The Source of Peace

 

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.

—Isaiah 26:3-4

As a small boy, I would often hear my mother hum a very winsome tune as she worked around our home. The melodic line of this song had an ethereal quality that always made me have a sense of well-being. One day I asked her what that tune was. She told me that the tune came from a song based on the Scripture text at the beginning of this blog post.

The original version of this song used the language style of the King James Version of the Bible. The first stanza and the tune were written by Vivian A. Kretz. The second and third stanzas were written by Floyd W. Hawkins. Here is the text of the song: ¹

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on Thee.
When the shadows come and darkness falls,
He giveth inward peace.

O, He is the only perfect resting place,
He giveth perfect peace.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on Thee.

In the shadow of the mighty Rock
I lay me down to sleep;
He who watches over Israel
So faithfully will keep.

O, He is the only perfect resting place,
He giveth perfect peace.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on Thee.

’Tis the promise of the Holy One;
“My peace I give to thee.”
Tho’ the storms of life in fury rage,
Thy Refuge sure is He.

O, He is the only perfect resting place,
He giveth perfect peace.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on Thee.

Today, if your heart is heavy with a weight of care, I urge you to turn to God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will lift the burden of your care and give you His inward peace. If you look for the evidence of His loving care in your life, you will surely find it.

 

______________________

1 Kretz, Vivian A. “Thou Wilt Keep Him In Perfect Peace." Grand Rapids, MI: Singspirqtion, 1934, renewed 1962. The second and third stanzas attributed to Floyd W. Hawkins. 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}

 

I'm Sorry!

 

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

—Psalm 51:1-12

When you make a mistake, do you willingly say, “I’m sorry”? Please let me illustrate my question:

I vividly remember an incident from my first grade year at the Sixth Ward Elementary School in my hometown. The teacher, Miss Bradley, had set up six easels with four large glass jars of paint at each easel. The four jars contained, respectively, red, yellow, blue, and green paint. The easels held large sheets of newsprint.

Miss Bradley had placed the easels perpendicular to and against the row of steam radiators along the wide expanse of windows that overlooked South Kendall Avenue. Six at a time, the students took their turns at the easels. I’ve long ago forgotten what assignment Miss Bradley gave us. But, at the end of the day, she noticed that someone, who had worked at the fourth easel from the end, had splattered paint all over the radiator next to that easel.

“Who made this mess?” Miss Bradley demanded in a stern voice. “Come on!” she sputtered with anger. “Who made this mess?”

Sheepishly and trembling from fright, I raised my hand.

“Come over here and clean up this mess!” Miss Bradley ordered.

I walked over to where she held a damp rag. I took the rag from her hand and began to wipe the paint off the radiators. As I did so, I began to cry quietly.

“Why are you crying?” Miss Bradley asked sharply. “First graders don’t cry! I think you should go back to Kindergarten!”

The next thing I knew, Miss Bradley was escorting me down the hall and down the stairs to the basement Kindergarten room.

“This student belongs in Kindergarten,” Miss Bradley told the Kindergarten teacher. “He hasn’t learned yet that first graders don’t cry!”

I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the corner of the Kindergarten room. At the end of the day, Miss Bradley came to collect me. She had already dismissed the other children. As we walked back into the first grade classroom, Miss Bradley ordered, “Sit!”

“Now,” she began, “why were you crying?”

“I didn’t know whether or not I made the mess.” I explained. “I did work at that easel. But, I don’t know whether or not I spilled the paint on the radiator. I don’t remember doing it. I suppose it could have been me.”

“Then, why did you raise your hand?” Miss Bradley asked, a slight softness creeping into her voice.

“I worked at the easel. So, I suppose I could have done it. None of the other children were admitting they did it. I guess I thought if no one else took credit, it must have been me.”

“Well, in the future,” Miss Bradley instructed, “don’t be so quick to admit you’ve done something wrong unless you know for sure.”

I tell you this story, from over 72 years ago, because I’m not so certain that Miss Bradley had it right. I’m not sure we should resist admitting we’ve done something wrong. In fact, I’m quite certain we should rather be very quick to admit whenever we might have made a mistake.

In the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, the Prophet Nathan has confronted King David with the sin that David had committed with Bathsheba, the wife of David’s faithful warrior, Uriah. This Psalm characterizes David’s response to Nathan’s call for a confession.

We can learn from David. Once he understood the sin he had committed, he obediently asked God to forgive him. In fact, David shows us a pattern that we should follow whenever we become aware of sin in our own lives: confession, repentance, restitution (if possible), and restoration.

Examine your own life. Have you sinned against God or against one of your fellow human beings? If so, ask God to forgive you. And, ask the one you have sinned against to forgive you. You must do so in order to keep your account clear. Do not let pride, or arrogance, or any other human trait keep you from quickly acknowledging your sin through confession. Then, repent of that sin—turn your back on the sin and walk in the other direction. Next, seek to provide restitution for the wrong you have done. Lastly, receive the warm welcome of restoration to fellowship with God and with the one you have harmed.

Be slow to sin and quick to confess. That’s an excellent watchword to follow in your life. Don’t let the “Miss Bradleys” of your pride or arrogance keep you from settling your account with God and with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Waiting

 

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

—Psalm 27:13-14

Do you have something you hope will happen in your life for which you have waited a long, long time? I ask, because most people yearn for an answer to some great need, the realization of some great hope, or the fulfillment of some great dream for which they have waited an extended period of time.

Maybe you have suffered with a long-term health problem. Perhaps you have a son or daughter who seems to have strayed far away from the principles you lovingly taught him or her during the early childhood years. Possibly you have always wanted to gain success or recognition or a promotion for your hard work and faithful service.

Whatever your particular need, hope, or dream, as you look back over the days, weeks, months, or even years, it just seems to you that you’ve waited a long time for something satisfactory to happen. It’s possible that you’ve even fervently prayed every day and asked God to intervene in your behalf. But sometimes, it seems as if He has stopped listening to your entreaties.

If what I’ve described applies in your life, let me offer you a word of encouragement from none other than King David. If you carefully read the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, you will hear King David’s voice speaking words of encouragement to himself. That’s right! David talks to himself in this Psalm. He has known great blessing in his life. But, David has also known periods of almost unbelievable persecution and despair.

Fortunately, King David—the one known as “A man after God’s own heart”—has learned that the greatest comfort and assurance he can obtain comes directly from the very God he so ardently serves. When David speaks words like these, and he does this quite often throughout the Psalms attributed to him, he reminds himself of the faithfulness and goodness of God. David knows that whatever God may plan to do in his behalf, it will prove very much worth the wait.

So, dear one, I encourage you to follow David’s example and wait for the Lord. I promise you, on the very authority of God’s written Word, that He will not disappoint you.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Worth Remembering

 

Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips;

—Proverbs 22:17-19

Do you take notes during the sermon in church? No, I didn’t ask if you wrote notes to the person sitting next to you while you’re supposed to be listening to the sermon. I asked if you take notes during the sermon preached as a part of the church service you attend? Well, do you?

When I was a teenager, back in the early 1960s, we had two outward signs of the depth of our new-found “spirituality”: every day in school, we carried our bright red Youth for Christ Bibles on top of our school books and we always, and I mean always, took notes during the sermon in church.

Now this may seem very foreign to you. In fact, you may well be one of the countless thousands, if not tens of thousands, of believers who attend church each week and never bring your own Bible to church with you. Instead, you gladly use the Bible provided in the pew rack in front of you, or in the book rack beneath your chair. You may reason:

“Why bother to carry my own Bible when I can easily use the one provided?”

I applaud your economy regarding what you carry with you to church. But, I could never do it. I have to have my own Bible. Why? Well, it has all my notes in it. Notes I have taken with great care over almost eight decades of sermon listening.

You see, old habits die hard. Having learned as a kid that taking notes helps focus my attention on what the preacher says in his or her sermon, I simply can’t discard the practice.

But, in the last twenty-five years or so, I’ve come up with a new note-taking procedure. I now take notes after the service. That’s right. About two o’clock on a Sunday afternoon, I spend a few moments jotting down the answer to five questions about the morning’s sermon.

1. Subject?
2. Response?
3. How-To?
4. How Long?

And, then, just for good measure, I ask one more question:

5. Key Sentence?

Let me explain a bit. A few hours after hearing a sermon, I ask myself this first question:

What subject did the preacher preach about today?

Let me be clear. I’m not asking, “What Bible text did he or she preach about?” No. I’m asking what subject, topic, or main thrust did the preacher speak about in his or her sermon today.

I then ask myself this second question:

“What response did the preacher ask me to make as a result of hearing his or her sermon?”

In other words, what did the preacher suggest that am I supposed to do in response to the subject he or she preached about today?

I next ask myself this third question:

What suggestions did the preacher give me as to how to respond to his or her sermon?

Having already asked, in Question No. 2, what response the preacher was asking me to make, I now ask what concrete suggestions the preacher gave me as to how I am to respond to the sermon. The second question asks: “What response should I make?” The third question asks: “How do I respond?” This third question is looking for some tried and true suggestions.

For example: if the subject of the sermon was “Showing God’s love to others,” did the pastor give me some concrete steps to take in the week ahead that would prompt me to show love to others. You might call these instructions the “How-Tos.”

For my fourth question, I ask the following:

How long did the preacher suggest it might take before I begin to see results from following his or her advice in today’s sermon?

In other words, as I reflect on the sermon that I heard in church this morning, I am asking myself that if I do what the preacher suggested that I do, will I see immediate results? Will I see results in one week, one month, within a year? The answer to this question will help me know what to expect from my obedient response to the teaching I heard in today’s sermon.

Then, just for good measure, I ask this fifth question:

Can I write, in a single key sentence, the main thrust of today’s sermon and the response I should endeavor to make?

Said another way, can I extract and put into a sentence what the preacher tried to teach me today and how the preacher suggested I should respond? I believe that if I can create such a sentence, then I must have truly heard and understood what the preacher was trying to share with me.

You may wonder what difference my five questions may make to me. Well, I decided long ago that, if I’m going to spend time in church listening to someone share from God’s written Word, I had better remember what the preacher said. In order to remember, I have to have some “hooks” to hang that memory on during the week ahead. Without those “hooks,” I most likely won’t remember what he or she preached about.

You see, I realize that most pastors spend a great deal of time meditating on Scripture, praying, and then writing their sermons. They put a significant effort into crafting a sermon that will communicate the truth of God’s written Word. Since they have spent so much time in my behalf, it behooves me to make certain I listen carefully, understand, and then remember what the pastor said in his or her sermon.

The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:11:

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Reading this verse makes it seem important that I remember God’s written Word and the teaching and preaching from God’s written Word.

Let me make a suggestion. A few hours after you have listened to the next sermon that you hear, take a few moments to see if you can answer those five questions. Let me review them for you:

1. Subject?
2. Response?
3. How-To?
4. How Long?
5. Key Sentence?

If you can answer these five questions, then you will have gone a long way toward remembering what your preacher preached about this weekend. If you can’t answer those questions, give serious thought as to whether you didn’t pay close enough attention to what your pastor said. Or, maybe—just maybe—he or she did not even share with you the answer to these five questions in his or her sermon.

If the latter seems to be the case—and if your pastor is open to some help and you can offer that help without embarrassing him or her—suggest that he or she pay a visit to the “Sermon-Coach Podcast” available by clicking here. By listening to this Podcast, your pastor will find help to create effective, life-transforming sermons that answer those five questions.

Whether you share this tip with your pastor or not, please keep asking the five questions each week. And, more importantly, as the end of the week draws near, please take some time to pray for your pastor. Ask God to give your pastor liberty in preaching the truth that God has laid on your pastor’s heart. That, dear one, is one of the very best things you can do to help your pastor help you.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Infinitely Valued

 

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

—Hebrews 6:10

“Why should I continue to go out of my way doing kind deeds for others? Nobody recognizes the sacrifice involved on my part. They just take what I do for granted!” declares one very frustrated child of God.

Ever feel that way? Or, how about this?

“Week after week, I go to choir practice and show up on Sunday morning to sing. Why I haven’t missed a rehearsal or service in over five years. That’s like 520 times I’ve arrived on time and ready to serve. I doubt if anyone would even miss me if I was gone.”

Or, perhaps you feel like this person:

“I guess I’m foolish to continue giving money the way I do. Because the business has done well, others ask for help as though I owed it to them. Why, if I added up all I’ve given as a Christian during my lifetime, the total would stagger people. No, on second thought, it probably wouldn’t mean a thing to anybody, except me!”

Do any of these heart-cries resonate with you? Or perhaps, you have a situation where you’ve given service that is quite different than the ones used above as examples in this blog post, but that situation evokes a heartbreaking sob within the depths of your being.

“Some of the best years of my life I gave to those people. But now that I’m older, they act as though I never existed. When I was younger, I think we respected age more than they do now-a-days. I guess I feel as though the contribution I made in my time should entitle me to at least a sense of dignity during these, my closing years.”

Or, if you’ve ever volunteered in Christian Education, maybe you will identify with this person’s lament:

“Because I do a good job teaching Sunday School, people just assume it comes easy for me. I wonder if they realize how many Saturday nights I’ve stayed up making sure my words would be clearly understood the next morning, or the numerous times my family has not gone somewhere on Saturdays to protect my lesson preparation, or the hours I’ve invested in prayer? But lately, I have a feeling the class is getting a lot more from me than I am from them, and their response makes me wonder if it’s really worth all the effort I put into it!”

Do you identify at all with the kind of things these dear folks are saying? Having invested a great deal in ministry of one kind or another, you’re now wondering if anyone even notices what you do. Please allow meto offer an illustration:

Many years ago, in October of 1978, when I lived in a suburb of Hartford, Connecticut, I attended a banquet sponsored by the local Christian radio station, where I worked as the Saturday morning on-air host. The speaker for that event was Rev. Dr. David R. Mains, the host of a daily radio broadcast, The Chapel of the Air. That evening, Dr. Mains preached a sermon based on the passage of Scripture you will find at the beginning of this blog post. He gave example after example of occasions when God reminded His people that He remained fully aware of all they did on His behalf.

I came away from that night greatly encouraged. I also came away from that night with the beginnings of a new friendship that, I am grateful to say, has continued over these intervening 48 years. In fact, for the three years prior to that night, I had faithfully prayed, asking God to please bring someone into my life who could serve as a trusted spiritual mentor for me. I had met many prominent Christian leaders through my work with various Evangelical organizations, and especially through my work in radio broadcasting. But, I often found these individuals to have so many obvious flaws that I did not feel they could help me in my own spiritual formation.

That night in October of 1978, God answered my prayers. The more that I got to know Dr. Mains in subsequent months, the more I realized that he was a genuine individual who was totally sold out to God. Yes, like all humans, he was not perfect. But, his flaws were quite minor compared to my own, and compared with those of most religious leaders I had met. The genuineness of Dr. Mains commitment to Christ and His Kingdom was inspiring. Plus, Dr. Mains seemed willing to invest in me in a way that others had not been willing.

Over the intervening 48 years, I have learned much from Dr. Mains. Fifteen years ago, in my retirement from a full-time career, Dr. Mains welcomed me to become a part of his ministry, where I continue to serve today. The genuiness that I detected 48 years ago has only strengthened, as I have observed Dr. Mains face many life challenges over the years. But, the first lesson I learned from him on that chilly October night in 1978 has remained as one of the most profound and life-enhancing truths.

During his sermon that long-ago night, Dr. Mains told this short story as an illustration for his sermon. This illustration certainly mirrored my own experience. These are Dr. Mains’ words:

Twice now, I’ve read through J.R.R. Tolkien’s massive three-volume set, The Lord of the Rings. And, each time I’ve made it all right through the thousand-plus pages of excitement and adventure as little Frodo Baggins and his company perform superhuman exploits while saving Middle Earth from the dark cloud of the evil Lord Sauron. But, when Frodo returns home to the simple shire from which he came, and none of his fellow Hobbits appreciate, or are even aware of, his heroics, I have to confess, both times, tears came to my eyes as I tried to read.

“Frodo dropped quietly out of all the doings of the Shire, and Sam Gamgee was pained to notice how little honor his master had in his own country. Few people knew or wanted to know about his deeds and adventures,” writes Tolkien.

And, in those words, I’m afraid the author describes the experience of too many faithful, but unsung, Christian warriors.

So, dear friend, if you, like me, can identify with those who feel that no one even notices what they do for Christ and His Kingdom, I encourage you to join me in memorizing Hebrews 6:10:

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

By memorizing this verse, we will plant a seed in our minds and hearts that God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can bring to our awareness whenever we’re tempted to feel unappreciated.

If I re-state in my own words what the writer of Hebrews has penned, it comes out like this: “Be reminded that God is aware of all your efforts on His behalf.” I hope those words will encourage you today, as much as they have encouraged me over the last 48 years.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

What's Inside?

 

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

—Colossians 1:24-29

I hear lots of talk about “hope” these days. I imagine that’s because it seems as if we live in somewhat hopeless times. Quite often, hope seems very elusive. It’s almost as if hope has become a great mystery.

In the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, the Apostle Paul talks about “the glorious riches of this mystery.” I’ve noticed that Paul writes a lot about “mystery” in his letters to the fledgling churches of the first century A.D. In fact, one electronic search through the text of the New Testament discloses no less than 15 references to the word “mystery” in Paul’s letters.

Notice, in the passage above, that the Apostle makes a clear explanation of the particular “mystery” he writes about to the church at Colosse. He describes the mystery as “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” In other words, our hope of spending eternity with God rests on the Presence of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, dwelling within us by the power of the Holy Spirit. That means the source of our hope, which seems like a great mystery, really isn’t so mysterious after all.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Comforting, as God Comforts Us

 

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

—2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Unless you are quite unusual, you’ve known some trouble in your life. Maybe you have suffered through the death of a spouse, or a child, or some other loved one. Maybe you have experienced a debilitating disease. Maybe your life’s partner has abandoned you for someone else. Maybe people you counted on and thought were your friends have turned their backs on you. Maybe you have seen your career tumble into shambles because someone at work decided to treat you unfairly. Maybe you have watched your financial security evaporate in a falling stock market, or a bad investment scheme of some kind. Maybe you’ve allowed some pattern of addiction to take you down.

I just don’t know what you have experienced in your life. But, I know this for sure: we’ve all had afflictions in our lives and we’ve had trials in our lives. For what purpose does God allow troubles to come into our lives? Have we ever considered that He may allow these trials in order to teach us that we can rely on His grace to see us through? Even more startling, have we considered that God may allow difficulties in our lives so that we can receive His comfort and, thus, learn how to extend His comfort to others?

In the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, it seems as if the Apostle Paul shares this very concept with the Christians at Corinth. He writes,

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

Imagine that! When God comforts us in our trouble, He also teaches us how to extend His comfort to the people who cross the pathway of our lives and who need His comfort, too. This puts all kinds of difficulties into an entirely different perspective.

No one wants to have troubles assail his or her life. But, to experience the comfort from God, and to learn how to pass that comfort on to others, seems like something we should consider the next time we find some troubles busting into our lives.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}