Bless the Giver and Receiver

 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

—John 3:16-21

During the last year, did you celebrate your birthday? I surely hope that you did. And, if you did, what gifts did you receive? As much as you enjoyed receiving those amazing gifts, I know a secret about them. That’s right. I know a secret about each gift that you received. Do you want to know that secret? Okay, I’ll tell you. Here’s the secret: the ones who gave those gifts to you enjoyed giving the gifts every bit as much as you enjoyed receiving them. That’s one of the truly neat things about gifts. They bless the receiver and they also bless the giver.

The very familiar Bible passage at the beginning of this blog post contains one of the most well known verses in all of Scripture. It says:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This verse talks about the greatest gift ever given. God loves us so much that He gave us His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our Savior and Lord. Anyone who believes in Him—that literally means any person, any mom, any dad, any uncle, any aunt, any grandma, any grandpa, any boy, or any girl, anyone, anyone at all, who believes in Him—will have eternal life!

Wow! What a truly spectacular gift! God, in His mercy and grace, has given us this amazing gift. And, this great gift blesses us, but it also blesses God as the Giver of that Gift. It blesses Him because He loves us so much that He wants to make certain that we will have a relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus. He wants to make a provision to forgive our sins, so that we can spend eternity with Him.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Do We Know Who We Are?

 

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

—Romans 8:15-17

Does anyone ever ask you any questions? Of course they do. I am quite certain that people ask you questions all the time. And, I am also quite certain that you probably ask quite a few questions yourself: “What’s for lunch?” or “Who’s your favorite football team?” Questions offer a very important way for us to seek out and receive information. We frequently use questions to obtain information that will help us live our lives.

Sometimes questions deal with subjects that appear quite easy to answer. For example, “Hey! What’s for dinner?” Other questions require a great deal of thought. And, maybe such questions even require us to look quite hard to find the answer. For example, if I asked you: “Who are you?” You might say to me: “I am Tim.” Or, “I am Sharon.” In other words, you might answer my question by telling me your name.

Or, maybe, when I ask: “Who are you?” You might say to me: “I am a man.” Or: “I am a woman.” In other words, you might answer my question by telling me your gender.

The Bible often can give us some very interesting answers to questions that we may ask. For example, when I look in the Bible for an answer to the question: “Who are you?” The Bible gives me this answer: “You are a child of God. You belong to Him.”

Imagine that? When someone says to me: “Who are you?” I can answer: “I am a child of God. I belong to Him.” I know this statement rings true because I have the testimony of the Holy Spirit in my heart that I do, indeed, belong to God through the resurrection power of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

In October of 1956, as a nine-year-old little boy, at the end of an evangelistic service, I responded to the invitation given by Rev. Oral Bradford, a visiting evangelist and chalk artist. Rev. Bradford prayed with me and I surrendered my life to Jesus. I acknowledged the sacrifice that Christ made for me on Calvary’s cross. From that day forward, right up to this very day, when I am asked: “Who are you?” I can quickly respond: “I am a child of God. I belong to Him.”

Do you know what? You can give that very same answer, too. If you have acknowledged God’s gift of eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ, and I ask you: “Who are you?” You can truly respond: “I am a child of God. I belong to Him.”

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The One in Charge

 

But this word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: “Say to Rehoboam son of Solomon king of Judah, to the whole house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not go up to fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Go home, every one of you, for this is my doing.’” So they obeyed the word of the Lord and went home again, as the Lord had ordered.

—1 Kings 12:22-24

Do you like to go out to eat? Maybe you’re like me and most of your away-from-home eating experiences take place at McDonald’s or one of the other fast food restaurants. But perhaps, on some special occasion, you’ve gone to a real sit down restaurant where a waiter or waitress comes to your table and takes your order.

Once in a while, when we go out to eat in such a restaurant, things don’t seem to go very well. Maybe we wait for a long time for the waiter or waitress to come and take our order. Or, maybe after he or she takes our order, we wait a very long time for our food to arrive so we can begin eating. When that happens, we may wonder aloud about who’s in charge. It seems when things don’t go well at a restaurant it’s because no one seems to take control of things—no one seems to be “in charge.”

One of the lessons contained in today’s Bible text at the beginning of this blog post centers on the fact that when things happen around us, we don’t ever have to wonder whether or not God remains in charge of things. God’s always in charge. Whatever happens, and whenever things happen, we can be quite certain that God is at work to bring the outcome that He wants.

At the end of the chapter preceding today’s Scripture passage, King Solomon had died. Of his two sons, Rehoboam and Jeroboam, the first son had remained faithful to his father. The second son had rebelled against his father and fled to Egypt.

Upon Solomon’s death, Jeroboam returns to the Promised Land. And, Rehoboam acts on some bad advice from his peers, rejecting the recommendations of his older advisors. As a result, the people rebel, and the Kingdom becomes divided. Ten tribes form the Northern Kingdom and invite Jeroboam to become their king. Two tribes, Judah and Benjamin—along with most of the Levites who had no land holdings—form the Southern Kingdom where Rehoboam reigns.

In the verses at the beginning of this blog post, Rehoboam has assembled an army of 180,000 fighting men to attack the Northern Kingdom. But, God intervenes. He orders Rehoboam and his army to stand down. God reminds them that He remains in control and that He has brought about the division of the kingdoms.

God always remains in control. In fact, one of the wonderful things about belonging to God—about being His child—is that we can always be absolutely certain that He’s in charge. I hope you will remember this fact. No matter what seems to happen in or around our lives, we can always remain certain that God’s the one in charge. He graciously and lovingly controls what goes on in our lives.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Unduly Influenced

 

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods. The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”

—1 Kings 11:1-13

In the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, the Bible story talks about how King Solomon’s wives unduly and improperly influenced him, so that he was no longer “fully devoted” to God.

Have you ever observed someone who allowed another person to unduly and improperly influence him or her? It usually happens slowly over a relatively long period of time. The “influencer” exerts subtle pressure on the one he or she intends to influence. After a time, the one under the influence begins to say things or do things that he or she might not do under normal circumstances.

I observed this first hand during the last days of my career at an insurance company. A long-time Senior Vice President decided to take early retirement. A number of candidates existed within the company who could have easily stepped in to assume the duties and responsibilities of the departing Senior VP. But, this event occurred at a time when all the popular business management literature advanced the idea of corporate reorganization.

Unduly and improperly influenced by a new board chairman, who had come from outside the company and did not understand—and did not want to understand—the culture of the insurance company, a search began for a new Senior VP from outside the company. In no time at all, the search committee located an executive from a casualty insurer. This individual knew absolutely nothing whatsoever about Highly Protected Risk property insurance. He knew nothing about fire protection engineering or property loss prevention. He knew nothing about the culture that had heretofore made the insurance company successful for well over 100 years. But, this individual from outside the company represented exactly what the new board chairman wanted: a new face, free from the company culture, who would agree with everything the new board chairman did or said. The board hired the favored candidate immediately. And, we all had a new boss.

I will spare you—at least in this blog post—a recounting of the long term effect this decision to hire an outsider who did not really understand who we were or what we did had on the effectiveness and morale of the company. Suffice it to say, it became representative of a significant number of bad decisions that board chairman made. Within five years, following losses that occurred on September 11, 2001, the company had dissolved into a failed morass. Fortunately by then, I was long gone.

At least in concept, that’s not unlike what happened to Solomon in our Scripture passage for today. His wives exerted undue and improper influence on him. They turned him away from the one true God and directed him to worship their gods. As a result, Solomon lost the most important element of his life. No longer did Solomon obediently make himself fully devoted to God.

The key words are “fully devoted.” Now you may seldom hear words like those. But, even though the words “fully devoted” may seem somewhat unfamiliar to you, you already know what they mean. Let me explain.

Have you ever watched a baseball, football, basketball, soccer, golf, lacrosse, or hockey game? Well, true sports fans tend to become “fully devoted” to their favorite team. Whenever they talk about their team, you can hear the joy and excitement in their voices. From time to time, if no channel televises their team’s game, they may reluctantly watch another team play. But, they just don’t get anywhere nearly as excited about that game as they do when they watch their team play.

You can always tell when someone is “fully devoted” to something, or someone, by how excited he or she becomes when talking about that thing or that person. Of course, you have to guard yourself about becoming devoted to anyone who insists on exerting undue or improper influence on you. Solomon fell prey to his wives. The board at the insurance company fell prey to a new board chairman who insisted on having his way, no matter what. And, not so oddly enough, who would not tolerate any discussion or disagreement with his ideas.

As Solomon learned to his peril, God very much wants us to set aside any sense of being unduly or improperly influenced and, instead, to truly become and remain “fully devoted” to Him. In fact, He really wants us to become and remain “fully devoted” only to Him. As we all grow and learn more about God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we will also have the opportunity to begin to understand how important it is in life to become and remain “fully devoted” to Him.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

We Recognize His Voice

 

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”

—John 16:12-15

Have you ever answered the telephone at home and the person calling started talking to you like he or she knew you, but you could not tell who that person was because you did not recognize the person’s voice? This happens to all of us from time to time. We will get a telephone call and the person calling will start talking to us without telling us who he or she is. The whole time that person is talking to us, instead of listening to what he or she is saying, we are trying to figure out who it is.

Sometimes, after we have listened very carefully to the sound of the person’s voice for a while, something the person says to us, or the way he or she forms words, will let us know who it is that is speaking to us.

The Bible verses at the beginning of this blog post come from a Scripture passage in the Gospel of John where Jesus tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit will come to them and speak to them of things that will guide them along the pathway of their lives. Jesus makes it very clear to His disciples that they will recognize it is the Holy Spirit speaking to them because the Holy Spirit will be speaking the same kinds of things that Jesus has been telling them. What the Holy Spirit says to them—not in an audible voice, but in the deep recesses of their hearts and minds—will be immediately recognizable. They will know that it is the Holy Spirit speaking to them because His words will have the familiar ring. Those words will be the very same words that convey the very same teachings that Jesus has spoken to them.

When we put our faith and trust in Jesus, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. How this happens is a great spiritual mystery. But, we know for certain that it does happen. The Holy Spirit is present within us to remind us of the things Jesus wants us to know and to do.

When we hear that “spiritual voice” inside us telling us what to do, we will always be able to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit by what the Spirit says to us. If what we hear is the same kind of things Jesus would say to us—the kinds of things Jesus said that we read about in the Bible—then we will know for certain it is the Holy Spirit speaking. And, that is a really important lesson we all must learn.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Most Powerful Help

 

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

—John 5:1-9

Have you ever tried to do something, but needed some help in doing it? Maybe you wanted a book from a shelf in your room that was higher than you could reach. You stretched and you stretched and you stretched. But, you still could not reach what you wanted to get down. Or, maybe you wanted to put on or take off your snakeskin boots in the wintertime. You tugged and you tugged, and then you tugged some more. But, you still could not get those boots on or off.

When faced with something we cannot do, we most likely yell, “Hey! Can you give me some help?” And, someone answers and comes to help us do whatever we wanted to do, but could not do for ourselves.

In the Bible story at the beginning of this blog post, a man wanted to be healed from some illness that prevented him from moving easily. Jewish tradition had taught hiim to believe that an angel would come and stir up the Pool of Bethesda. If he could somehow get into the pool at the moment the angel stirred up the water, he would be healed. But, he would only be healed if he was the very first person to enter the water.

As the man waits for healing, Jesus comes along. Surprisingly, Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be healed. The man explained that he had no one to help him get into the water. Then Jesus said something that totally surprised the man. Jesus said, “Get up. Pick up your mat and walk.” The Bible tells us that the man was immediately healed.

That day this man learned a very valuable lesson. And, we can learn this lesson, too. The man learned that when he really needed help, all he had to do was ask Jesus.

As we get to know more and more about Jesus, we will also learn that whenever we really need help, all we have to do is ask Jesus. His help is the most powerful, the very best help we can find.

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Team Members

 

When he [Judas Iscariot] was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

—John 13:31-35

Have you ever attended a sporting event like a baseball game, a basketball game, a football game, or a soccer match? Have you ever gone to the softball field to watch your own church softball team play? I understand that on the softball field you can learn a great deal about your fellow believers. You should seriously think about attending one of those games.

If you do attend a game, or even if you watch your favorite sports team on television, you can always tell the members of the team by the fact that they all wear the same uniforms. Every one of the players on the team dresses in the same clothes. You can easily identify the team members.

The next time you attend church, look around the sanctuary. Everyone in that room will have dressed in very unique clothes. And yet, almost everyone present has chosen to join the same team. That’s right. Most all of those present belong to the same team. And, the captain of that team is the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, how can we tell when we look at each other that we belong to the same team? In the Bible lesson at the beginning of this blog post, Jesus tells His disciples:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

So, Jesus, Himself, has told us that the way we will know we belong to the same team—the way we will know that we belong to Jesus—comes from the fact that we show love for one another. Showing that we love each other by kind words and kind deeds provides the mark of someone who belongs to Jesus Christ; someone whom we call a Christian, or “Christ’s-one.”

 

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

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}