Servants of God

 

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

—Romans 13:6

I confess to you that when this verse came up on my list of “Verses for Each Day” I wanted to skip this one and find a substitute. I have never met anyone who really wants to pay taxes.

I can remember the chagrin I felt when I looked at my first real pay stub and took note of the taxes that had been withheld from my pay. My paycheck was quite meager and it was made all the more so by the deduction taken out to pay my taxes. At the very moment that I studied that pay stub, a political advertisement began to play on the radio. Immediately, my thoughts turned to what the politician was saying. “Hey!” I thought to myself. “You had better do the right thing, Mr. Politician. I pay your salary!”

Later, as I rode my bicycle home from where I worked, I noted the potholes in the road. I remember thinking that the road crew should fix those potholes pronto. After all, I pay their salaries! And, in that moment, I began to develop an attitude that has fueled my Conservative point of view for all these many years of my life.

As I stated in my blog post of two days ago, it is sometimes hard to think of governmental authorities as God’s servants—particularly when they do things or say things with which we do not agree. Nevertheless, Scripture seems quite clear. After all, the Apostle Paul is writing during a time when he lived under a government that was far more oppressive than the government most of us have lived under. If Paul can write these words in his circumstance, surely we can learn to accept these words in our circumstance.

Today, I invite you to join me in praising God that He is the One who ordains authorities and places them over us. Let’s pray for our governmental leaders—even the ones we do not particularly like, or with whom we do not agree. We do well to remember that our prayers have a way of blessing even those who might never bless us.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Competent to Serve

 

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

—2 Corinthians 3:6

One of the great blessings of the Christian faith comes from the fact that God has made all of us priests. By this use of the word “priest” I intend to mean one who ministers to the world around him or her on behalf of the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Yes, I am keenly aware that God has called certain individuals to dedicate their lives to accept a special calling from God to serve and lead others in their Christian spiritual formation. Whether we call such individuals minister, pastor, preacher, priest, bishop, or even pope, we recognize that they have made a sacrificial response to God’s calling. Yet, such recognition does not dismiss the reality that all follwers of Jesus have a calling from God to minister to the needs of those around them because of what God has done for them through His Son, Jesus.

In writing to the Christians at Corinth, as stated in the verse at the beginning of this blog post, the Apostle Paul affirms that not only has God called believers to serve Him as His ministers, He has made believers competent to do so. “Wait a minute,” you may interject. “I’m not at all certaint that I am competent to minister in the way you suggest.&ldqo;

Let me assure you that God has given you every talent and ability you need to serve Him. God wants you to approach your ministry with all of the essence of who you are. He wants you to serve as His minister. There are people who cross the pathway of your life each day to whom only you can properly minister. All of your uniqueness—your personality, your abilities, your skills, your mindset, every portion of who you are—is used by God to minister to others.

Do you think you are an oddball? Do you think you are not handsome enough or beautiful enough? Do you have a raspy voice or is your voice pitched too high or too low? Do you have some handicap? Do you feel you are not smart enough, or clever enough, or cool enough?

None of these things matter. God has called you to Himself. He has revealed the great gift of salvation that He has given you through His Son. He has placed the Holy Spirit within you. And, for His very good reasons, He has called you to minister in His behalf.

As we go out into a needy world today, we must keep in mind the fact that God has called us—exactly who we are and exactly as we are—to serve Him by ministering in His name. What a blessed, blessed privilege we have to do so with great joy.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Established by God

 

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

—Romans 13:1

All across the United States today, people will go to the polls and choose Senators, Representatives, and other leaders. This year, of course, many have already voted by mail. As one who for many years—because of my disability—have voted by Absentee Ballot, I understand the privilege of casting one’s ballot by mail.

After voting by mail for nearly twenty-eight years, you may wonder why I am encouraging others to show up in person to vote this year. I suppose I am choosing to do this partly in protest against the way that some states are handling the expanded efforts to encourage people to vote by mail. I am keenly aware of the potential for manipulating the outcome of the election that voting by mail affords. I am also quite untrustworthy of the hyperpartisanship that has overtaken our political process. I want to make absolutely certain that my vote counts.

I have friends, Christian friends, who have thrown their hands up in the air and stated that they won’t vote because none of the candidates for office seem worthy. I can understand their frustration, even though as an avowed Conservative, I have been quite satisfied with the more conservative policies that have come out of Washington in the last two years—certainly not fiscally, but in every other way.

More so, the reason why I encourage everyone to vote later today stems from the Scripture verse found at the beginning of this blog post. In this verse, the Apostle Paul reminds his readers, who happen to reside at the seat of power for the Roman government, that we Christians have a responsibility to submit to governing authorities. Admittedly, it is easier to accept this verse if one agrees with what those authorities are doing. I had a particularly difficulty time living the reality of this verse during the twelve years of the last twenty-six years when our nation was ruled by those decidedly not conservative, because of my strong Conservative views.

If you have already voted by mail, or if you will go to your designated polling place today to cast your ballot, I invite you to join with me in doing so recognizing that this opportunity comes from God. He is the one who establishes authorities over us. That we have the privilege of helping to choose who will lead us is a great honor that our wonderful nation has given us because God has so established it.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

People of God

 

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

—1 Peter 2:9

Have you ever felt that you didn’t really belong? For just a moment, imagine that you find yourself in the middle of a crowd of people. Perhaps you have arrived to attend some social gathering. Everyone in the room seems to know someone else with whom they can have a friendly conversation. As you look around, you really don’t see anyone that you know. You sort of stand in a corner of the room watching others have a good time and feel that you really don’t belong.

That kind of scenario has happened to me many times over the years. Even when I may know some of the people in the room, I often feel that I don’t really belong there. That’s the problem the Apostle Peter tried to address in the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post.

Some of the Christians to whom Peter addressed his letter seemed to have an identity crisis. Most of them were Jews who had embraced the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This was a whole new experience for them. Heretofore they had lived under the constraints of the Law. Now they lived under the mercy, grace, and love of God through His Son, Jesus. Others reading Peter’s letter were Gentiles who previously had worshipped other gods, or none at all, and now were grafted into the vine of David through the birth, life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.

I think you can understand why these folks may have felt that they had an identity crisis. Those who had been Jews no longer belonged to their previous fellowship of Jews. And, those who had been Gentiles were now profoundly different than their fellow Gentiles who did not believe. So, Peter has written to assure them that they definitely do belong. They belong to God through Christ.

In the Scripture verse that immediately precedes the one at the beginning of this blog post, Peter writes:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

And, as he continues, Peter declares:

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

How fortunate you and I are that we, too, belong to God. While once we were “not a people,” through the Lord Jesus Christ, God has irresistibly drawn us into His mercy, grace, and love. Now, we are a people—the people of God.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Not of Works

 

It is by grace you have been saved, through faithmdash;and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

—Ephesians 2:8-9

This verse offers a very powerful lesson for us. Please let me share what I hope will serve as a helpful illustration:

More than forty years ago, and over a period of many years, I accumulated an enormous amount of credit card debt. Almost all of that debt came about because I seemed compelled to help others by spending money to obtain things they needed. I did this for my church and other organizations to which I belonged. I did it for my friends and even for people I did not know well. I realize now that it was a kind of mental aberration where I was trying to boost my self-esteem by showing generosity to others. The end result was that I sunk deeply into debt.

Over time, and through the amazing grace of God, I was able to work my way out of over $100,000 in credit card debt spread across nine credit cards. As you might imagine, the interest payments alone were quite daunting. Nevertheless, God mercifully provided increases in salary and, more importantly, a new attitude toward my spending that allowed me to reduce my debt to zero and maintain it there ever since.

In the midst of this herculian effort, a check arrived in the mail from someone I had known in the past, but whom I had not seen in nearly ten years. This individual was known to be quite wealthy. The letter accompanying the check indicated that he was sending me this money because he had felt prompted to share in the recent sale of his extensive property holdings. He remarked that he had always appreciated a seminar that I had led at his principal company—an event that had taken place nearly twenty years before.

As you might imagine, I was stunned by the generosity of this unexpected gift. Here was someone who had no idea whatsoever of the financial challenge that I was trying to work my way through. He was someone with whom I had always had a friendly relationship, but whom I would not have necessarily considered a close friend. Yet, he had responded to some prompting and sent me a substantial gift.

I certainly did not deserve this amazing gift. He had paid me quite well for the seminar that I had provided those many years ago. He had no reason whatsoever to reach out to me at this time. Still, here was an unexpected gift that would help me pay down my debt even faster than I had imagined.

I wrote a very grateful letter to this benefactor, thanking him for his kindness and trying to express how timely his unexpected gift had been. I also bowed my head and thanked God, for I believed that it was very likely that God had prompted this man to act so generously towards me.

In the verse at the beginning of this blog post, the Apostle Paul reminds the Christians in Ephesus—and us, as well—that the salvation we have received from God has come to us as a precious gift of God’s grace. We have received this gift by the faith that God the Holy Spirit has generated within us.

We had nothing whatsoever to do with this gift. We did not deserve it. We did not earn it. In fact, nothing that we had ever done, or ever would do, qualified us to receive this amazing gift from God. Our salvation from the just penalty for the sins that we had both inherited and committed has come to us purely because of God’s unfailing and undying love for us.

As we begin another day, we should clearly praise God for His great love. And, we should willingly, even eagerly, share what He has done for us that others around us will know what God can do for them, as well.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Act of Worship

 

I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God— this is your spiritual act of worship.

—Romans 12:1

As a teenager, probably no other verse of Scripture was quoted as much in our youth group meetings than the verse at the beginning of this blog post. I imagine that the timing of my young life—growing up in the late 1950s and early 1960s—played quite well into the reasons why our leaders chose to emphasize this verse.

I grew up in the time just before the great sexual revolution of the mid to late 1960s. Though they existed, birth control measures were not readily available to young people. Sexual experimentation that took place in those days was far more limited than it has become today. Church-going teenagers were constantly being urged to maintain sexual purety until they were married. So, you can see how this verse might play well into the strategy of youth group leaders who were trying to help teens avoid the shame of premarital sexual relations and the possibility of pregnancy outside the boundaries of marriage.

Of course, this verse means a great deal more than simply urging people to remain sexually pure. The Apostle Paul lived at a time where many sins of the flesh were quite commonplace. Here, Paul urges “Christ’s-ones” to willingly give the physical modality of their beings, represented by their bodies, over to God as living sacrifices.

Since certain religions required actual physical sacrifice unto death, Paul contrasts those horrible religions with the Christian faith that wants its believers to give themselves alive to God as a spiritual act of worship. How much more pleasing it would be to give oneself to God while still alive and able to obediently serve Him.

As we begin each new day, this urging of the Apostle should become a watchword for us. We should daily determine to give God our human physical modality as a symbol that we have subjected to His perfect will all of our four human modalities. In giving God the stength of our bodies, we also give Him our hearts, souls, and minds.

When we turn every aspect of our humanity over to the supernatural control of the Holy Spirit, only then can we begin to experience the maximum joy of full obedience to God. With God in control of our lives, we can go forward serving Him with the totality of who we are as human beings.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Withered Flowers

 

All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.

—1 Peter 1:24-25

It has become quite a cliche for some jilted lovers to send wilted, dead flowers as a parting gift to the one who has broken off his or her relationship with the one who has become jilted. To me, it seems like too nasty a dirty trick. But, the number of times the popular culture has encorporated this action into the storyline of television programs and movies indicates the nature of how this practice has taken hold.

I wonder if you or I would like to be thought of as a bunch of withered flowers? And yet, that is exactly the image that the Apostle Peter uses in the verse at the beginning of this blog post.

In the particular passage of Scripture in which these verses appear, Peter urges those receiving his letter to understand that God expects Christians to move toward holiness. In theological terms, we call this “sanctification.”

After God has revealed to someone that He has chosen that one to belong to Him and provided salvation through the birth, life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of His Son, Jesus, God intends for His chosen ones to move away from the godlessness of this sinful world toward the world-to-come where the main characteristic will be holiness. This is not something that we believers can do by ourselves. Rather, it is a lifelong process that is fueled by the Holy Spirit, who dwells within all humans who have acknowledged the gift that God has given them.

When Peter describes humans as grass that withers and dies and flowers that fall, he contrasts this temporal condition with both the written Word of God and the living Word of God, which stand forever. Peter is urging his readers to put aside all those things that are tied to the life and death cycle of this world and to cling instead to both the written Word of God and the living Word of God that lasts forever.

As we begin another new day, we will do well if we immerse ourselves in God’s written Word. The more we read, meditate, and learn about the God who has chosen us to belong to Himself, the more we will be able to choose to follow Him in obedience along the pathway of sanctification—that is, the pathway towards holiness.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}