and knowing. Therefore, if you hear (i.e. accept, agree and know) what Jesus says, and then if you put those teachings into practice, you will be wise.

Here it is again as a formula: Knowing + Doing = Wisdom.

But there’s more. This wise person will have “built his house on the rock,” which was a way of saying that he or she will be steadfast through the storms of life.

Steadfastness is about perseverance through hardship. Steadfastness is about standing up for the grace and truth of God no matter what. Steadfastness is about being prepared for spiritual war. Steadfastness is about moral muscle. Steadfastness is about being dependable for others.

With that in mind, we can add something else to our wisdom formula: Knowing + Doing = Wisdom = Steadfastness.

I know, I know, easier said than done. 

So ask for God’s help and trust that moving forward he will make you successful. As the (real) New Year begins, know that he will make you increasingly wise as you put Jesus’ words into action. In the process you will become more steadfast to face the storms of life.

Notes:

-“What is the biblical definition of wisdom, and how do we live that way?” Click here. Sermon.
-Bible quotes are from the NIV.

Hello! 

Today I’m here to remind you that The Up Daily Devotional continues to be on pause because I’m on vacation. It will resume five days a week one week from today, September 1, 2025.

In the meantime, I’d like to share two things. 

First, some long-form content.

This time of year can be a good opportunity to tune in to some long-form content. Sure, we like short-and-to-the-point (like this devotional), but more and more people are also looking for ways to go deeper with certain topics. That’s what is meant by long-form content.

Listening to podcasts is an increasingly popular way to do that. You can listen while driving the car, walking the dog, or just going about your day.

With that in mind, and if you’re looking to go deeper on faith-based topics, here are my four most popular episodes from the past year as measured by the statistics from ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan.’

Most listeners are from America. After that the largest listening base is Canada, then the United Kingdom, and then India (in that order). 

Perhaps there is something here you want to learn more about:

#1 – Jesus said he came to give us abundant life. What did he mean? Click here.

#2 – Giving up good things for great things (Sermon). Click here.

#3 – Ten Popular Things Jesus Said. Click here.

#4 – Am I a genuine follower of Jesus? (Sermon) Click here.

The links take you to the homepage for those episodes, but you can also search for them directly in Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Second, a quote.

This is from the great Charles Spurgeon when the path ahead seems unclear: “God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace his hand, we must trust his heart.”

May our God of grace and truth richly bless you. See you in a week.

~

#dailydevotional #faith #God #longform #spurgeon

{See below for a vacation notice.}

Why are we supposed to love our enemies?

It’s a big question. I recently dedicated an entire sermon to the subject (which can you access in the footnotes below if you’re interested).

Among the many answers to this question, here’s one that is worth pondering. People who are radically loved, love radically. 

Granted, we often get it wrong, mess up, and spend our entire lives trying to improve, but listen to the logic.

All of us sin. You sometimes hear it said that there are two categories of sin. There are sins of commission and sins of omission. Sins of commission are sins you “commit.” Makes sense. Sins of omission, on the other hand, are things you should do but don’t. You “omit” them. 

Unfortunately, we’re all guilty on both counts!

Despite this hard truth, there is good news: in Christ God chooses us, forgives us, adopts us, and blesses us!

One of Jesus’ apostles describes the logic like this: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:10-11).

Let me be super clear: You sin. A lot. But in Christ, God chooses, forgives, adopts and blesses you. Since you increasingly appreciate how radically loved you are, you start to spill over. With God’s help, you start to love radically.

Do your adversaries deserve to be loved? Probably not.

But neither do you!

It’s kind of crazy, isn’t it? But Jesus taught it, exemplified it, and told us to do it. It’s the kind of thing that changes the world.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

People who are radically loved, love radically.

Notes:

-“Why are we supposed to love our enemies?” Click here. August 3, 2025. Sermon.

–Vacation notice: The Up Devotional will go on pause after this week, resuming September 1, 2025 (when I come back from vacation). Past episodes can be found at TheUpDevo.com, or you can listen to the podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. You may also want to purchase the ‘Turbulence’ book on Amazon!

-Bible quotes are from the NIV. 

We’ve been spending some time thinking about Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:44: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”

With this in mind, I have a suggestion. Go the extra inch.

Yes, our goal should be big. But let’s back up a minute.

In October 2006, a gunman took hostages in a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania. He shot ten children. Then he shot himself. Five of the children died. 

Just hours after it happened, people in the Amish community visited the house of the gunman’s parents to express support and concern! They knew how hard it would be for them in the wake of the shootings. At the gunman’s funeral, about half of those in attendance were from the Amish community! And remember, they were the victims! They were there to show concern, support, and to pray.*

That’s big. It seems other-worldly. Should we aspire to that? Yes. But sometimes we need to start smaller.

That’s why I say we should go the extra inch. It comes from the expression to “go the extra mile.” A mile is a long way. But an inch in the right direction is still heading in the right direction. 

The meaning is that when it comes to people who we think are somehow ‘against’ us, do the small things well. Go the extra inch. Pray for them. Be kind. Do something small but practical which helps them. 

Think of that Amish community. Do you think they learned to love like that on the spot? No. They had trained themselves in the little moments. Then when a big moment came along they simply did the sort of thing that they would have done on any other day.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Similarly, loving your enemies doesn’t always happen overnight. It begins with prayer, and then an inch, and then more prayer, and then another inch.

It’s not easy, but it is possible.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

An inch in the right direction is still heading in the right direction.

Go the extra inch.

Notes:

-“Why are we supposed to love our enemies?” Click here. August 3, 2025. Sermon.

–Vacation notice: The Up Devotional will go on pause after this week, resuming September 1, 2025 (when I come back from vacation). Past episodes can be found at TheUpDevo.com, or you can listen to the podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. You may also want to purchase the ‘Turbulence’ book on Amazon!

-*I made a note of this story when I came across it in June 2019, but I have misplaced the original source. The story is well-known and documented.

-Bible quotes are from the NIV. 

Jesus said: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

Actor Kelsey Grammer is best known for playing Dr. Frasier Crane on the hit shows Cheers and Frasier. 

A few years ago he was interviewed about playing a pastor in the movie “Jesus Revolution.” When asked about faith, he said: “The idea that you love your enemy as yourself—there’s only one guy that ever preached that, and that’s Jesus. And there’s only one guy saying it today, and that’s still Jesus. It’s amazing, and it’s like, we are surrounded by contrary information and the only one single clarion call is still from Jesus Christ saying, ‘this is the way, this is the path’…it is a beautiful thing, and an invitation to walk in the light of love is the best thing yet.”*

Yes. 100% agreement!

We are most certainly, as Grammer says, surrounded by “contrary information.” This simply highlights the uniqueness and power of what Jesus says.

But let’s be honest. Loving your enemies is difficult. 

That’s why it can be helpful to remember that other people—including enemies and adversaries—are made in God’s image and are in need of his love. That’s right: they too need the love of God. With this in mind, martyred pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer asks: “who needs our love more than those who are consumed with hatred and are utterly devoid of love?”**

If someone is filled with hate and lacking in love, don’t they also need the love of God? 

If someone is filled with hate and lacking love, don’t they also need the truth of God?

If someone is filled with hate and lacking love, don’t they also need to encounter the living Jesus?

You’re right. It’s a tall order. And the world is trying to sell us “contrary information.” 

But what if you and I were a part of a counter-cultural movement which flipped the script? What if you and I were able, with God’s help, to share and show love with someone who had never experienced it? 

What if Jesus was right?

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

“…the only one single clarion call is still from Jesus Christ saying, ‘this is the way, this is the path’…it is a beautiful thing, and an invitation to walk in the light of love is the best thing yet.”

Notes:

-“Why are we supposed to love our enemies?” Click here. August 3, 2025. Sermon.

-*A video of this interview is called “Kelsey Grammer’s Jesus Revolution Exclusive REVEALED!” and is posted on the Movieguide YouTube channel. You can access it by clicking here.

-**Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1959), 148.

–Vacation notice: The Up Devotional will go on pause after this week, resuming September 1, 2025 (when I come back from vacation). Past episodes can be found at TheUpDevo.com, or you can listen to the podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. You may also want to purchase the ‘Turbulence’ book on Amazon!

-Bible quotes are from the NIV. 

It’s one of Jesus’ most famous and inspirational statements. It’s also one of the most difficult: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

Sounds good in theory, but what about in reality? What about the people who have wronged you personally or who have done something against someone you care about?

Miroslav Volf had given a talk about love. Afterward someone asked: “But can you embrace a cetnik?” These were Serbian fighters who had ravished his homeland of Croatia, committing widespread violence and slaughter. Volf said: “No, I cannot—but as a follower of Christ I should be able to.”*

I love his honesty. He acknowledged that it is something he should be able to do. And yet, he also acknowledged that he isn’t quite there yet.

Here’s step number one. Pray for those who persecute you. 

Perhaps you can’t relate to the word “persecute.” If so, use the word “against.” Pray for those who you think are “against” you.

I remember speaking with someone who was really upset about a certain political leader. “You should pray for them,” I said. “No way,” he responded. “Why not?” “I can’t stand him.”

When we refuse to pray for people who we think are somehow against us, isn’t that simply an indication of what is happening in our own heart?

Wouldn’t we want that person to be transformed by the love of God? To experience his grace and truth? To encounter Jesus? 

Who do you think is “against” you? I encourage you to make a list. Perhaps it’s an individual. Or perhaps it is an organization who is advocating something which is contrary to the will of God.

And pray.

As followers of Christ we want to be more and more like him. On the cross he actually prayed for the people who crucified him! “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Not only did Jesus talk the talk, he walked the walk. He calls us to do the same—even when it’s hard.

For us, step one is prayer. Pray for those who persecute you.

Notes:

-“Why are we supposed to love our enemies?” Click here. From August 3, 2025. Sermon.
-*Arthur Van Seters, Preaching and Ethics (St. Louis: Chalice, 2004), 22.
-Bible quotes are from the NIV.