Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Where Can We Find Absolute Truth - Martin Wiles

Where Can We Find Absolute Truth
God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. Psalm 18:30 NLT

Befriending a liar is taxing.

Ben was a friend who entered my family through marriage. Initially, I took everything he said at face value. Then I talked with someone who had known him longer than I had. Suddenly, Ben’s stories took on a new appearance. His stories seemed too good to be true. Perhaps the truth was somewhere in the story, but he embellished it so much that it was unrecognizable. My friendship with Ben never became what it could have been because I couldn’t trust his words as the whole truth. 

Ann also entered my family through marriage. Whereas Ben exaggerated to make himself look better or to make his stories more interesting, Ann told plain lies. Not so much in what she said as in what she withheld. As with Ben, I initially took her words at face value. Then I spoke with people who had known her longer than I had. Their stories agreed: “You can’t believe anything she says. She’s a perpetual liar.”  

But the story doesn’t stop with two. Charlie, another family member by marriage, also struggled to tell the truth. Not initially when she entered the family, but later when she went through some type of mid-life crisis. Deciding whether I could believe her made associating with her taxing—and unpleasant. 

Thankfully, God doesn’t mince words, renege on his word, or utter untruths. Every command God gives has a purpose, and every promise he makes will come to pass. Friends and family who keep their word and speak the truth are much easier to have relationships with. When we’re never lied to, we never have to worry about whether what they say is true. We accept it as fact. 

Every word God speaks is truth. In a time when many wonder where to find truth, I’m betting my life on the truth of God’s Word. It testifies to its own inspiration, relevance, and freedom from error. God’s Spirit inspired the writers, and they penned what He wanted them to say. God’s truth has stood the test of time and will endure to the end of time. 

When you’re looking for something you can depend upon, look to God’s Word. 

Father, I thank you for giving me your Word, which is dependable, trustworthy, inspired, and profitable in any situation we face. 



If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.




Monday, October 19, 2026

What if Your Guide Is Blind - Martin Wiles

What if Your Guide Is Blind
They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch. Matthew 15:4 NLT

He stared at her until she got up and exited the building.

Spring had arrived, and our church needed to schedule one of our two annual revivals. But one year, we decided to hold only one and hire a full-time evangelist.  

A church member had recently begun a van ministry. Each Sunday, she faithfully picked up kids from the neighborhood and brought them to church. We never saw any of their parents—until one night during our revival. 

A young mother with a small child walked in and sat near the front. Her baby was restless, the preacher was preaching passionately, and the mother was trying to quiet her. I saw irritation wash over the revivalist’s face as the mother kept sitting and listening while her baby whimpered. See, we had no scheduled nursery—we had no nursery-age children in the church—and no one got up and offered to take the small child to our nursery. 

Then it happened. He stopped preaching and gave her the Aren’t-you-going-to-leave stare. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, she did. We never saw her or her child again. A potential believer was lost. I suppose the evangelist believed the adage, “children should be seen and not heard.” I wondered where he found that in the Bible. I also wondered whether he ever felt any shame about turning away someone who needed and wanted to hear about Jesus. 

Those Jesus called blind guides were not dastardly criminals, but religious leaders. It’s ironic that he called them that, but they led people astray with their traditions and added interpretations to God’s law. Jesus corrected them with scathing words. 

Traditions can be good or bad, but even good ones become bad when we elevate them to the same level as God’s Word and then make others feel guilty for not obeying them. This makes us blind guides, and our destiny is to fall into a ditch. Our hypocritical actions will lead others farther from God, not closer to him. 

God wants us to share his truth, not the interpretations or traditions we’ve developed around it. His truth—and his truth alone—sets people free. 

Don’t let your traditions or personal convictions hinder you from delivering God’s simple truth to others. 

Father, I thank you for your truth. May I faithfully deliver it, without adding anything. 



If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.



Saturday, October 17, 2026

POSSUM PIE



Ingredients

1 LARGE INSTANT CHOCOLATE PUDDING    


1 LARGE COOL WHIP  


1 PACKAGE OF OREO COOKIES


Directions

PREPARE PUDDING AS DIRECTED FOR PIE FILLING. LET SET. 


WHEN PUDDING IS SET, FOLD IN COOL WHIP AND CRUSHED COOKIES.


REFRIGERATE UNTIL READY TO SERVE.



If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Friday, October 16, 2026

Surrender Is Not Giving Up - Douglas Vandergraph

Surrender Is Not Giving Up
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 3:5-6 KJV 

Quitting and surrendering are different. Quitting says, “Nothing matters, so I am done.” Surrender says, “God matters more than my need to control the outcome.” From the outside, both can look like letting go. Inside the heart, they move in opposite directions.

Trust becomes difficult when we can see only part of the road. We want explanations before obedience and guarantees before peace.

But surrender does not mean becoming passive. It means doing what is ours to do and releasing what is not ours to control. We can make the phone call, prepare carefully, apologize sincerely, work diligently, seek wise counsel, and pray faithfully. We cannot force another person’s response, manufacture an opportunity, or command tomorrow to cooperate.

Jesus modeled surrender in Gethsemane. He did not pretend the suffering ahead was easy. Instead, He prayed honestly and then entrusted Himself to the Father’s will. That is not defeat. That is faith under pressure.

Today, identify the outcome you keep trying to control. Name it before God. Then ask, What part is mine to do faithfully, and what part must I release? Do the first with courage. Give the second to God.

Father, show me where control has replaced trust. Give me courage to obey and humility to release what belongs in Your hands. Amen.



Douglas Vandergraph is a Christian writer, Bible teacher, podcaster, and digital creator whose work centers on Jesus Christ, Scripture, spiritual growth, practical encouragement, and long-form Bible study. He has built an extensive free Christian library and a YouTube community of approximately 600,000 subscribers, with more than 2,000 videos across his broader body of work. Douglas writes and speaks to help people connect Jesus’s teachings with grief, prayer, forgiveness, perseverance, purpose, hope, and ordinary life.

Links:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@douglasvandergraph

Christian Library / Master Index: https://douglasvandergraph.com/douglas-vandergraph-master-index

Christian Website: https://www.douglasvandergraph.org

Primary Website: https://douglasvandergraph.com




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Wednesday, October 14, 2026

What Can We Do with God - Martin Wiles

What Can We Do with God
In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. Psalm 18:29 NLT

Stephen Winter said, “Life is not ‘Hollywood’ perfect.”

Nathan found that out too. For fifteen years, he ambled in the wilderness, leaving God on the back burner. His marriage to his high school sweetheart was marred from the beginning when, on their honeymoon night, she said, “I miss my momma.” Six months later, she left him for a colleague. After a short fling, she moved in with another man. 

For three years, Nathan kept women at a distance. Then he decided to start fresh in a new town, where he met a young lady, fell in love, and married her two years later. He finally made his way back to God but watched this wife go through a mid-life crisis and leave him and their two children sixteen years later. 

Once again, Nathan wondered how God could have allowed it and how he would ever get through the mess he was in. But he did, and four years later God sent him a wonderful woman who pulled him out of his depression and repaired his broken life. He discovered he could do anything with God, but nothing without Him.

David the psalmist was a military man and a king, but he had faced his share of hardships on the way to his position—and still faced them. When the prophet Samuel came to anoint a new king for Israel, David’s father didn’t even invite him to the selection party and left him in the field tending sheep. Later, after becoming king, one of David’s sons led a rebellion, ran him out of town, and then topped off his insolence by sleeping with his father’s concubines in public view. But David made it through each tumultuous episode because he discovered he could do anything with God.

I’ve discovered what Stephen, Nathan, David, and many others have: life isn’t perfect just because I have chosen to follow God. God doesn’t promise it will be. He does promise, however, that with his strength, we’ll get through, that the trial will contain a seed from which we can learn valuable lessons, and that we’ll grow spiritually if we respond with trust instead of bitterness. 

With God’s strength, you can face whatever life throws your way. Trust him when the trials come. 

Father, help me meet life’s trials in your strength, not my own. 



If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.


Monday, October 12, 2026

What Happens When We Drink Confusion - Martin Wiles

What Happens When We Drink Confusion
You have been very hard on us, making us drink wine that sent us reeling. Psalm 60:3 NLT

Life brings periods of confusion quite naturally, but what happens when we drink confusion on purpose? 

Lonnie had listened to church folks tell him how much God loved him. One day he acknowledged his sin, repented, and accepted Jesus as his Savior. But shortly thereafter, he was confused when, at a church business meeting, the church voted to excuse itself from a local men’s fellowship because churches populated by another race wanted to join. Didn’t God love all people? Lonnie thought so. 

Garrett was confused too. He had accepted Christ when he was younger but had grown further away. He and his wife rarely attended church. His first marriage ended in divorce, and his current one was in trouble. Then his wife’s drinking problem led to a wreck that killed their youngest child. Couldn’t God have prevented this? 

Carine had a heart for children’s ministry. When a new Vacation Bible School director brought in numerous children from the community, her heart was touched. She decided to begin a van ministry. Every Sunday, she picked up children and brought them to church. When teachers threatened to give up their classes, when no one would sit with the children, and when no one even attempted to speak to them, Carine was confused. Didn’t Jesus tell the little children to come to him?

David was also periodically confused. If God favored Israel, why did he occasionally let their enemies defeat them? 

I, too, can throw my hat into the ring of confusion. God, if you love me, why the divorce, why the financial struggles, why the rebellious children, why the unemployment, why the layoff, why the betrayal, why the death, why the sickness, why the (you fill in the blank).

David found confidence amid his confusion. But you have raised a banner for those who fear you—a rallying point in the face of attack (Psalm 60:4). Whether it looked so or not, God was in charge and in control. What appeared as a mess to David wasn’t to God. What looked like indifference wasn’t indifference at all. 

The only way we can walk through periods of confusion with our faith intact and our eyes looking upward and forward is to believe the same. God loves us and orders the steps of our lives—even when the evidence seems to point to the contrary. 

Don’t let life’s confusing seasons dampen your faith in a loving God.

Father, when life gets confusing, strengthen my faith that you control the details and will orchestrate good from bad. 



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Saturday, October 10, 2026

BACON POTATO SALAD

 



Ingredients
3 POUNDS POTATOES

1 BAG REAL BACON BITS

¾ TEASPOON SALT

¼ TEASPOON PEPPER

2 TABLESPOONS DICED PIMENTO

½ CUP MAYONNAISE

½ CUP SOUR CREAM

Directions
PEEL POTATOES AND CUT INTO CHUNKS.

COOK IN BOILING WATER UNTIL TENDER. DRAIN AND LET COOL SLIGHTLY.

PLACE POTATOES IN A LARGE BOWL.

ADD BACON BITS AND THE NEXT 3 INGREDIENTS.

STIR TOGETHER MAYONNAISE AND SOUR CREAM UNTIL BLENDED.

POUR OVER POTATO MIXTURE, TOSSING GENTLY TO COAT. 

COVER AND CHILL FOR AT LEAST 1 HOUR.



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