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}

 

Judging the Heart

 

The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

—Hebrews 4:12

The writer of the letter to the Hebrew Christians scattered across the then-known world spends a great deal of time emphasizing what we might jusifiably call “right living.” If we are to experience the fullness of the Christian life, right living is a choice that all followers of Jesus must make.

In the verse at the beginning of this blog post, the writer strives to illustrate how important and how powerful God’s written Word is to the success of a Christian’s ability to move toward right living. The writer uses terms of military power quite familiar to the people living at this time.

The written Word of God is so powerful that it is like a sword that has been sharpened on both edges. It can penetrate to the depths of whatever it pierces. Just as such a sword will split bodily tissue and divide bone, muscle, and connecting tissue, so the written Word of God can divide the soul and spirit—that is, the human modalities of the emotional being and the spiritual being. Furthermore, the written Word of God judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

In our current societal norms, we tend to emotionalize almost everything. We particularly emotionalize all matters that relate to our spiritual human modality. We accept the falsehood that all matters relating to spiritual things must have a huge emotional connection. This is simply not true.

Human spirituality exists separately from emotion. That is not to say that the spiritual modality—often referred to in Scripture as our “soul”—does not affect the other three human modalities: heart, mind, and strength. But, the very essence of our spiritual modality exists free from any anchor the other three modalities may try to attach to it.

Thus, the written Word of God has power to divide our spiritual modality from any adverse connection to the other three human modalities that may hinder Christian spiritual formation and development. Unlike the characterizations that our society may try to espouse, our spiritual connection to God exists in the supernatural realm. Our God is a spirit and our connection with Him resides in the spiritual world—a world beyond anything that exists in the common daily existence of our society.

The written Word of God, the Bible, makes the spiritual and supernatural come alive. It does so by judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. In other words, we control our emotional human modality by allowing the spiritual human modality to regain and maintain its rightful control over all three of our other human modalities, but especially the emotional modality.

If this seems too weird, please keep remembering the words of Jesus found in John 4:24:

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Thoroughly Equipped

 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

—2 Timothy 3:16-17

As a firefighter in the mid-1960s, I can remember the efforts I took to make certain I always had the right equipment available to me when an alarm sounded and we had to respond. I even made a checklist that I would review before I began each shift:

• helmet
• boots
• bunker pants
• coat
• gloves
• flashlight
• pocket spanner wrench
• pocket knife
• self-contained breathing apparatus

Without the proper equipment at hand, I could not perform the various tasks I might face when we arrived at a fire.

In the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post, the Apostle Paul urges his son-in-the-faith, Timothy, to make certain that Timothy keeps himself thoroughly equipped in order to accomplish every good work. Paul explains that the way to do this is to maintain a very close relationship to the written Word of God.

Paul insists that all Scripture comes to us from the very mouth of God. Paul uses the phrase “God-breathed” to describe how God has inspired the various authors to write down His words.

In this lesson for Timothy, the Apostle continues to assert that the written Word of God is useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training in righteousness. Each of these specific uses of Scripture has a subtle, yet important, distinction.

As one who will lead a group of Christians as their pastor, or minister, Timothy must understand each of these distinctions. And, while Paul does not elaborate on these distinctions in this passage, he surely knows that, through past times of sharing, he has made clear to Timothy the various occasions where it will become necessary to use each one.

For our part, we need to remember this lesson, too. God’s written Word has great power and great importance in our Christian spiritual formation and development. We depend on the Bible to help us learn more and more about this God who loves us with His everlating love. By setting aside time each day to read and meditate on what God’s written Word teaches, we open ourselves up to become vessels of knowledge that we can then share with others who may cross the pathway of our lives.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

A Timely Word

 

A man finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word!

—Proverbs 15:23

Sharing a timely word offers a person one of the very best things that we can do. Sometimes the timely word consists of encouragement. Almost everyone responds positively to hearing someone else share with them some encouraging words. In the midst of a very discouraging day, hearing words of encouragement can lift a person out of despair and open the door that leads to hope.

In the Bible, one of the Apostle Paul’s companions on his missionary journeys was called Barnabus. That was not his given hame. Rather, it was a nickname that others gave to him because he was always saying something that lifted the spirits of those to whom he spoke. Barnabus means “Son of Encouragement.” How wonderful it would be if someone gave you or me that name. It would be truly significant to have someone call us by a name that acknowledged the fact that, when we spoke, we brought encouragement to others.

Sometimes, a timely word brings warning or admonition. Often, people don’t like to hear words of warning or admonition. I once had the privilege of attending a church where the pastor definitely had the spiritual gift of prophecy—not the ability to foretell the future, but the strong gift from God of declaring the truth of God’s written Word with Holy Spirit amplified power.

I looked forward each week to hearing the message that God had laid on this dear servant’s heart. But, I was definitely in the minority. Most other people in this congregation came to dislike, even despise, this pastor. Why? Because the words he spoke in his sermon each week had such great convicting power. You could not listen to one of his sermons without sensing the Holy Spirit pushing you to respond by making a change in the way you chose to live your life. Many people did not like that feeling.

Whether we give words of encouragement or words of admonition and warning, we do well when we allow God to nudge us to speak a timely word to the people God brings across the pathway of our lives. We can become obedient instruments of God’s mercy, grace, and abiding love whenever we speak timely words to others.

As we begin another new day, let’s determine to allow God to use us to speak timely words to others. Our own souls will become enriched if we allow God to use us in this way.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Let Me Help You

 

Carry each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

—Galatians 6:2

I have always lived a very independent life. I suppose this began in childhood. As an only adopted child who lived in a neighborhood where no other children lived, I became quite used to doing things for myself.

The last twenty-eight years of my life have become quite a struggle, as increasingly I have lost the ability to do most things for myself. But, the beauty of my infirmity rests in the fact that God has given me this blessing, so that I would learn to appreciate the loving care that I receive from others. So, the verse at the beginning of this blog post has come to mean so very much to me, even though I am always the one on the receiving end of the burden bearing of others.

The hardest part for me, as I try to learn how best to depend on the burden bearing of others, has come from the frustration I feel when I cannot do things for myself that, for most of my life, I did mostly without even thinking about a particular task. Please let me explain through this illustration:

Several years ago, the church I attend moved from our previous location at a hotel meeting room to a different building. The church I attend began to rent space from another congregation whose service times fall earlier on Sunday morning, giving our church the ability to hold services at a more normal time frame, just before noon. In setting up our sound system during a work day, I became very frustrated and my frustration gave those around me the false impression that I was angry.

Our sound equipment resides in a large professional equipment case. The case contains four wireless microphone receivers, the sound system 18-channel mixing engine, and a digital recorder. At this new location, we plugged the output from the equipment in this case into one of the normally unused inputs of the existing church’s sound system. This allowed us to use our normal equipment without disturbing the equipment setup used by the existing church.

A problem arose when no one present during our workday knew how to turn on the power to, and operate the controls of, the existing church’s sound system. The power switch, controls, and mixing board for that system exist on a raised platform at the rear of the sanctuary.

If I had been able to climb the two steps up onto that platform, because of my 72 years of working with professional sound system equipment, I would have known exactly what to do to turn the existing system on and how to set the controls so our sound system would operate properly through that existing system.

But, I can’t climb stairs—even two short steps. In trying to explain to someone else what he needed to do, my frustration with myself came out in a way that offended a third person who was present.

When I was told how I had annoyed and offended the other person, I was heartbroken. I had never intended my frustration with myself to cause harm to someone else. I was ashamed and immediately placed a telephone call to the offended person in order to apologize. Fortunately that individual very graciously received my apology.

You see, the hardest thing for me to do is to contain my frustration with myself, so that I don’t cause others to feel offended. Far too often, people perceive my frustration with myself as anger. They don’t realize that I am not angry—I am only frustrated with my inability to do the kinds of things that, in the past, I have always been able to do without help from anyone else.

I have to coach myself in every situation to not allow my frustration with myself to cause harm. In other words, part of allowing others to bear my burdens requires me to accept their burden bearing with grace and gratitude. Instead of frustration with my inability to do things for myself, I must learn how to experience the joy that God intends when someone willingly extends their help to me.

Burden bearing comes alive as a two-way street. The one who gladly gives of himself or herself in order to bear the burden of another fulfills the law of Christ. At the same time, the one whose burden is borne by another must also humbly and thankfully receive that burden bearing as the true gift from God that it is.

I’m trying very hard to learn this important lesson. Perhaps in sharing my own struggle with you, it will help you to view the subject of burden bearing in a new way. At least that is my fondest hope for this particular blog post.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}