Mark 7:9-13, Matthew 6:1-2, Judges 2:18
Our daughter is getting married this weekend.
We’re excited. It’s going to be a great day.
Maybe that’s why I’ve been thinking about relationships a little more than usual.
This morning, I want to talk about going beyond the day into making a life.
Diane and I have tried to be an example for her. I know it’s kind of cliché, but anything worth having takes work.
And when it comes to marriage, we both need to be working.
Sometimes it seems like one is working harder than the other. But over a lifetime, things have a way of leveling out.
The reality is, success in a marriage isn’t about keeping score. It’s about what the two of you build together.
That brings me to this: There’s someone reading this who needs a real conversation.
Maybe this will stop something from being taken too far.
“What happens when you get your Rachel…and she becomes your Leah?”
Have I got your attention?
But maybe the question isn’t really about what happens when she changes.
Listen: We don’t just marry who someone is. We marry who they’re becoming—and so do they.
As we age, we change. Circumstances change. Kids. Mortgages. Aging parents. Empty nests. Careers. Retirement.
If we live, we change.
The person you chose at 25 may not be the person standing beside you at 50.
And you may not be the person they chose at 25, either.
That’s where the real work of a relationship begins.
The hunt matters. Choosing wisely matters. And yes, attraction matters.
But one day, those beautiful faces are going to change, too.
Eventually, every relationship moves beyond the excitement of finding the person you wanted and into the reality of loving the person you’ve got.
Jacob wanted Rachel. He got Leah first.
But what happens when you get Rachel…and life turns her into Leah?
Whoa. Men everywhere are saying, “Now you’re talking, preacher!”
But check this out: What happens when life turns you into someone different, too?
Maybe the answer isn’t to go hunting for another Rachel.
Maybe it’s to remember why you chose each other in the first place—and decide whether what has changed can be worked through, rebuilt, or redeemed.
Because love isn’t tested when everything remains exactly as we imagined it.
Love is tested when life doesn’t.
I wanted to sign off as pastor.
But I chose differently…
-Daddy
Weekly Encouragement
8/2/26
written by Frank Gupton
To protect yourself from mental exhaustion, you need to remind yourself that Jesus is with you always, taking care of you, it's possible to rejoice in Christ, and proclaim His sufficiency even during difficult times. This is a supernatural work, empowered by His Spirit who lives in you! So be joyful in Christ your Savior, for He is indeed enough! Habakkuk 3:3-17-18 "Though the fig tree does not bud .... though the olive crop fails .... though there are no sheep in the pen, no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior."
Just encouraging a spirit of thankfulness in the believer today.
Philippians 1:21, “To me, living means having Christ. To die means that I would have more of Him.”
For the believer, death is not the end; it is the doorway into the fullness of eternal life. Our last day on earth becomes our first day in His presence.
But for the unbeliever, death brings a sobering reality.
We have hope!
“Christian brothers, we want you to know for sure about those who have died. You have no reason to have sorrow as those who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and then came to life again. Because we believe this, we know that God will bring to life again all those who belong to Jesus.”
—1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
Amen
https://www.chathamstartribune.com/article_219e0d46-d3ec-457f-8f2e-00f9e10fca94.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawSWsmlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEesJZKxiyuTb0hcSZaFF_-Z8itRQMnJBfJPj15gMAPCCPsQIPfPXrHanAUVmw_aem_RsZ_kmzV5GHQzSk4t413CA
Don't be Bob!
Pastor Butch Robinson
I learned to drive by watching people. I learned to fix things by watching people. I’ll tell you now, life is expensive if you have to pay people to do everything. I learned that listening rather than talking tells me more about a person than I likely want to know. Or even, than they want me to know. Some folks are way too proud of themselves.
Everything that we do involves being present and alert, listening for and noticing the small details. We have to remain objective and non-judgmental at least, until we know better. Even then we should keep the judgment to ourselves.
We need to understand how to read a room and interpret things such as body language. The main thing is that we practice these skills consistently. Why? So that we are not ignorant and so that we are not taken advantage of.
Proverbs 22:3 talks about the prudent person. The prudent person is wise, show’s good judgment. They are cautious and discerning in their decision-making especially those in keeping with the will of God. People today are so focused on the here and now that they fail to prepare for what lies ahead. Being prudent in all facets of life is how we hide from coming judgment. There is great wisdom to be found in judging ourselves before others do. Prudency serves as a shroud of protection from dangers that can be avoided by simply using good sense.
Check this out.
Three fellows were sitting by a river. One of them stood up and said, “I forgot my fishing pole. I’ll run get it. Stepping out in the water before him, he walked across to the other side, where their small cabin was. He grabbed his pole and returned to where the other two fellows were.
No sooner than he got back, a second fellow stood up and said, “Man, I didn’t grab the bait can.” He walked calmly across the water to the other side of the river and then returned in few minutes, same way. The one left, his name is Bob, watched all this intently.
Figuring that this was test, Bob says, “Y’all think you’re so smart...!! Hold my sweet tea and watch this.” He runs to the edge of river bank. He put his foot in and fell into waist-deep water. He got out and tried again and again and again, to no avail. After watching in silence, one of them other fellows said, “Should we tell him where the stepping stones are?”
Things aren’t always what they seem. More than ever, we need the whole story--pay attention. I believe today there are more people intent on making others feel or look bad than ever before. Being prudent takes that power from them.
In the case of the third man, he didn’t know the whole story. He hadn’t been as observant as he thought. He watched but couldn’t see below the surface. He had seen the other two seemingly, walk on water and figured them to be no better than he. The prudent man knows that no one today walks on water so why didn’t this factor into his thinking? Not to be outdone, he jumps to his feet and lights out. By the time he gets there, it’s too late. He wasn’t at all prepared for what was to come. He wasn’t being practically wise. He was hedging his bets on simple. Proverbs 14:15 says, “The simple believes every word, (and, everything he sees), but the prudent considers well his steps.” A simple person is naïve. He is susceptible to every new idea or fad. He believes everything he hears and none of what he sees. See, if this man had been a prudent man, he’d of taken a second look, Kind of a “measure twice, cut once” sort of thing.
Gullibility is ready to believe everything as long as it is coming from someone they believe is an authority. I used to tell my family that they sometimes don’t believe a word that I say but if Dr. Oz said it woo, they’d bite hook, line, and sinker.
Had the young man known the locations of the stepping stones, wouldn’t you say that his foundation would have been a lot stronger?
I don’t reckon there’s any use to soft-pedal the facts here, I believe there’s a day coming that will be the hardest of any that we’ve endured. Now is when we can either build our case, change our course, or just show that we have what it takes to persevere.
Things ain’t always what they seem. Don’t be Bob.
Be sure.
The Compassion We Think We HaveNot a one of us are as compassionate as we like to think we are.We like to believe that if we could see someone’s pain clearly enough, we would naturally respond with compassion. But the truth is, we rarely see people exactly as they are. We see them through the stories we have already created about them.We force people into the illusion we have constructed, and then our brains adjust the perception to make the illusion feel like reality. Their motives become what we assume they must be. Their failures become evidence of their character. Their struggles become consequences they must have brought upon themselves.And somehow, we can convince ourselves that we are being discerning when what we are really doing is protecting our own perception.The uncomfortable part is that this isn’t just something other people do.I’m learning that, too.And that’s saying something after six decades of life, a mountain of experiences, and more than enough wisdom to have accumulated along the way. You would think by now I would have this figured out.But perhaps some lessons aren’t meant to be learned once and filed away. Perhaps they have to be learned again every time we encounter someone whose life doesn’t fit neatly into the explanation we’ve already given ourselves.That’s why this isn’t an indictment of anyone—not even myself.It’s an invitation to look a little closer.Because there may be someone in your life right now whom you have already decided you understand.You know why they act the way they do.You know what their problem is.You know what they should have done.You know what they deserve.And because you’ve built a convincing explanation, you may not even realize that you’ve stopped seeing the person and started seeing the explanation.That’s where compassion gets lost.Real compassion requires enough humility to say, “Maybe there is more here than I can see.”It doesn’t mean excusing everything. It doesn’t mean abandoning discernment. It doesn’t mean pretending wrong is right.It simply means leaving room for the possibility that our perception is incomplete.Because every person we encounter is carrying a life far more complicated than the part we can see.And maybe compassion begins there—not when we finally understand everyone, but when we become humble enough to realize that we don’t.Sometimes the most compassionate thing we can do is stop explaining the person long enough to actually see them.-Pastor Butch
Mid-September 2026 .
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Danville VA
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