Photo of the Week: May 20. 2026

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Don Merritt
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Gloating may not be the best move

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Don Merritt

Saying 28

Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
    when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
or the Lord will see and disapprove
    and turn his wrath away from them.

Proverbs 27:17-18

This is not the only place in Scripture where we are told not to gloat over an opponent’s downfall; no sir, not by a long shot. We have a tendency to rejoice over an enemy’s troubles (Psalm 36:15). Obadiah 12 told Edom not to rejoice over Israbl’s fall. David prayed that his enemies would not be given the chance to rejoice over his calamities (Psalm 35:19). Job said he had not erred in this field (Job. 31:29). And David was a good example of one who did not rejoice over his enemies’ misfortunes: see him as he weeps over the death of Saul (11 Samuel 1:11) and over the death of the revolting Absalom (2 Samuel 18:33).

God sees everything that takes place on the earth. He saw Adam and Eve’s sin in the beginning, and He has seen every sin since. Rejoicing over an enemy’s troubles or fall is displeasing to God to the point that in some way He will deal mercifully with him in the future as a result.

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Lesson 1: Humble Service

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Don Merritt

Romans 12:3-8

Paul set out his proposition in verses 1-2, that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices and be transformed by the renewing of our minds as a response to grace; in verses 3-8 we have our first lesson on how to go about it: Serve the body of Christ in humility.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (12:3)

So, the first step in the transformative process is that we adopt an attitude of humility. Right away, we can see that not being conformed to this world was something Paul was very serious about (v. 2) for in this age of “game”, “swagger” and “bling” humility is very much out of style. Verse 4 uses the metaphor of our bodies in the same way that Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians 12 as he shows that each of us has a unique part to play in the Body of Christ. While this is easy enough to grasp, he takes another shot at the attitudes of this world in verse 5 when he says each member belongs to all the others. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen Christians bristle at that one.

In verses 6-8 Paul refers to spiritual gifts that each of us has received by the Holy Spirit.

I hope you will consider this carefully: In a context of humble service, a context that is not only counter-intuitive but also counter cultural for most of us, Paul tells us to exercise our spiritual gifts in humble service to the Body of Christ. Think about the magnitude of the implication of this…

Not only are we to adopt an attitude of true and honest humility, not only are we to consider our positions as members of and belonging to the Body of Christ, but we are to serve the Body of Christ. Yet even more striking than that, we are to rely upon our spiritual gift from God in our service, which is to say that we are not to rely on our own strength, ability or talent, but on God’s grace alone.

Now, let’s consider why Israel did not obtain righteousness by the Law. They relied on their own strength and ability to follow the Law, but they did not rely on God for His righteousness. How are we to live as Christians? We are to rely on God in all things to serve His purpose and not our own.

Just think, Paul is just getting started in these life lessons,  we’ll look at the second one next time…

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The Right will Rise

Posted on May 19, 2026 by Don Merritt

Saying 27

Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous,
    do not plunder their dwelling place;
for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,
    but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

Proverbs 24:15-16

The wicked are described as lying in wait for the righteous, seeking his ruination (Psalm 37:32). Whoever does this qualifies for the title “wicked man’’ used here. Every persecutor of the righteous would be included in what is said here. The righteous will have many trials, but he will prevail through the special help of God. Notice these interesting verses: “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all” (Psalm 34:19); “though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord upholds him with his hand” (Psalm 37:24). See Micah 7:8; Job. 5: 19. In other words, as our expressions go, “you can’t keep a good man down;” he may be “down”, but he isn’t “out”. Notice that when the wicked fall, he is not promised to come back, for he has no personal God to whom to look for restoration.

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Spiritual Thirst

Posted on May 19, 2026 by Don Merritt
Forest-River_1280x800-Wallpaper1

There’s nothing worse than being thirsty, seriously thirsty!

Millions are slowly dying of thirst in our world, but theirs is a different kind of thirst.  Spiritual thirst is pandemic and has been all through the ages.  The symptoms are fairly easy to identify: people grabbing anything and everything in a vain attempt to satisfy the longing and never succeeding in quenching their need for more.

In many cases they find a substitute that can mask the symptoms for a time, but the crisis always returns…

Jesus Christ offered Mankind living water, a kind of water that could quench a spiritual thirst for all time.  He said that this would be like a spring of water within, welling up into eternal life.

Spiritual thirst can be quenched; all we need to do is take a big, long pull from the right cup!

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Honey and Hope

Posted on May 18, 2026 by Don Merritt

Saying 26

Eat honey, my son, for it is good;
    honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.
Know also that wisdom is like honey for you:
    If you find it, there is a future hope for you,
    and your hope will not be cut off.

Proverbs 24:13-14

The people of that day depended upon honey for their sweetening, and its properties are still highly acclaimed by health advocates. Judea was a land with an abundance of natural honey as we see in Exodus 3:8. The father would urge his son to seek, find, and know wisdom with the same eagerness with which he enjoyed the sweetness of honey. The sweetness of the wisdom found in the Word of God is compared with the sweetness of honey: Psalm 19:lO; 119:103. The ending of this verse is much like Proverbs 23:18. It shows the great reward and ’the hopeful life that wisdom brings to its possessor.

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Be Transformed

Posted on May 18, 2026 by Don Merritt

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1-2

As all of you know, whenever we see the word “therefore”, we are reading a passage that draws a conclusion from what has preceded it. While that is certainly true here, this one isn’t just referring to the verses just concluded, for this is the beginning of a new unit (12-15) and thus, “therefore” is drawing a conclusion from the preceding unit (1-11), which is a very important distinction. The first unit in Romans discussed grace; the second unit discusses our response to grace. Thus, Paul is telling us that in response to God’s amazing grace, we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God.

Verse 1 is, in a sense, a counterpoint to the Old Testament worship in which animals were sacrificed and rituals were observed. Notice the presence of the words “offer”, “sacrifice” and “worship”, all three of which are terms that pertain to worship in the Old Testament. The old system of worship involved symbols and ceremonies, but worship in the New Testament involves “spirit and truth”. Consequently, the proper and true manner of worship for the Christian is for us to offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices. Please understand: This is no platitude; it is an imperative. A fair question right about now would be, “OK, but just exactly how do I do that?”

You will no doubt be relieved when I tell you that Paul has provided the answer in verse 2: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

My goodness, how we love to quote this, but how many of us actually do it? How many of us actually believe that it is possible? Surely this is nothing more than an abstract ideal, a goal that cannot be realized in this life!

Maybe we should all pause and re-read it; look carefully at the words, the grammar…

Holy heart attack! This is no abstraction; it too is an imperative.

So here’s another question: Would the Apostle Paul command us to do something if it is impossible? Perhaps we need to think about this some more. Do you recall what Paul told us regarding Israel’s failure to attain righteousness? Yes, that’s right: They never obtained righteousness because their faith was in their ability to conform to the Law, but what God wanted was for them to put their faith in Him… and with God, all things are possible.

Notice that in the imperative of verse 2, there is a contrast, a duality that is set up by the word “but” “. Do not be conformed… but be transformed” Thus we have a choice to make: Either we live as the world does with its values, activities and ways of thinking, or we allow the Holy Spirit to transform our minds so that we have an entirely new way of thinking with different values that lead us to a different way of living; this is our choice, and to be quite candid with you, it is very much like the choice that Israel had to make.

As Paul continues in 12:3-13:14, he will fill in many blanks for us, so that we can see more clearly how to accomplish this task; I don’t know about you, but I can hardly wait to see what comes next!

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Joy and Peace

Posted on May 17, 2026 by Don Merritt

In the last few months, I’ve received way too many notifications relating to illnesses, despair and death.  Friends, relatives, associates…

We all have streaks like this when you really pause and think about mortality and suffering, right?

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

2 Corinthians 5:1-4

To be “clothed with our heavenly dwelling” is an interesting way to put it, but the meaning is clear enough; to receive the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises is the idea Paul is trying to get across to us.

We look forward to the day when we are in God’s presence and see Him face-to-face, when suffering and death are over with, and to be in the place where joy never ends.  In the meantime, we look forward to that day and take what life brings as those who have a great hope, and the assurance that our hope will not be a vain one, for we know that our God is faithful in all things and keeps His promises.

Because of this assurance, we can press on without fear, without despair, filled with joy and peace.  And since I just said that I think I should add, filled with thanksgiving too.

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One of Those Days

Posted on May 16, 2026 by Don Merritt

Have you ever had a day like this poor brother?  I know I have!

In his case, he wandered too close to a group of playing children and got knocked over, losing his head…  Oh yes, there are days like that!

Think about the picture… our brother who is having a bad day (really bad in fact) is giving us a clue as to how to cope; do you see it?

His gaze is upward, to things that are above!

And notice this: He really does look pretty calm, doesn’t he?  He’s had his worst day in a long time, he’s been knocked down by all that is swirling around him in this life, and yet he is calmly looking heavenward…

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
    where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

I wonder what would happen if we lifted our eyes to the things that above before the crisis hit!

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Tough Love

Posted on May 15, 2026 by Don Merritt

Saying 25

If you falter in a time of trouble,
    how small is your strength!
Rescue those being led away to death;
    hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
    does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
    Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?

Proverbs 24:10-12

This is a tough saying to be sure. It is a sort of call to boldness consisting of 3 admonitions. The first of these, in v. 10 is a call to encouragement. When the student of wisdom perceives that a neighbor is faltering in a time of trouble or trial, even just a bit, he should speak up and encourage that neighbor to hang on, to stand tall in the face of trouble, lest God should not stand up for him.

After the warning of v. 10, we come to the second admonition in v. 11: Here, the student of wisdom is admonished to boldly intervene in a situation where his neighbor is in mortal danger, to either intervene physically or by other means, to rescue the threatened neighbor. It would appear that this admonition applies to situations in which a life is at stake.

Verse 12 contains an explanation for us to consider: What would we say to He who “weighs hearts” if we failed to act to rescue our doomed neighbor? Will a small little lie get us out of trouble? If we decide not to notice the situation, would that mean we really didn’t know?

Not a chance.

If we decided that we were too weak to effectuate rescue, might we have called for help? I think we get the point here, and that we can probably all think of one or more famous examples of this situation playing out in history.

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