RTTBROS

The Walking Dead #RTTBROS #Nightlight #Faith #Grace #Eternity

SHOW NOTESEpisode Title: When the Music Stopped Nightlight with RTTBROSEpisode Description:Tonight on Nightlight, we look at the life of Ira Sankey, the great gospel singer who couldn't see what God was doing until everything fell apart. If you've ever been in a season where nothing made sense and the path forward was hidden, this practical biblical wisdom from Proverbs 3 is for you. We dig into what it really means to trust God with your whole heart, and why leaning on your own understanding has a ceiling that God's wisdom never hits. This is bible wisdom daily for anyone who needs a reminder that God hasn't lost the plot on your story.Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6Full Transcript:On April 9, 1865, a Confederate soldier named Ira Sankey was sitting in a prison camp wondering if his life was over. The war was ending, the cause was lost, and everything he thought his future would look like had crumbled. He had no idea that within just a few years, he would become the most famous gospel singer in the world, traveling alongside D.L. Moody, leading thousands to Christ in revival meetings across America and England. Ira Sankey's greatest chapter hadn't ended. It hadn't even started yet.I think about that a lot when I'm sitting with people at the end of their lives. I've had more bedside conversations than I can count with folks who look back on the hardest, most confusing seasons of their lives and say the same thing, almost word for word: "I couldn't see it then, but God knew exactly what He was doing."That's the heart of Proverbs 3:5-6. "Lean not unto thine own understanding." Now, that's not telling us to check our brains at the door. It's telling us that our understanding has a ceiling and God's doesn't. We see the chapter we're in. He sees the whole book.Here's what I've learned, and I am too soon old and too late smart on this one: the moments that felt like dead ends were often the moments God was setting up something I never could have arranged for myself. The detour was the destination in disguise.Maybe today you're in one of those confusing chapters. The music has stopped and you can't figure out why. Friend, acknowledge Him in that. Bring Him your confusion, your fear, your "I don't understand this, Lord." That's not weak faith. That's exactly the kind of honest trust Proverbs is talking about.Because history is just HIS story, and He hasn't lost the plot on yours.Let's pray: Lord, today we choose to trust what we cannot yet see. Thank You that Your understanding has no ceiling and Your paths are always good. Direct us, even through the confusion. In Jesus' name, Amen.Reflection Questions:What situation in your life right now are you trying to figure out on your own instead of bringing to God?Can you look back on a past "dead end" that turned out to be a detour God was using? What did that teach you about His faithfulness?What would it look like practically for you to "acknowledge Him" in the middle of your current confusion?Connect: Be sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros#BiblicalWisdom #ChristianWisdom #TrustGod #PracticalBiblicalWisdom #DailyDevotion #ScripturalWisdom #Faith #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

RTTBROS Nightlight DevotionPraying for Our Children — Relinquishing Control"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." — Psalm 55:22There is a moment every parent knows. The house goes quiet, the children are in bed, and you lie there running through everything you couldn't fix today. The conversation that went sideways. The friend you don't quite trust. The future you can't quite see. The fear you can't quite name.And in that silence, God whispers the hardest truth a parent will ever learn: you were never supposed to carry this alone.Stormie Omartian built her book The Power of a Praying Parent* on a foundation that feels almost impossible for a loving mother or father to accept that our children don't ultimately need our perfection. They need our prayers. We cannot be everywhere at once. We cannot see every shadow, anticipate every danger, guard every door. But God can. And prayer is how we partner with the One who already is.This isn't giving up. This is growing up into the kind of faith that stops white-knuckling the wheel and starts trusting the One who made the road.Think about what you're actually praying for when you pray for your child's protection, you're confessing that you can't be their shield, but God can. When you pray for their character, for honesty, integrity, a tender heart, you're admitting you can't manufacture virtue in them, but the Holy Spirit can. When you pray for their relationships, their purpose their freedom from generational chains; you are releasing them, one prayer at a time, into hands far more capable than yours.That is not weakness. That is the bravest thing a parent can do.Tonight, whatever burden is keeping you awake, bring it to God before you close your eyes. Not a polished prayer. Not a perfect one. Just an honest one. Lord, I can't. You can. I trust You.Tonight's Prayer:Father, I confess that I often try to carry what only You can hold. I love my children with everything I have — but You love them more, and You know them deeper. Tonight I release __________ into Your hands. Protect them where I cannot see. Shape them where I cannot reach. Break in them what I cannot break, and build in them what I cannot build. I choose tonight to be their parent and to let You be their God. In Jesus' name, Amen."The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore."— Psalm 121:8Redeeming the Time, one prayer, one night at a time.

Remember The End #NIGHTLIGHT #RTTBROS #Christ #Eternity #Heaven

The Ache That Won't Go Away(Inspired by Larry Crabb's insight on the soul's deep longings)The Ache That Won't Go Away #RTTBROS #Nightlight"My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." — Matthew 26:38You know, one of the most honest things I've ever heard a Christian counselor say stopped me right in my tracks. Larry Crabb, one of the contributors to the Soul Care Bible, wrote that "beneath the surface of everyone's life, especially the more mature, is an ache that will not go away." He said an aching soul is not evidence of neurosis or spiritual immaturity. It's evidence of realism.I've sat with a lot of people over the years, in hospital rooms, living rooms, and church pews, and I can tell you that is one of the truest things I've ever read. So many people carry a quiet ache inside them and then feel guilty about it, like something is spiritually wrong with them because they can't just "praise it away."Here's what I want you to hear tonight: even Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, said, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death." The Son of God sat with His disciples and let them see His anguish. He didn't perform spiritual cheerfulness for anyone. He was honest about the weight He was carrying.What Larry Crabb helped a generation of Christians understand is that the deep ache we feel in our souls is actually a longing for God and for the wholeness He alone can give. It's not a sign of broken faith. It's often a sign of a soul that knows this world is not what it was meant to be, and that Something, Someone, better is yet to come.I'm too soon old and too late smart, but one thing I've learned is that when you try to pretend the ache isn't there, it just goes underground and comes out sideways. But when you bring it honestly to God, something begins to shift. He can work with honest pain. He's less able to work with a performance.The Psalms are full of this. David didn't write greeting card theology. He wrote things like "How long, O LORD? wilt thou forget me for ever?" (Psalm 13:1). And then, in the very same psalm, he lands on trust. That journey, from honest ache to renewed trust, is not a failure of faith. It's the walk of faith.If you're carrying an ache tonight that just won't let you go, you are in good company. Bring it to the One who knows what it is to say, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful."Let's pray: Father, we come to You with our honest aches tonight, not our polished performances. You already know what's underneath the surface. Meet us there, in that deep place, with Your presence and Your peace. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #MentalHealth #SoulCare #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #HopeInGod #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Power Supply #RTTBROS #Nightlight #Holyspirit #Power #God

A Light of Hope #RTTBROS #Nightlight"And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." John 1:5 KJVYou know, sometimes life just piles on the shadows, doesn't it? You can be in a stretch of days, or a season, where the weight of things feels so overwhelming, it's like the sun forgot to rise, and the darkness is a tangible thing all around you. I was thinking the other day about being out on a quiet back road late at night, and the kind of dark makes you question if there's any light left at all. It's in those moments, when every visible source seems to have failed, that you realize true navigation isn't about the big floodlights, but sometimes, just a tiny, persistent glow.That little glow, that's where John 1:5 shines so brilliantly for us. "The light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." Think of it like a firefly, the kind that blinks steadily, seemingly at random. The darkness is vast, powerful, and wants to absorb everything, but the firefly simply is. It doesn't need to fight the dark, it just needs to be itself. That's what our faith is meant to be, friends. It is not a massive bonfire that burns out quickly, but that steady, unassuming little flicker of the Gospel, blinking into existence right where the despair is deepest.It's funny, isn't it? We often look for big moments, big shouts, or big miracles to prove that God is still with us. But sometimes God just uses that small, steady rhythm. He sends you that little pocket of peace, that whisper of hope, that tiny act of grace, and He asks you to carry it. Don't try to be the brightest flashlight in the room, just be the little persistent firefly. Because when everything else is obscured, when we feel too soon old and too late smart to find the answer, our simple faithfulness shines just enough to remind the world, and more importantly, to remind ourselves, that history is just HIS story.When you feel the weight of the darkness pressing in, remember that your light is not measured by its intensity, but by its faithfulness. Keep shining. Keep trusting that tiny spark of hope that the Spirit has placed within you. That light, gentle but undeniable, is something the overwhelming darkness can never, ever comprehend.Lord, we thank you for the light that always shines, even when we feel like we have nothing of our own. Help us to keep blinking, to trust that small, steadfast glow of faith that you have placed within us. Amen.#faithjourney #nightlight #divineglow #john1v5 #redemption #hope #godslove #Christianliving #RTTBROS #NightlightLike, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out. https://linktr.ee/rttbros

The Besieged Besieger #RTTBROS #Nightlight"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other." — Galatians 5:17In 52 BC, Julius Caesar laid siege to the Gallic fortress city of Alesia, trapping chieftain Vercingetorix inside with a massive inner wall. But then came the intelligence report that must have turned his blood cold. A relief army of over 200,000 warriors was marching to break the siege from the outside. So Caesar did something breathtaking. He ordered his 60,000 soldiers to build a second wall, this one facing outward. Two walls. Two enemies. One army caught in between. Military historians call it the masterpiece of the ancient world. Caesar held both walls, and Vercingetorix surrendered.Here's what struck me, because history is just HIS story. The Christian life looks remarkably like Caesar's predicament at Alesia. We fight on two fronts every single day. There's an inner enemy, our old sinful nature, always pushing from the inside. And there's an outer enemy, Satan and this fallen world system, pressing in from outside with temptation and discouragement. Paul described it plainly: "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." And Peter warned, "your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8)Two enemies. We need two walls. The inner wall is God's Word and the Holy Spirit. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Psalm 119:11) The outer wall is the armor of God, prayer, and staying alert to the enemy's schemes.Too soon old and too late smart, I used to think the Christian life was just about trying harder on the inside. But God, in His wisdom, has equipped us for both fronts.Caesar's soldiers held both walls and won the day. By God's grace, so can you.Let's pray: Lord, strengthen us against the enemy within through Your Word and Spirit, and guard us against the enemy without through Your armor and power. Help us stand firm on both fronts, not in our own strength, but in Yours. In Jesus' name, Amen.*#SpiritualWarfare #ChristianLiving #Faith #DailyDevotion #BiblicalWisdom #History #RTTBROS #Nightlight*Be sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Joyful Surrender PrayerBy Praise and Patries a FB creator who makes content primarily for women. I wanted to invite you to pray with me to invite the Holy Spirit and his ministry and his leading into our day. And so as I pray, I'm praying this for you too, but I encourage you to save this so that you from your mouth can pray these scriptures into your day. Good morning, God. I thank you for this new day. I thank you for your mercies that are made new every day. What a gift. What is a man that you are mindful of him, but you are not just mindful of us. I'm reminded this morning of Psalm 37.that says the Lord directs the steps of a godly man and he delights in all his ways. Forgive me for the moment that I choose to lean on my own understanding when the God who created the heavens and the earth delights in me and in all my ways. So today I joyfully submit to you. I joyfully surrender. I will trust in the Lord with all my heart. I will not lean on my own understanding, but in all my ways.I will acknowledge you so that you may direct my steps. I thank you for your promise in Isaiah 30 that says, there will be a voice that comes from behind that says to walk to the left or to the right, who will direct me in the way that I should go. You are a good shepherd, leading me always in paths of righteousness for your name's sake. I ask that you would increase my discernment, me eyes to see and ears to hear your voice.and create in me a heart that is eager to obey your command.I pray, Father God, that you would help me to use my time and my resources wisely today, that I would invest in eternal reward rather than temporary successes. I welcome you, Holy Spirit, to convict me, to deal with me in all my ways, in my attitudes, in my behaviors, in my personalities, in my thought patterns, anything that does not glorify you.Anything that does not reflect the image of your son, remove it. Prune me, Lord, so that I may be transformed into the image of Christ. Your assurance is that if I seek first the kingdom of heaven, then all these things shall be added to me. Everything that pertains to life, the physical, the material, and godliness, my spiritual health and transformation, you have given to me, so I will not worry.about finances or doors of opportunity or relationships I trust in your timing, in your leading, and in your sovereignty over it all. That you are working all things together for the good of those who love you and are called according to your purpose. I thank you, Lord, that you delight in me and in my ways. May I never forget it or take it for granted. I look forward to walking with you today. I pray these things in faith.and with thanksgiving in Jesus name.

The Sound of Silence #RTTBROS #Nightlight"Be still, and know that I am God." — Psalm 46:10You know, I read something recently that stopped me cold. In 2011, a Finnish tourism board was trying to attract visitors to their country. After all the research and focus groups, you know what they landed on? Their slogan was simply this: "Silence, please." They ran ads showing vast, empty forests and frozen lakes, and the tagline read, "We have it. The world needs it."The campaign worked. Because deep down, every one of us knows that's true. The world is drowning in noise, and somewhere in our souls, we are starving for quiet.Elijah the prophet knew something about that. You remember the story in 1 Kings 19. This man had just called down fire from heaven on Mount Carmel, and the very next day he was sitting under a juniper tree telling God he was done. Just done. God fed him, let him sleep, and then told him to go stand on the mountain. And what happened next I've turned over in my mind for years. There came a great wind, an earthquake, and a fire. And God was not in any of them. After the fire came, "a still small voice." That's where God was. In the quiet.God is still working that way. He is most clearly heard in the stillness. But Elijah had to stop running to hear it. He had to stand still and let the noise pass by first.Most of us never get there. We fill every quiet moment with our phones, our music, our own anxious thoughts. And God has been trying to get a word in edgewise for a long time.When is the last time you got genuinely quiet before God? Too soon old and too late smart, friend. I know that one from personal experience.Let's pray: Father, forgive us for filling our lives with so much noise that we can hardly hear Your voice. Teach us the holy discipline of silence, and help us be still long enough to know that You are God. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Silence #BeStillAndKnow #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #Prayer #SpiritualGrowth #Faith #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

faith is the root works are the fruit#Truth #RTTBROS #NIGHTLIGHT #works #Grace

The Truth That Sets You Free #RTTBROS #Nightlight"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." — John 8:32You know, in my years in ministry, I've sat with a lot of people who were carrying something heavy, something they couldn't quite name. And one of the most common things I've noticed is this: the thoughts that trouble us most are the ones we never let out into the light. They just rattle around in there, getting louder and scarier the longer they stay locked up inside.Jesus said the truth would make us free, and I believe that with everything in me. But here's something I've learned the hard way, and I'm too soon old and too late smart on this one: sometimes the first step toward truth is just getting the thought out of your head and into the open.Now, maybe you can't get to a good counselor right now. Counselors are expensive, their schedules are full, and there's still a little bit of stigma that makes some folks reluctant to go. That's okay. You've got options. Grab a journal and write it down. Call a trusted friend and say "I need to talk something through." Or better yet, take it to God in prayer, because He already knows anyway and He's the best listener there is. There's something almost miraculous about what happens when you get a troubling thought out of your head and onto paper, or into words. Psychologists call it "depotentiation." I just call it getting it out in the light where you can look at it. Those dark, swirling thoughts that seemed so overwhelming at two in the morning have a funny way of looking a lot smaller once you can actually see them.Then, once it's out, run it through a simple filter. Ask yourself three things. Is this thought distorted, am I only seeing part of the picture? Is it a deletion, am I leaving out important information that might change how I feel? Or is it a generalization, am I saying "always" or "never" when the truth is somewhere in the middle? Those three questions will catch a lot of the thoughts that are working against you.And here's the last thing, and this might be the most important: we don't always have all the information we need about a situation. So what do we do? We tell ourselves a story. And too often, we tell ourselves the worst possible story. We assume the person who didn't text back is angry with us. We assume the look on someone's face meant they don't like us. We assume the worst because we're filling in the blanks with our fears instead of with grace.But here's the thing. You can choose to tell yourself a different story, one that gives the other person the benefit of the doubt. Truth be told, you have no idea why they did what they did. Neither do I. So why not assume something charitable? Why not tell yourself a story that serves you instead of one that tears you down?That's not denial. That's wisdom. And it's grace, the same grace God extends to us every single day.Let's pray. Father, help us drag our troubled thoughts into the light of Your truth. Give us trusted friends, open journals, and ears to hear You when we pray. Help us to stop telling ourselves the worst story and start extending to others the same grace You so freely give to us. In Jesus' name, Amen.#MentalHealth #ChristianLiving #Truth #Faith #DailyDevotion #SpiritualGrowth #Counseling #HopeAndHealing #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Easter Prayer #RTTBROS #nightlight

What Really Held Him There #spiritualwarfare #RTTBROS #Nightlight #goodfriday #CrossWhat Really Held Him ThereD.A. Carson wrote something that stopped me cold the first time I read it. He said, "It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father's will - and it was his love for sinners like me." (QuoteFancy)Read that again. Not nails.Think about that. The One who spoke the universe into existence, the One who calmed the Sea of Galilee with a word, the One who raised Lazarus from the dead - He was not held by iron spikes driven through flesh and bone. He was held by something far stronger than metal.He was held by love.In the garden, just hours before, He had prayed, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Matthew 26:39)He knew what was coming. He could have walked away. He could have called ten thousand angels. But He didn't because His love for the Father and His love for us would not let Him go.I've sat at a lot of bedsides in my work as a hospice chaplain. I've watched people spend their last strength for the ones they love. There's something about love that refuses to quit, even when quitting would be the easier road.That's what I see at Calvary. Not a victim. A volunteer. Not a man overpowered by soldiers and nails and wood but a Savior who planted His feet in the will of His Father and said, in effect, "I'm not moving. Not until it is finished."And it was. For you. For me.Prayer: Lord Jesus, on this Good Friday, help me to see the cross clearly not as something that happened to You, but something You chose, out of love I will spend eternity trying to understand. Thank You. Amen.#RTTBROS #Nightlightlinktr.ee/rttbros

Pastoral Prayer #rttbros #nightlight

They Can't Take Everything #RTTBROS #Nightlight"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings." — Philippians 3:10Viktor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist. He was also a Holocaust survivor. When the Nazis ordered him to report to a concentration camp, he faced an unbearable choice. He had been invited to flee to America and teach at a university there. But his elderly parents could not survive the journey. So he stayed. He lost his manuscript, the work of a lifetime. He lost his parents. He lost nearly everything in the crucible of Auschwitz.But he discovered something they could not take from him.The guards would come in and beat him and torture him. And when they came in, Frankl would ask them how their families were. How their children were. They were stunned by it. One of them finally asked him, how do you do that? After everything we're doing to you, how do you ask us how we are?Frankl said, you've taken everything from me that you can take. You cannot take how I choose to respond.Paul would not have been surprised by that at all. He wrote Philippians from a Roman prison. Beaten. Scarred. Chained. And he called the fellowship of Christ's sufferings the highest fellowship a human being can enter into. Not because suffering is good, but because it is in the depths of suffering that we discover what cannot be taken from us, our relationship with a living Savior.What are you facing right now that feels like it's taking everything? Friend, they can't take that.Let's pray: Lord, in our suffering, draw us into the deep fellowship of knowing You. Let nothing separate us from Your love. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Suffering #Hope #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #VictorFrankl #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Prison To Platform #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Stop Fighting a War That's Already Over #RTTBROS #Nightlight"Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before." — Philippians 3:13One of the strangest stories to come out of World War II involves a Japanese soldier named Hiroo Onoda, stationed in the Philippines. When Japan surrendered in 1945, Onoda refused to believe it. He stayed in the jungle and kept fighting. They dropped leaflets in Japanese trying to reach him. They couldn't track him down. He was simply too good at what he did. The only way they finally got him to come in was to find an officer he personally knew and send that man into the jungle to bring him out.Hiroo Onoda fought World War II until 1974. Nearly thirty years after it was over.Now here's the part that ought to stop us cold. The preacher in this sermon said it as plainly as it can be said: there are a lot of us still fighting battles that Jesus already won on the cross.Paul said the one thing he did, the one discipline above everything else, was forgetting what was behind and pressing toward what was ahead. Not because the past didn't matter, but because staying stuck in it was keeping him from the prize in front of him. Past failures you've already repented of, let them go. Past successes you're still resting on, let them go too. God has something more for you.There's a reason, somebody once said, that your rearview mirror is so much smaller than your windshield. God wants you looking ahead, not behind.The war is won. You can come out of the jungle now.Let's pray: Father, help us release what's behind us and press with everything we have toward what You have ahead. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Forgiveness #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #LetItGo #PressOn #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Why Do My Words Keep Getting Me Into Trouble?"In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise." — Proverbs 10:19Social media has multiplied our words beyond anything Solomon could have imagined. In his day, your words reached the people in your immediate circle. Today, your words can reach millions. And every word is permanent. Screenshotted. Shared. Weaponized.Solomon says in the multitude of words there is no lack of sin. That means the more you talk, the more likely you are to sin with your words. And social media has created a multitude of words like never before. Tweets. Posts. Comments. Stories. DMs. Replies. We're producing more words in a day than our grandparents produced in a week.And all those words are getting us into trouble. Because we're posting in anger. Commenting without thinking. Tweeting reactions instead of responses. Sharing opinions that should stay private. And every careless word is creating problems.Here's what social media has done. It's removed the natural consequences that used to restrain speech. In face-to-face conversation, you see the person's reaction. You feel the tension when you say something hurtful. You experience immediate feedback. But on social media, you don't see the damage your words cause. You just hit post and move on.And because there's no immediate consequence, we say things online we'd never say in person. We're harsher. Crueler. More judgmental. Less gracious. Because we're not looking into someone's eyes when we wound them with our words.Solomon's solution is simple. Refrain your lips. Talk less. Post less. Comment less. Not everything needs to be said. Not every opinion needs to be shared. Not every thought needs to be tweeted. Wisdom restrains words.But our culture celebrates the opposite. It rewards people who post constantly. Who have hot takes on everything. Who never miss an opportunity to weigh in. And the result is exactly what Solomon predicted. In the multitude of words, sin abounds.Here's my challenge. Before you post, ask yourself: Is this necessary? Is this true? Is this kind? Will this help or hurt? If you can't answer yes to those questions, don't post. Refrain your lips. Or in this case, refrain your thumbs.The wise person on social media isn't the one with the most followers or the wittiest replies. It's the person who restrains their words. Who thinks before posting. Who values silence over constantly adding to the noise.In the multitude of words there lacks not sin. Social media has given us unlimited capacity for words. But it hasn't given us wisdom to handle that capacity. And until we learn to restrain our lips, our words will keep getting us into trouble.Let's pray: Father, we post too much and think too little. Teach us to restrain our lips. Help us to speak less and listen more. Give us wisdom about social media. Protect us from the sin that comes with too many words. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Priorities #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #KnowingChrist #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Connection #RTTBROS

Get Grit: Finish the Race #RTTBROS #Nightlight"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." — Philippians 3:14At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, a marathon runner from Tanzania named John Stephen Akhwari fell hard on the pavement at the 19-kilometer mark. He dislocated his knee and badly injured his shoulder. The medical team wanted him to quit. The gold medal winner had crossed the finish line over an hour earlier. Most of the crowd had gone home. The stadium lights were dimming. Yet Akhwari rose from the pavement, wrapped his bleeding knee, and hobbled the remaining distance in sheer agony. When he finally entered that near-empty stadium, the few thousand people who remained gave him a standing ovation.A reporter asked him afterward, why didn't you just stop?He said, my country did not send me 5,000 miles to start a race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.Friend, I think that is the spirit God is calling out of every one of us. Paul knew exactly what it felt like to be that man. He had been beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, and run out of more cities than most of us have visited. And yet from a Roman prison, with scars on his body and chains on his wrists, he wrote these words: "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."He wasn't pressing because the road was easy. He was pressing because the prize at the end was worth every painful step forward.So let me ask you something tonight. Are you running to finish, or have you quietly stopped somewhere along the track? God didn't save you just to get you started. He saved you to see you all the way home.Let's pray: Father, give us the grit to finish what You started in us. When we're tempted to quit, remind us of the prize. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Perseverance #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #FinishTheRace #TrustGod #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Run To The Finish #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Freed In Captivity #rttbros #Nightlight

A Closed Mouth and an Open Sky #RTTBROS #Nightlight"Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." — Proverbs 17:28You know, Aesop told a story a long, long time ago that I just can't shake. There was a turtle who lived on a quiet pond, and his best friends were a couple of ducks. Every time those ducks came home, they'd tell him about the world out there, the rolling hills, the rivers, the glorious treetops, and old turtle would just sit there on his log, green with envy. He wanted to see what they saw.Well, one day those kind-hearted ducks came up with a plan. They found a sturdy stick, each duck took one end in their beak, and they told the turtle, "Grab the middle with your mouth, hold on tight, and we'll show you the world. But whatever you do, don't let go, and don't say a word."Up they went. And friend, the turtle saw it all. The patchwork fields below, the shimmer of rivers, the trees dressed in their finest. It was everything he'd ever wanted.Then a crow flew alongside and hollered, "Well, I never! Surely this must be the king of all turtles!"And the turtle, swelling with pride, opened his mouth to say, "Why, certainly!" And that was that.A closed mouth gathers no foot, as they say. And Solomon, who was a good bit wiser than Aesop, put it this way: "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding" (Proverbs 17:28).I'm too soon old and too late smart on this one, I'll tell you that. I've talked when I should have listened. I've filled silence that God meant to be kept. Pride has a way of opening our mouth at exactly the wrong moment, and what we gain from letting loose is rarely worth what we lose.Here's the thing about that turtle. He was doing just fine. He was soaring. All he had to do was hold on and enjoy the ride. But he couldn't let someone else have the last word.Can you relate? I sure can.So today, let me ask you this: is there a conversation, a comment, a comeback you need to just let go? Sometimes wisdom isn't in what you say. Sometimes it's in knowing when to stay quiet and keep holding on.Let's pray. Lord, bridle my tongue today. Remind me that silence is often the wisest sermon I can preach. Help me hold on to what matters and let go of my need to have the last word. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Wisdom #TamingTheTongue #Proverbs #ChristianLiving #Faith #DailyDevotion #BiblicalWisdom #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

A Wartime Walkie-Talkie #RTTBROS #Nightlight"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." — Ephesians 6:18You know, John Piper said something years ago that I haven't been able to shake loose. He said that prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom to ring up the butler and ask for another pillow. When I first heard that, it stopped me cold. Because if I'm honest, I have to admit that a whole lot of my praying has looked a lot more like the intercom than the walkie-talkie.Think about that image for a minute. A walkie-talkie on the battlefield is urgent. It's essential. A soldier doesn't pick up that radio and say, "Hey, while you've got a minute, could you make things a little more comfortable back here?" No. He keys that mic because he's in a fight, because the situation is serious, because he needs firepower and he needs it now. There's no casual tone on a battlefield radio. There's urgency. There's purpose.But so many of us, and I include myself here, because I'm too soon old and too late smart on this one, we've wandered away from that battlefield mentality. We treat prayer like a nice spiritual habit, something we do before meals and at bedtime. A gentle, civilized little routine. And then we wonder why our prayers feel thin, why heaven seems quiet, why nothing seems to be happening.Here's the thing. Paul didn't write Ephesians 6:18 from a comfortable study. He wrote it as a prisoner, in a real spiritual battle, surrounded by the full armor of God language, describing a real enemy. And right in the middle of all that armor, right after the sword of the Spirit, he says, "Praying always." Not "praying occasionally when things get rough." Always. Urgently. With all perseverance.The reason prayer malfunctions for so many of us is that we've forgotten we're at war. We've gotten comfortable. We've pulled back from the front lines, and we're trying to use a battlefield radio to order room service.Friend, history is just HIS story, and right now you have a role in it. You are on assignment. You have been given direct access to the General's headquarters. Use it. Pick up that walkie-talkie today, not to ask for more comfort, but to ask for strength, for wisdom, for the lost souls around you, for His kingdom to advance in this dark old world.That's what prayer was made for.Let's pray: Father, forgive us for treating prayer like a convenience and not a lifeline. We are in a battle whether we feel it or not. Tune our hearts to Your frequency today, and make our prayers urgent, faithful, and kingdom-focused. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Prayer #SpiritualWarfare #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #Faith #BiblicalWisdom #EphesiansArmor #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Two Doors, One Savior #RTTBROS #Nightlight"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." — Matthew 11:28John Eldredge said something that stopped me cold when I first read it. He said, "You can't repent your way out of brokenness, and you can't heal your way out of sin."Now sit with that for just a moment, because that's a profound observation.We live in a world that has divided itself into two camps, and honestly, the church has sometimes followed right along. On one side you've got the therapeutic culture, the counselors and the healing retreats and the inner child work, all telling us that what we really need is to understand our wounds and process our pain. On the other side, you've got the repentance-first crowd, and I've spent time in that camp myself, telling people that if they'd just straighten up and get right with God, everything would fall into place.And here's the thing, both of those things matter. Repentance is real and necessary. Healing is real and necessary. But Eldredge is pointing out something we miss when we run to just one of those doors and slam the other one shut.A broken person who is genuinely trying to repent their way to wholeness will find themselves on a treadmill of self-condemnation, because repentance deals with sin, not wounds. And a sinful person who is trying to heal their way into right standing with God will find themselves on a different treadmill entirely, because therapy, as good as it can be, cannot atone for sin. That's not its job.What both the broken and the sinful need is the same thing. They need Jesus. All the way Jesus. Not a partial Jesus who only forgives, or a partial Jesus who only comforts. The whole Jesus, who said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). He didn't say come to me if you're a sinner. He didn't say come to me if you're wounded. He said come to me if you are weary, and I will give you rest.I'm too soon old and too late smart, but I've learned this much sitting at bedsides and in hospital rooms and in conversations with people at the end of their rope: Jesus is both the Healer and the Savior, and He never runs out of either.So whatever door you've been standing in front of today, whether you feel the weight of your sin or the weight of your wounds, or maybe both at once, He's the answer on the other side of both of them.Let's pray: Lord Jesus, You are the one who forgives and the one who restores. Remind us today that we don't have to choose between coming to You as sinners or coming to You as sufferers. You receive us as we are and make us what we could never make ourselves. In Your name we pray, Amen.#Faith #Healing #Repentance #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

The Submitted Mind #RTTBROS #Nightlight

The Art of Letting Go #RTTBROS #Nightlight"I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." — Philippians 4:11You know, there was a man born into slavery around 50 AD, a man who had every reason in the world to be bitter and broken. His name was Epictetus, and his owner once twisted his leg to the point of breaking it, just to demonstrate his power over him. Epictetus simply looked up and said calmly, "You are going to break it." And when it snapped, he said, "Did I not tell you?" Now here's what's remarkable about that story. Out of that broken, enslaved life came one of the most powerful ideas in all of human philosophy: some things are up to us, and some things are not. And wisdom, he said, is knowing the difference.That is a profound truth. But here's what I find fascinating. About a generation before Epictetus ever said that, the Apostle Paul was writing something even deeper from his own prison cell. He said, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Did you catch that word? Learned. Paul didn't say this came naturally. He didn't say God zapped him with a contentment ray. He said he learned it, the same way you learn anything, through practice, through failure, through getting back up and trying again.Here's the difference between Paul and the Stoics, and it matters. Epictetus said, focus only on what you can control, your thoughts, your responses, your choices, and let everything else go. Good advice, as far as it goes. But Paul goes further. Paul says, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13). He's not just gritting his teeth and white-knuckling his way through hard circumstances. He's drawing on a strength that isn't his own.So what are you gripping so tightly today that it's draining the life right out of you? The job situation you can't fix, the relationship you can't control, the diagnosis that blindsided you? You and I can't change most of what worries us. But we can, like Paul, practice surrendering it to the One who holds all things in His hands. That's not weakness. That's the deepest kind of wisdom there is.Let's pray: Lord, teach us what Paul learned, that real peace doesn't come from controlling our circumstances, but from trusting You in the middle of them. Help us release what we were never meant to carry. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Contentment #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Water From the Rock #RTTBROS #Nightlight"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." — Proverbs 3:5-6I want to tell you about a man who dug a well on a tropical island while his neighbors thought he had lost his mind. And when the water came up, they concluded he must be a god.His name was John G. Paton, and when he arrived on the island of Aniwa in the South Pacific in the 1860s, the people there were cannibals. Literally. And everybody back home in Scotland knew it. When Paton announced he was going as a missionary to the New Hebrides islands, a well-meaning church elder grabbed him by the arm and said, "The cannibals! You will be eaten by cannibals!" Paton looked at the man calmly and replied that his body would be eaten by worms in the grave soon enough anyway, and it made little difference whether it was worms or cannibals, as long as he was found faithful to Christ.That is a man who had settled something on the inside.Now, Aniwa had no fresh water. The islanders depended entirely on rain, and they were skeptical that anything useful could possibly come from the ground beneath their feet. Paton told them he was going to dig a well and find fresh water. They thought he was either deluded or dangerous. He dug down, and down, and down in the tropical heat, day after day. And then one morning, fresh water bubbled up from the coral ground of that island, something that had never happened in living memory.The people of Aniwa stood there with their mouths open. They called it a miracle. And through that well, a door swung open for the gospel that changed the entire island. Within fifteen years, the whole of Aniwa had come to faith in Jesus Christ. Paton later wrote, with tears, that he had claimed Aniwa for Jesus, and that Aniwa now worshipped at the Savior's feet.History is just HIS story.Here is what I have had to learn over these many years. God will sometimes ask you to dig where nobody thinks there is any water. To trust Him in a direction that looks foolish to everyone watching. That is not the absence of wisdom. That is Proverbs 3:5 with a shovel in its hands, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."What is God asking you to dig into today, that looks impossible to everyone around you? Maybe it is time to pick up your shovel.Let's pray: Father, give us the courage of men and women like John Paton, who trusted You past the point where their own understanding ran out. When You call us to dig, help us dig. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Missions #TrustGod #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #Perseverance #BiblicalWisdom #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

God Allows #RTTBROS #RTTBROS #Legacy #Problems #Hurt

Covered in Prayer #RTTBROS #Nightlight #parenting #Legacy #blessing

Prison To Pulpit #RTTBROS #Nightlight #prayer #Problems #Hurt

Words That Outlasted Empires #RTTBROS #Nightlight"The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."— Numbers 6:24-26You know, sometimes God does something so remarkable that it just stops you in your tracks and makes you shake your head in wonder.Back in 1979, an archaeologist named Gabriel Barkay was excavating a series of ancient burial caves just southwest of Jerusalem. His team figured the tombs had been picked clean by looters centuries before, and honestly, they weren't expecting much. But then a thirteen-year-old volunteer started poking around the floor of one of those caves with a stick, and that stick found a crack, and that crack led to a hidden chamber that every looter for a thousand years had walked right past without knowing it was there.Inside that little hidden room, tucked away like a secret God had been keeping, were two tiny silver scrolls, rolled up so small they looked like cigarette butts. They were so fragile it took the Israel Museum three full years just to figure out how to unroll them without turning them to dust.And when they finally opened those scrolls, they found words. Words scratched into ancient silver in a script 2,600 years old. Words from the time of the prophet Jeremiah and the First Temple. The oldest known portion of the Bible ever discovered. And do you know what those words were? The Priestly Blessing from Numbers chapter six: "The LORD bless thee, and keep thee."Friend, that blessing was being spoken over God's people before the Babylonians came. Before Rome rose and fell. Before the Middle Ages, before the Reformation, before two World Wars. And it is still true this very moment.Here's what hit me about this. Those scrolls were worn as amulets, meant to carry the blessing of God with them wherever they went, even into death. And isn't that exactly what God's Word does? It goes with us into every dark place, every uncertain cave, every moment when the world feels like it has been picked clean and there's nothing left.History is just HIS story, and He has been speaking this blessing over His children for a very long time."The LORD bless thee, and keep thee." He hasn't stopped saying it. He's saying it over you today.Let's pray: Father, thank You that Your Word has outlasted every empire and every enemy. Thank You that the same blessing You spoke over Your people 2,600 years ago still covers us today. Help us to rest in the fact that You are keeping us, right now, today. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #BibleHistory #GodsWord #Archaeology #DailyDevotion #ChristianLiving #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Problem Of Calluses #Nightlight #RTTBROS #Heart #Hurt #Problems

When God Answers #RTTBROS #Nightlight "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." — John 15:7You know, I think one of the most honest struggles in the Christian life is prayer that feels like it's just bouncing off the ceiling. We pray, and then we wait, and then we wonder. Did anybody hear that? Is anybody home?I ran across something from the life of a man named Dr. Burns Thomson, a Scottish physician and missionary who lived in the 1800s. When he was a young student, he and a close friend made an agreement to pray together for specific things, very specific things. And here's what his friend wrote about it later: the answers came so quickly and so clearly that there was simply no room left to doubt that God had heard them. Once the answer came the same day. Another time, the answer came while they were still praying.Now I don't know about you, but that kind of prayer life sounds like something from another world. Most of us would settle for an answer sometime this decade. So what was their secret?F.B. Meyer, that wonderful old devotional writer, put his finger on it. He said prevailing prayer, the kind that actually moves things, has some marks on it worth paying attention to.First, it has to be aimed at God's glory, not just our comfort. We have to ask honestly, "Would this bring honor to God, or am I just trying to get out of a tight spot?" That's a question that'll clean up your prayer list in a hurry.Second, it has to be prayed in Christ's name, and Meyer makes the point that this isn't just a phrase you tack on at the end like a period. Praying in Jesus' name means praying the way Jesus would pray, with His heart, His priorities, His spirit running through every word.And third, here's the one that really gets me, we have to be abiding. Jesus said it right there in John 15:7. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you." The answered prayer flows out of the abiding relationship. You can't separate the two. A branch that's connected to the vine doesn't have to beg for sap, it just comes. When we stay close to Jesus, when His Word is actually living in us and not just sitting on the shelf, our desires start lining up with His desires, and suddenly we're asking for things He already wants to give.I'm too soon old and too late smart on this one, but I've lived long enough to know the difference between praying from a distance and praying from a place of closeness with God. The prayers that get answered are almost always the ones that come out of that abiding place.So maybe the question today isn't "why isn't God answering my prayers?" Maybe the better question is, "How's my abiding?"Let's pray: Father, draw us close. Let Your words live in us, not just sit near us. We want the kind of prayer life where heaven moves and answers come. We seek Your face, show us Your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Prayer #Faith #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out. https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Season 20 Episode 12For This We Have Jesus #RTTBROS #NightlightFor This, We Have JesusA Prayer Guide for Parents Who Know They Are Not EnoughSandy and I have discovered something about parenting that no one warns you about clearly enough: the problems your children face do not stay simple. They compound. They multiply. They become, in time, almost infinitely complex, and you are not infinite. You are very, very finite. You run out of answers. You run out of energy. Sometimes you run out of words entirely.My Uncle Tommy had a saying for moments like that. Whenever life presented something too large for human hands to handle, he would lean back and say, quietly and with complete conviction: “For this, we have Jesus.” I have never found a better theology than that.If there was ever an endeavor that required prayer, it is surely parenting. And if you have ever stood in the middle of your own living room, looking at the life of someone you love more than your own, feeling that desperate, hollow not enough feeling, welcome to my club. The membership is large. The dues are humility. And the only way through is on your knees.“I didn't have a role model in my home to teach me how to be a husband or a father. So I find myself coming up short in both, again and again. But I have learned that an honest prayer beats a confident mistake every time.” — Gene KissingerI want to be honest with you the way I wish someone had been honest with me. I did not grow up with a man in my home who showed me what a husband looked like, or what a father did when things got hard. I have been learning on the job, and the job is harder than I ever imagined. I come up short. Not sometimes. Regularly. The grace of God is not a decoration in my house; it is load-bearing.What I have found, slowly and imperfectly, is that prayer changes things, not always the circumstances, but always me. It changes what I see when I look at my children. It changes how long I can hold on. It changes the atmosphere of a home in ways I cannot fully explain but have absolutely witnessed.Stormie Omartian's book The Power of a Praying Parent gave me language and structure for something I desperately needed to do but did not know how to do well. Her central teaching is simple and liberating: you are not meant to fix your children. You are meant to bring them to God. Prayer is not your last resort after everything else fails. It is your first and most powerful act as a parent, a spiritual hedge built around a life you love but cannot fully protect.The Prayer GuideI built a prayer guide based on Omartian's framework, one for every stage of a child's life, from the first year through adulthood. My personal version has prayers written out for each of my own children and runs fifteen pages. That one stays private.But this version, the one I'm sharing here, is a quick-start guide any parent can use. It gives you specific, scripture-rooted prayers for each stage of childhood and adolescence, drawn from the same principles that shaped my own journal. Use it as a starting point. Adapt it. Make it your own. Build something that fits your family.One last thing before you go. There is a principle in scripture about the prayer of agreement, that when two or more come together and ask, something shifts. I believe that. So here is my offer, and I mean it with everything I have:Will you agree with me in prayer for my children? I will agree with you in prayer for yours.We are not enough. But He is. And for this, we have Jesus.Here is the Link to "The Praying Parent's Quick Start Guide" https://rttbros1.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-praying-parents-quick-start-guide.html?fbclid=IwdGRjcAQTE49jbGNrBBMTh2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHk5HzXGxSwFGpReLc6dPlZ67tu5mQqh1w5X8_SEaRymOAHg5yBpG1bMZuu9W_aem_o60h54cSn9WoHc9VzGprJA&m=1It won't let me hyperlink here copy and paste link to Google search

Better Together #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Prayer For The Distressed #RTTBROS #Nightlight

The Look!!! #Nightlight #RTTBROS

Every Moment Matters #RTTBROS #Nightlight"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.", Ephesians 5:15-16You know, I saw something recently that really stopped me in my tracks. Someone posted a simple question online: "Imagine reading a book with no way to turn back the page. How carefully would you read it? That's life." And friend, I haven't been able to shake that image.Here's something that will either thrill you or unsettle you a little. Right now, sitting wherever you are, you are a time traveler and an astronaut. Even if you haven't left your living room in a week, you are riding this big blue marble around the sun at roughly 67,000 miles per hour. Scientists tell us the earth travels about 584 million miles every single year. You have never, not once, been in the same place twice. And every second of every day, time is moving in one direction only, forward, and there is no coming back.Too soon old and too late smart, as I like to say. Most of us spend the first half of our lives acting like we have an endless supply of pages, and the second half wishing we could flip back a few.Paul knew something about this. He told the church at Ephesus to walk "circumspectly," which is a wonderful old word that means to look carefully in every direction before you take your next step. He called it "redeeming the time," literally buying back the moments, treating each one like it has a price tag on it, because it does.The great missionary Jim Elliot, who gave his life in the jungles of Ecuador at just 28 years old, wrote in his journal, "Wherever you are, be all there." He understood what Paul was saying. You can be physically present and spiritually a million miles away, just going through the motions, turning pages without reading a word.So let me ask you something gently this evening. Are you all there? Are you present in your marriage, in your conversations with your kids, in your quiet time with God? Or are you rushing past moments that God designed specifically for you, moments you will never get back?The book of your life is being written one irreversible page at a time. Read it carefully. Live it fully. Redeem the time.Let's pray. Father, forgive us for the moments we have wasted and help us to walk circumspectly from this day forward. Teach us to number our days and to be fully present in the life You have given us. In Jesus' name, Amen.Be sure to like, share, follow, and subscribe. It helps get the word out. https://linktr.ee/rttbros#Faith #TimeRedeeming #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Who Said That? #RTTBROS #Nightlight"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." — Philippians 4:8You know, I heard a story once about a young soldier in World War II who was separated from his unit deep in enemy territory. In the darkness and the confusion, he kept hearing voices, some calling him toward safety, some toward danger. The terrifying part wasn't the silence. It was that some of those enemy voices were calling out to him in perfect English.That story has stuck with me, because I think it's a pretty accurate picture of the inner life of most of us.We assume that every thought that pops into our heads is our own. But here's something worth sitting with today: not every voice you hear in your mind is actually you. The enemy of your soul is a real being, and Scripture is clear that he is the accuser, the deceiver, the one who comes to steal and kill and destroy. He is not above whispering fear into your ear and letting you think it was your own idea. Too soon old and too late smart, I spent a lot of years arguing with thoughts that never should have gotten a hearing in the first place.Martin Luther, that great reformer, understood this. He's often quoted as saying you can't stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can certainly stop it from building a nest in your hair. Not every thought deserves a lease agreement in your mind. Some of them need to be evicted on the spot.The Apostle Paul wasn't writing poetry when he penned that verse in Philippians. He was handing us a filter, a way to examine what's knocking at the door of our thinking before we let it set up house. Is this thought true? Is it honest? Is it pure? Is it lovely? Because if it isn't, it didn't come from the Father of lights. It came from somewhere else entirely, and you don't have to receive it.So the next time fear starts whispering that everything is falling apart, or that old condemning voice tells you that you're worthless and beyond hope, stop for just a moment and ask yourself, whose voice is this, really? Because God's voice brings conviction that leads to life. The enemy's voice brings condemnation that leads to paralysis. Learning the difference just might be one of the most important things you ever do.You get to choose what you think about. That's not self-help talk, that's Scripture.Let's pray: Father, help us be good gatekeepers of our own minds. Give us the discernment to recognize the voice of the enemy, and the courage to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Remind us today that Your voice is the one worth listening to. In Jesus' name, Amen.#SpiritualWarfare #RenewYourMind #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #Faith #BiblicalWisdom #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

The dividing line MATT 25 #RTTBROS #nightlight

Seeing What's Already There #RTTBROS #Nightlight"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." — Psalm 118:24You know, I had a friend tell me once that he was waiting to be happy. Waiting for the promotion. Waiting until the kids were grown. Waiting until life finally slowed down enough for him to enjoy it. I understood exactly what he meant, because I had been waiting in that same line for a long time myself. Too soon old and too late smart, as they say.There's a story told about the great hymn writer Fanny Crosby that has always stayed with me. Now here was a woman who went blind at six weeks old because of a doctor's mistake. She had every reason in the world to feel robbed, to feel like life had shortchanged her. But by the time she was in her eighties, she had written over nine thousand hymns, and she once said that she was actually grateful for her blindness, because she believed the first face she would ever see would be the face of Jesus. Nine thousand songs of praise from a woman the world thought had every reason to complain. That is a woman who knew how to pay attention to what God had already given her.And that is really the heart of what I want to share with you tonight. A lot of us are living in the middle of a blessing and calling it ordinary. The quiet morning. The friend who checked in on you. The body that got you out of bed this morning. The lesson you survived that you thought was going to break you. All of it, every last bit of it, is grace. We just scroll right past it.The Psalmist didn't say, "This will be the day the LORD will make, once things get better." He said, *"This is the day."* Right now. The one you're in. The one that feels routine and unremarkable. That is the day the LORD has made, and He is saying rejoice in it.It's not fake positivity. It's not pretending hard things aren't hard. It's honest, clear-eyed attention, trained on the goodness that is already present in your life right now.Two people can walk through the same day. One sees grace everywhere. The other sees only what's missing. The difference isn't their circumstances. It's their focus.So tonight, before you put your head on that pillow, I want to challenge you to name three things, just three, that God gave you today that you didn't deserve and didn't earn. Start there. That is where gratitude grows, and where joy finds its roots.Let's pray: Father, forgive us for rushing past the gifts You place in our ordinary days. Teach us to see with grateful eyes, to notice Your hand in the small and the quiet. Help us to rejoice in this day, the one You made, the one You gave us. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Gratitude #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

The Steps Of. a Good Man #RTTBROS #Nightlight #Trust #Victory #Legacy

Don't Fear the Giant's Bed #RTTBROS #Nightlight"Do not fear them, for the LORD your God, he shall fight for you." — Deuteronomy 3:22You know, there are names in the Bible that most of us skip right over. We see them in the text and our eyes sort of glaze and we keep moving. Og, king of Bashan, is one of those names. But here's the thing, nothing in Scripture is filler. The Holy Spirit doesn't waste words.So let me tell you about Og.He was a giant. The Bible tells us his iron bed was nine cubits long, that's somewhere around thirteen or fourteen feet. Scripture actually stops to describe the man's bed. Now why would God put that in there? I believe it's because Og represented something massive, something ancient, something that looked absolutely undefeatable to the people standing in front of him.He ruled over sixty fortified cities with high walls and iron gates, and he stood between Israel and the land God had promised them. That's a lot of intimidation packed into one king.But here's where the story gets good. The text says simply, "So the LORD our God also delivered into our hands Og king of Bashan." It doesn't say Israel outfought him or outwitted him. It says God delivered him. The giant fell because God had already decided the outcome.And then watch what happened next. The territory of that giant, those sixty fortified cities, became Israel's inheritance. The land of intimidation became the land of promise.I'm too soon old and too late smart, but I've lived long enough to know that most of us are facing our own version of Og right now. Maybe it's a financial situation that looks like an iron bed, too big to move. Maybe it's a health report. Maybe it's a spiritual battle that feels entrenched and permanent. Something towering over you that seems like it will never fall.Can I remind you tonight that the giants of your life are remnants? Loud, yes. Intimidating, absolutely. But remnants of a dying opposition to the purposes of God. And our God still delivers giants into the hands of His people.Don't measure the promise by the size of the opposition. Measure the opposition by the size of your God.Let's pray: Father, tonight we look at things that feel too big, too fortified, too entrenched. And we choose to remember Og. You delivered him. You turned his territory into testimony. Do it again, Lord, in our lives. Fight for us, as only You can. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Courage #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Building the Plane While You're Flying It #RTTBROS #Nightlight"The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way." — Psalm 37:23I heard a phrase recently that stopped me cold. Someone said, "You can't build the plane while you're flying it," and I thought, well, that's exactly how most of us are living our lives, isn't it? We're up at 30,000 feet, engine roaring, and we're still looking for the instruction manual.Now here's the thing. Socrates, that old Greek philosopher, said something that's stuck with people for centuries: "The unexamined life is not worth living." And I think he was onto something, even if he didn't have the whole picture. Because the Bible takes that idea and gives it wings, if you'll pardon the pun.Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established." And Solomon adds in Proverbs 16:9, "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." Right there you've got both halves of the equation. We plan, and God directs. We build what we can on the ground before takeoff, and then we trust the Lord to handle the turbulence we never saw coming.Think about Nehemiah for a moment. Before he ever laid one stone on that broken wall in Jerusalem, he spent time in prayer, he assessed the damage quietly in the night, he counted the cost, and he prepared his request for the king. That man did his homework. But when opposition came, and it came hard and fast, he didn't freeze up because he had already committed his work to God. He just kept building.I've been too soon old and too late smart about this in my own life. I used to think that trusting God meant you just sort of wandered through life with a smile and waited for lightning to strike. But that's not faith, that's just being unprepared and calling it spiritual. Real biblical faith does the planning it can do, lays it all before the Lord, and then holds the plan loosely enough that God can redirect without it feeling like a disaster.Here's what I've come to believe: God doesn't ask us to check our brains at the door. He asks us to use them, and then surrender the outcome. You plan the wedding, but you trust God with the marriage. You prepare for the job interview, but you trust God with the outcome. You raise your children with everything you have, but you trust God with who they become.The plane needs to be built before it flies. Do your part on the ground. But once you're airborne, friend, the Lord is your co-pilot, and He's never lost a passenger yet.Let's pray: Father, give us the wisdom to plan well and the faith to trust You with what we cannot control. Help us to be diligent with the things in our hands and surrendered about the things that are only in Yours. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #Planning #Trust #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe, it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

God's Four-Handed Provision #RTTBROS #Nightlight"And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." — Philippians 4:19You know, I've been thinking about something that keeps coming up when I talk with folks who are worried about their finances, their future, their needs. We live in uncertain times, and it's easy to look at our bank accounts or our circumstances and wonder if God's really going to come through. But here's what I've learned, and I'm too soon old and too late smart on this one: God has always been in the providing business, and He uses four different hands to meet our needs.Man's Hand Let me take you back to the book of Exodus for a minute. The children of Israel are about to leave Egypt after 400 years of slavery. Now, you'd think they'd be leaving with nothing but the clothes on their backs, right? But look what happens. God moves the hearts of the Egyptians, and they give the Israelites gold, silver, and clothing. The Bible says they "spoiled the Egyptians" (Exodus 12:36). That's provision through man's hand. Later, Nehemiah needed resources to rebuild Jerusalem's walls, and God moved the heart of King Cyrus to provide everything he needed. Sometimes God provides through the generosity of others, even when we least expect it.God's HandBut then there are times when man's hand isn't enough, when no human source can meet the need. That's when God provides directly from His hand. Think about those same Israelites wandering in the wilderness. Every morning, manna covered the ground like dew. Water flowed from a rock. God Himself provided supernaturally what no human could give. Now, we don't live on miracles day to day, but we need to remember they happen in the lives of believers when we need them most.Your HandThen comes the third way, and this is where most of us live most of the time. God provides by your hands. When the Israelites finally crossed into the Promised Land, the manna stopped. They had to plant crops, tend flocks, work the land. The psalmist writes, "thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee" (Psalm 128:2). God blesses the work of our hands. He doesn't call us to sit around waiting for miracles when He's given us the ability to work.Your Enemy's HandBut here's the one that really gets me, the fourth way God provides that we almost never think about. God provides by our enemies' hands. When Caleb was looking at the giants in the land, do you remember what he said? Those giants would be "bread for us" (Numbers 14:9). What looked like an obstacle was actually provision. Your greatest challenge might just be God's way of bringing you your greatest blessing.So when you're worried about how God's going to provide, remember He's got four hands working on your behalf. Sometimes it's through people's generosity. Sometimes it's a flat-out miracle. Sometimes it's through honest work. And sometimes, that very thing you think is going to destroy you is actually going to feed you.Let's pray: Father, help us trust that You know how to provide for Your children. Whether it's through man's hand, Your hand, our hands, or even through our enemies, we know You will supply all our needs. Give us eyes to see Your provision in every circumstance. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #GodsProvision #Trust #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

At the Cross: The Amazing Exchange"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." — Romans 5:8You know, there's a hymn that's been sung in churches for over a hundred and fifty years now, and every time I hear it, I find myself stopped in my tracks by one particular verse. The hymn is "At the Cross," written by Isaac Watts way back in 1707, and the verse goes like this: "Was it for crimes that I have done, He groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree!"When Isaac Watts wrote those words, he was wrestling with a question that should stop all of us dead in our tracks: Why would Jesus do that for me?Think about it. The Creator of the universe, hanging on a cross. And for what? For crimes that I have done. My sins "Big" and "Small" (no such thing as small really) the lies I've told. The times I've chosen my way over His.I'm too soon old and too late smart on this, but one thing I've learned is that we have a tendency to minimize our own sin while we maximize everyone else's. But when we look at that cross, we have to face the truth: it took the death of God's own Son to pay for those "slip-ups."But here's where it gets really amazing. That verse doesn't stop at the crime. It goes on: "Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree!" The cross isn't just about what we've done, it's about what He's done for us.When Jesus hung on that cross, He wasn't dying for some abstract concept. He was thinking about you. About me. And He didn't do it because we deserved it. He did it because that's who He is.The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." That's the amazing exchange. He took our sin and gave us His righteousness.I remember talking to a man once who told me he just couldn't accept that God would forgive him. He'd made too many mistakes. And I asked him, "Do you think your sin is bigger than the cross?"The cross says that no matter what crimes you and I have done, His grace is enough. His love is beyond degree. It's a love that looked at us in all our mess and said, "I'll die for that one."History is just HIS story, and the cross is the central chapter. It's where your sin and His grace came face to face, and grace won.Let's pray: Father, we stand amazed at the cross. Thank You that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Help us never to take for granted the price that was paid. In Jesus' name, Amen.#Faith #TheCross #Grace #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #HymnHistory #BiblicalWisdom #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Good faithful and profitable Matt 25 #RTTBROS #nightlight

The Herring Barrel Valentine #RTTBROS #Nightlight"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath punishment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." — 1 John 4:18You know, I've always been fascinated by love stories, especially the ones that seem absolutely impossible. And let me tell you, the love story of Martin Luther and Katie von Bora is one for the ages.Picture this: it's 1523, and Katie is a nun trapped in a convent. She's read Luther's writings about the freedom we have in Christ, and she's desperate to escape. So Martin Luther, this bold reformer who's already been excommunicated and declared an outlaw, arranges for her and eleven other nuns to be smuggled out in empty herring barrels. Can you imagine that? The smell alone would have been something fierce.Now, Luther believed these women deserved a chance at marriage and family, so he set about playing matchmaker. One by one, he found husbands for them all, except Katie. She was a bit particular, you see. She told Luther's friend that she would only marry two men, Luther himself or his friend. Well, that put Luther in quite a position.Here's the thing though, Luther had convinced himself he would never marry. He was living under a death sentence from the Pope. Every day could have been his last. He figured, why make a woman a widow? But Katie saw something different. She saw a man worth the risk.In June of 1525, Martin Luther, age 41, married Katharina von Bora, age 26. And you know what? It turned out to be one of the most beautiful marriages in Christian history. Luther, who once said he would never marry, wrote to a friend, "I would not exchange Katie for France or for Venice." He called her "my lord Katie" and said she made him rich beyond measure.Katie wasn't just a wife, she was a partner. She ran their home, which became a hub for students and reformers. She managed their finances, she brewed beer, she ran a farm, and she gave Luther six children. More than that, she gave him a place of peace in the midst of the storm.You see, love has a way of casting out fear. Luther was afraid of making Katie a widow, but love said the risk was worth it. Katie was afraid of leaving everything she knew, but love said freedom was worth it.And here's what I love most about their story: it wasn't perfect. They argued, they struggled, they faced poverty and danger together. But Luther said his marriage taught him more about God's love than all his theology books combined.History is just HIS story, and God writes the most beautiful love stories in the most unexpected places. Sometimes love means climbing into a herring barrel and trusting God with the outcome. Sometimes it means marrying someone when the whole world says it's foolish.Because perfect love, the kind that comes from God, casts out fear. It makes impossible things possible. It turns a monk and a nun into a marriage that would inspire millions for centuries to come.#Faith #Love #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #ChurchHistory #TrustGod #BiblicalWisdom #RTTBROS #NightlightBe sure to Like, Share, Follow and subscribe it helps get the word out.https://linktr.ee/rttbros

Silence is Golden #RTTBROS #Nightlight Silence is Golden #RTTBROS #Nightlight "He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace." Proverbs 11:12 (KJV)There is a quiet strength in knowing when to speak and when to simply be still. Solomon draws a sharp contrast here, the fool rushes to tear down his neighbor with words, but the man of understanding holds his peace. That word holdeth carries weight; it isn't passive silence born of indifference, it is a deliberate, disciplined choice. How often do we mistake the urge to speak our mind for wisdom, when the truly wise response is a closed mouth and a steady heart? The world rewards the loudest voice in the room, but God honors the one who has learned that not every thought needs an audience, not every offense demands a response, and not every conflict is ours to win. Friend, the next time your patience is tested and your tongue is ready to fire, pause. That pause may be the most powerful thing you do all day. A man of understanding holds his peace, because he knows that God's justice is far more reliable than his own reaction.