It was 70 years ago today that five missionaries went into the jungles of Ecuador to bring the gospel to an unreached group of indigenous people. Those five ended up sacrificing their very lives for that gospel. Months later, two of the wives, including Jim Elliot’s wife Elisabeth, went back to that very tribe that had murdered their husbands and led many of them to saving faith in Christ.

Jim is famous for saying, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Those are the words he and his friends lived by when they risked their lives to go to places where the name of Jesus had never been heard before. But in heaven’s eyes, the sacrifice was worth it. God honored the lives of those men and their wives, and their legacy still lives on.

Every time someone goes to a part of the world where the gospel has not gone before, we honor their legacy. Every time a missionary couple or family goes to a country where missionaries are not allowed, their legacy lives on. Whenever people are willing to risk everything to share the gospel where Christianity is illegal and converting means instant death, the legacy of the Elliots, the Flemings, The Saints, the McCullys, and Youderians is passed on to a new generation.

The goal is that everyone must know. Heaven will be filled with people from every tongue, tribe, and nation because people like Jim and Nate and the rest weren’t content to stay in this country and be comfortable but traded convenience for obedience and were able to hear the words of Jesus, “Well, done, good and faithful servants.”

That’s the paradox of Christmas — that God, the Maker and Sustainer, was for a time homeless so that all who waited for and longed for His appearing can be at home and find their home in Him. I love that God became one of us so that we could become like Him and be made into the image of His Son, Jesus.

Thank You, God, for Your sacrifice that I could know You and know eternal and abundant life that I never deserved but that You freely give through Your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

I don’t normally do this kind of thing, but I’m requesting prayer for myself on here. I’m asking each and every one of you to join me in prayer for God to lead me to a career where I can not only earn a living but also make a difference in the world.

I’ve been praying and believing in God for a job, but I think sometimes there’s mighty power when God’s people join together to agree on something in Jesus’ name. I’m thanking God in advance for His provision because I know that God has provided for me in every season through every kind of circumstance.

I’m claiming and believing the promises of God.

“Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?” (Romans 8:32, NTL).

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20, NLT).

“And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for” (1 John 5:14-15, NLT).

Thank you in advance for your prayers. I will update when God answers and I am still believing for good things from God. He is still good and worthy of my worship, no matter what.

Above all, I choose to pray the prayer that never fails: God, Your will be done. Amen.

“Now it was after these things that God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham.”

‘Hineni,’ he said (Genesis 22:1, TLV).

I learned a new Hebrew word today. I’m reading through the Tree of Life Version of the Bible. It’s a Messianic Jewish translation that often will insert Hebrew words instead of translating them. Also, it refers to Yeshua rather than Jesus when talking about the Messiah.

Hineni simply means “Here I am.”

But according to all that I have learned, it’s more than stating a geographical location. In this passage, God didn’t need to know where Abraham was. What Abraham was saying in that one word response was, “I am available and willing, no matter what.”

In this case, God was calling Abraham to take his only son, Isaac, and offer him as a sacrifice. Abraham was completely ready to obey even though he believed God’s promise about making a nation through his offspring. He somehow knew God could still fulfill His word.

Later on, we see that the Angel of the Lord stopped Abraham from going through with the deed. After He calls to Abraham, again Abraham responds with “Hineni.”

Once more, Abraham was instantly willing and able to do whatever God commanded. He didn’t need to think it over or figure out how it made sense before he could act. He simply acted.

Also, the word is used for Isaiah when God asked who could He send and who would go for Him to preach His message to wayward Israel. Again, Isaiah said “Hineni – here I am. Send me.”

May that be the posture of our hearts. Lord, whatever and whenever You call, I’m ready. My answer is Yes before You even ask the question. Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening. Amen.

“Wait on the Lord, wait quietly, wait trustingly. He holds every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year in His hands. Thank Him in advance for what the future holds, for He is already there” (Elisabeth Elliot).

I sometimes forget that God is not like me. He is not bound by time nor controlled by it. He exists completely outside of any notion of time. That means that He is still in the past where I messed up. He is in my present with all of its worries and concerns. And He is already in the future, going before me in whatever lies ahead of me.

He will still be there when I get there. That to me means more than any good news or unexpected blessing. The fact that I don’t have to wake up tomorrow wondering how I’m going to figure out all the ins and outs of my life is hugely relieving. God is there. He knows.

A word I have chosen for 2026 is waiting. Not in the sense of waiting passively like waiting by the phone for a call. But waiting actively. Waiting expectantly. Waiting while I prepare the fields to receive rain in advance of a mighty harvest.

God, we wait for You knowing that our future is secure in nail-scarred hands. Thank You that we never go where You have not already been. Amen.