Guarded Deposits

 

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

—2 Timothy 1:13-14

Have you ever entered your local bank in order to make a deposit or receive a withdrawal? While you were inside the bank, did you notice the bank vault? Even the smallest of branch banks has a vault. Every time I see a bank vault I think about some of the mystery stories I’ve read where criminals go to great lengths to try to breach the vault and steal the contents.

Each bank vault exists to guard the contents, whether money, gold, jewelry, or precious documents housed in safe deposit boxes. The physical design of the vault serves to keep the contents safe from harm.

God has promised His dearly love children that He is the One who guards every aspect of our being that He has entrusted to us at birth. And, insofar as our relationship with Him is concerned, before the foundation of the earth, God has chosen each one that He loves—each one that He will call to Himself through the wooing of the Holy Spirit. No wonder God guards that which He has entrusted to His dear ones.

When we recognize that God literally guards every aspect of our being, including the four critical modalities of our existence—emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical—we can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that we venture out into this world surrounded by divine protection.

As we begin another new day, let’s rejoice in the knowledge that, in response to the great love and protection that God displays towards us, we can love Him back by following the pathway He lays out before us. Our joy will bubble up to the surface when we live our lives in the center of His perfect will for us.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Master Teacher

 

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.”

—Isaiah 48:17

Teaching is a wonderful profession. It takes a special person with special skills to become a really great teacher. Most of us can identify someone who, during our formative years, contributed a great deal to who we have become because of the skills that individual had as a teacher.

A really great teacher has a number of personal skills that enhance that individual’s knowledge and makes the transfer of information most effective. Such skills include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Patience. A truly great teacher has a high degree of patience, in order to allow the student to stumble around until he or she finds the way through the “jungle” of information that the teacher is trying to convey. This patience allows the teacher to let the student find his or her own way. This patience never tires of answering the same questions over and over again. This patience promotes a sense of security between the teacher and the student that allows learning to take place over an extended period of time.
  
  
• A sense of humor. A truly great teacher takes even the most serious subject and punctuates it with just enough humor to make it palatable to the student. Such humor disarms any tension the student might feel. It creates a learning environment that promotes the free exchange of ideas and gives the student confidence in whatever knowledge he or she is seeking.
  
  
• Relaxed control. A truly great teacher recognizes that it is necessary for him or her to maintain control of the learning environment. Yet, he or she instinctively knows that this control must be meted out in a relaxed and carefully measured manner. This control keeps the learning on track. But, the relaxed way in which the control is extended gives students the freedom to learn in a more comfortable setting.
  
  
• Creativity. A truly great teacher employs creativity in order to find the best way of explaining the information that comprises the learning. Such a teacher knows that a single example will not work for all students. Rather, the teacher knows that he or she must craft examples and illustrations that will engage the student in a manner that matches the learning style of the student.
  
  
• Goal-oriented. A truly great teacher never loses sight of the goals toward which the transfer of knowledge leads. This teacher understands what the end-game is for each learning encounter. He or she understands the goals and, for each goal, the objectives through which a student must travel in order to reach the goals. In addition, the teacher has a clear set of learning strategies that will help the student move through each objective. Said another way, such a teacher understands the complexity of learning because he or she clearly sees the logical pathway that will move the student from ignorance to comprehension.
  
  

In the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post, when God says to His people: “I am the God, who teaches you to profit …” we can clearly see that God is, indeed, the Master Teacher. Whenever God teaches His dearly loved people, He does so intending for that learning experience to bring His people to a place where they can profit from the learning experience. I have seen this happen in my own life.

Many individuals have a far more significant testimony than my own. Most people have had to deal with overwhelming issues in their lives. Tragedy strikes almost every person. These times of great trial can offer enormously important lessons for us to learn. In the midst of trial and sorrow, the testimony of God being the very best teacher a person can have shines through.

As another day begins, let’s remain thankful that God is the Master Teacher. He possesses all of the qualities that the most excellent teacher always has. We are truly thankful that we are the recipients of His instruction. We are the ones whom He teaches us to profit.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

In This Quiet Moment: Teach Me

 

The earth is filled with your love, O Lord; teach me your decrees.

—Psalm 119:64

Imagine that you are all alone and that you are standing on a hillside looking out over a magnificent valley. For just a moment, close your eyes and think about what you might hear and feel. The breeze whispers against your skin. You can hear the rustling of the grass. Perhaps you can hear a bird chirping in the trees. The brook is a ways away, but if you concentrate you can just barely hear the water flowing over the rocks.

Even more than what you hear and feel is what you don’t hear or feel. You do not hear any voices, any vehicles, or any human-made noise. You can’t smell the exhaust fumes of cars and trucks. No one is bumping into you. You don’t have to worry about stepping on some trash on a sidewalk. In place of the rauccousness of life in a city, you only sense an overwhelming sense of peace.

Do you realize that what you feel in this moment is the love of God? That’s right. In such a peaceful setting, you can feel the love of God. Why? Because God’s love inhabits the earth. When we can put aside all of the distractions of life, we can palpably feel the love of God. And, it is in just such a setting that we can ask God to teach us His decrees. We can ask Him to tell us what He wants us to do.

Larry Mayfield has written a song ¹ that captures the essence of the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post. Here are the words:

In this quiet moment,
Jesus speak to me
Fill my heart with thy love divine,
Your power let me see.

Max Mace and “The Heritage Singers” have recorded a lovely arrangement of this song. I invite you to watch and to enjoy this video:

 

 

As we begin this new day, let’s determine to allow God to teach us the way He wants us to go. By spending time reading and meditating on His written Word, the Bible, let’s open up our minds and hearts to His instruction for this day.

 

______________________

1 Mayfield, Larry. “In This Quiet Moment.” Nashville, TN: Word Music Publishers, 1971. Please note that, in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Train Up a Child

 

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

—Proverbs 22:6

Child Psychologists agree that parents must set aside moments out of their busy lives to spend time teaching their children about the most important things in life. By doing so, the investment of the parents will reap untold benefits throughout a child’s life.

This statement remains all the more true when we consider the Christian spiritual formation of our children. Parents play a key role in training up, or teaching, children about God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and about the principles of the Christian faith. Today, there is no excuse for parents not doing everything in their power to teach their children the way of the Christian faith.

This training begins with the parents living out the life of a follower of Jesus right in front of their children. The way they talk, the way they handle problems, the way they act towards each other, the way they relate to other people. In every situation that they encounter in life, the parents have an opportunity to teach their children how to live as followers of Jesus.

Does this training require parents to daily examine their own lives, so they might rid themselves of besetting sins? Of course it does. For every aspect of a parent’s life affects the learning experience of his or her children. It represents an enormous responsibility. But, it is also a great joy.

And, other believing members of a family are not immune from these responsibilities. In many cases, grandparents also play a key role in the spiritual development and Christian spiritual formation of their grandchildren. Grandma and Grandpa also live their lives as an open example of how a follower of Jesus chooses to live.

The very fact that the way one follows Jesus is a conscious choice becomes so very important. Children must learn that their lives will become marked by the choices they make. They must understand that in every situation, they will need to choose whether they will follow the way of Jesus, or deny Him by the choice that they make.

The blessing of pouring one’s life into raising children to love God and to love their neighbor is immeasureable. Praise God that He has raised up Christian parents who take up this challenge and give themselves to the task of raising their children in the way that they should go.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

We Only Bow to God

 

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

—Psalm 95:6-7

When a person enters the presence of a monarch, he or she shows respect and allegiance by kneeling. It is a sign of yielding one’s own will to the will of the monarch. That’s why, in the turmoil of our present culture, kneeling causes such concern for those of us who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is absolutely the only One before whom we properly feel the urge to kneel.

Kneeling in submission has very powerful implications. When people kneel as part of a so-called peaceful protest, they indicate their submission to whatever group is leading that protest. A commitment to justice for all humans and a desire to see that all humans be given an equal opportunity to lift themselves up in society does not require submission to some secular authority who has become a self-appointed representative of those who believe they are oppressed. Rather, instead of kneeling to show our obedience to such an authority, we need to rise up and speak up for those who are oppressed. We need to do everything we can to promote equal opportunity, while recognizing that the provision of an equal opportunity will not necessarily result in equal achievement. Please allow me to illustrate my point:

Many years ago, when I was part of the small group examining candidates for employment who would fill the position of “fire protection engineer” at the Highly Protected Risk insurance company where I worked, I was very disappointed to hear older men speak disparagingly of the very few female candidates who applied for the position. These men expressed an opinion that was clearly and inappropriately biased. They asserted that a woman simply could not perform the tasks associated with the job. I strongly disagreed and I began to champion the hiring of qualified women as fire protection engineers.

Now, you must understand that these female candidates had met every one of the rigorous qualifications. Having attended respected colleges or universities, they had earned degrees in fire protection engineering, or in a related field of engineering, such as Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Chemical Engineering. They had shown that they clearly understood the complex parts of the job responsibilities. They displayed the kinds of personalities who could stand up to the rough treatment they might receive when inspecting the factories that our insurance company serviced. In every possible way, they had shown they had the knowledge, skills, and temperament to do the job for which they were applying.

To my great delight, almost every single woman that we subsequently hired for the position of fire protection engineer greatly exceeded expectations. Not only did they perform the job tasks with professionalism and excellence, they soon rose through the ranks of the company to hold ever greater levels of responsibility.

Today, an increasing number of women are entering the field of fire protection engineering. And, those women are enthusiastically hired for their skills and training. That I had a very small part in that transition from an all-male endeavor to one now open to every qualified candidate, regardless of gender, gives me joy.

We did not have to change any qualifications of the job to recruit qualified women. The women we hired had already gained the education, knowledge, and training they needed. All we had to do was set aside the long-held prejudice against women in that profession, and welcome these qualified candidates into the job force. We did not need to physically kneel before some self-appointed leader of a movement. We simply had to make a completely rational decision to accept the reality that qualified women could perform the tasks associated with the profession.

As followers of Jesus, we need to reserve our kneeling for the one true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who is the only One who truly deserves the humble subjection of our foolish human will to His divine, perfect, and holy will. To do otherwise besmirches the reality that God is the only One worthy of our subjection. We bow our knees to God, and to Him alone.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Bad Seeds

 

The acts of the flesh are obvious: … hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

—Galatians 5:19-21

Sometimes, hatred and negativity seem to prosper within certain families. It’s almost as if seeds of hatred and negativity have been passed down from grandparents to parents to children. Have generations past sown seeds of disharmony and discord in us that flare up to cause breaks in our relationships with family and friends? If so, we need to embrace the new life God gives us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul reminded us in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

If we have acknowledged that the Jesus Christ is our Savior and Lord, we must embrace our new life. We must put aside our hurts and grudges. We must say “No!” to the discord that has separated us from friends and family.

Instead, we must let the love of Christ flow out from us to touch the lives of everyone who crosses our pathway.

Let’s turn our backs on those seeds of negativity that were sown in us so many generations ago. We must embrace our new life in Christ. We will never change what we continue to tolerate.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Does Your Walk Match Your Talk?

 

Be very careful, then, how you live— not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

—Ephesians 5:15-17

Does your daily walk match your talk? Here’s a cautionary tale to consider:

As Ted battled rush hour traffic, the light turned yellow just in front of him, as he drove cautiously in his blue minivan. He did the right thing, stopping at the white line before the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. A tailgating woman braked sharply behind him. She was furious, as she honked her horn and screamed in frustration at missing her chance to get through the intersection. In her anger, she dropped her cell phone and the makeup she had been so carefully applying while trying to rush down the busy street.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He handcuffed her, placed her in the back of his patrol car, and took her to the police station where she was searched by a female officer, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.

After a couple of hours, a policewoman approached the cell and opened the door. The incarcerated woman was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, “I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ decal on your rear window, the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally I assumed you had stolen the car.”

Certainly something to think about. Here’s an expansion on the Scripture passage quoted at the beginning of this blog post to give you a bit more of the context of Paul’s message to the church at Ephesus from Ephesians 5:8-20:

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s determine to be careful how we live—so that our walk with fully match our talk.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}