Some rules are worth keeping. Some battles are worth fighting. But the outcomes we long for Are won by love.
Invite Jesus to guide your steps today. Watch your life eflect pure light, Like the stars, Forever.
Shine Like Stars
“Those who gain insight will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like stars forever.” (Daniel 12:3)
In Scripture, insight is spiritual wisdom—how to live well in God’s world. It’s what Eve reached for in the Garden. God never condemned the desire for wisdom; rightly pursued, it leads to life.
A Lesson from the Dempster Highway
Years ago, I worked on a six-man crew keeping the Dempster Highway open. We all lived at Eagle Plains Hotel with a small staff. I was the only professing Christian. We all ate together, and our dinner conversations were lively and honest.
While acting as foreman, while the regular foreman was on holiday, the hotel requested the use of our large front-end loader to unload a generator, which required approximately thirty minutes of work. The rule said: bill private use. I invoiced $30, despite the manager’s request for a favor. I thought I was taking a stand for righteousness, that we not use government equipment for personal use.
It seemed fair… until the fallout.
The manager, also the owner’s son, was furious. Later, they charged our crew an extra $25,000 for summer rooms. They made a few changes, which were within their legal rights, and they informed me that they did so because of my decision regarding the loader. I had won a small battle to save the government money, and lost big-time in the end. I was sad about that for quite awhile.
What I learned:
You can win a battle and lose the war.
Not everything is black and white.
Keep the greater good in view.
Live in the moment—close to God.
We don’t live to keep or break rules—we live to follow Jesus. Sometimes that means standing firm; other times, bending for the sake of love. I wasn’t guilty of a sin, but I learned a painful lesson: trust was the real issue. I wish I had used my position to build goodwill in our small community, rather than keeping score.
Lessons from the Mission Field
Later, on the mission field, I discovered another hard truth: the same things that frustrated me about my leaders would frustrate others about me when I was in leadership.
When I let frustration show because my first leaders didn’t give my questions and concerns the priority I thought they deserved, I later found myself on the receiving end of that same frustration. As a leader, I sometimes didn’t give a missionary the attention they needed. I truly did my best, but leadership looks different when you’re juggling many concerns and learning as you go.
By the time I realized what was happening, tensions had taken on a life of their own, like a weather system, bringing both challenges and unexpected opportunities to gain insight.
I was primed to learn more of a Jesus-style of leadership: stay connected, stay calm, and act from conviction, not reactivity. “Power with,” not “power over.”
A significant theme in the Bible is that God wants to write His laws on our hearts.
So… how do we access the good stuff? Is it available now?
When God Writes on Your Heart
God doesn’t just hand us rules, He longs to write His wisdom inside us. The Hebrew word for “insight” in Daniel 12:3 (maskil, from the root sakal) echoes the desire “to make one wise” in Genesis 3:6, but there is more than one way to acquire this insight. The right path is God writing wisdom on our hearts.
This promise appears across Scripture:
Jeremiah 31:33 – “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.”
Ezekiel 36:26-27 – A new heart and the Spirit, so we want His ways.
Hebrews 8:10 and 10:16 – Jeremiah’s promise applied to the New Covenant.
Why repeat it? Because God isn’t controlling us from the outside, He’s transforming us from the inside.
When we sit with Him each day, we hand Him the pen. He writes in ink that doesn’t fade. And then, we shine because our lives begin to reflect the One who wrote the story.
The Kind of Wisdom That Shines
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me“ (Revelation 3:20).
Dining is daily. Fellowship forms us.
Invite Jesus into your every day, to sit with you, guide you, and write His truth deep within. That’s how we move from being known as rule-keepers and judgy to people who create communities where everyone thrives.
Today’s adventure: dine with Jesus, then reflect Him, one conversation, one patient response, one generous act at a time. Each act is another light in the night, kind of like starlight.
Deanna’s Journey to Healing
Deanna used a little energy to help Lucy try on glasses. Paul is just posing—no glasses needed.
Milestone #4 reached!
Prayer Requests
A fresh outpouring of Spirit-given wisdom
A generation of leaders who linger with Jesus
Complete healing for Deanna
From the Amazon
The Vineyard Church in Marabá held its annual festival this week. Many in the photo have grown up in this community—rooted, serving, learning God’s wisdom together. It takes time to “get the hang of it,” but it’s worth it.
Milton & Luciana (Vineyard Brazil) continue to dream with us—and with Michael Hansen (VCDC)—about church-planting in Portugal. Milton and Luciana plan to be at a Vineyard gathering in Spain in September—the one Deanna and I hoped to attend. Please pray for Kingdom doors to open.
Daily Prayer
Lord Jesus,
Write Your ways on my heart today. Teach me when to stand firm. And when to bend for love’s sake.
Give me insight that builds trust. And wisdom that makes my life A light in dark places.
Lead me into adventures with You. Empower me each moment to be available To reflect Your irresistible light.
Amen.
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