From the Home Place

February 3, 2026

31 degrees, 42 for a high with wind and snow showers, lovely day in the neighborhood.

This is the day that the Lord has made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it! We will ask the Lord to help us stay safe today, looking forward to Thursday with its predicted high of 64 degrees! This weather forecast reminds me of most spiritual lives.

There are days that my flesh pushes against the Spirit of God and my attitude is cold and cloudy, and then three are days when He blesses me with a beautiful warm day full of sunshine and cheer. So is it my spiritual temperature that makes the difference, or the circumstances of my life that makes some days bright and others dark, or a mixture of both temperature and circumstances?

One does not have to read very far into the Bible to find saints of old who were on fire for the Lord one day and then struggled in their walk with Him the next day. I have found that the days that I get to build into the lives of others, or someone builds into my life, are the days that seem to be filled with sunshine. While the days that I am shut up to myself, appear to be the cold and cloudy days.

I know, not long ago I wrote about the great value of spending a day alone with the Holy Spirit. I am still a great fan of solitude. For me, a day of solitude is a day spent visiting with the Spirit about life and faith. Those are glorious days for sure!

When I speak of a cold and cloudy day, I mean a day that my primary focus is upon that what I want to do. You know, the days that I’m just too busy to be bothered with people, or to take time to sit and listen to the Spirit as He speaks into my life. On such days, the temperature outside isn’t nearly as cold and cloudy as the spiritual temperature within.

So, when such a day shows up, what do we do the warm things up again? For me, I have to stop the business of life by taking time to pray, confess and to fix my eyes upon Jesus. On such days, He will often brings someone into my life who needs a blessing. You see friends when I become more concerned about receiving a blessing than giving a blessing, my spiritual temperature takes a dive.

Remember the words of Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” There comes a time in the life of all of His disciples that the Holy Spirit will help us to realize the value of this statement. Salvation, prayer, worship, fellowship, and even trials are all blessings from our Lord. And just like Abraham, when we receive a blessing, He expects us to pass that blessing on to others.

On the days that I determine that a blessing is for just me, the clouds roll in. Yet when I pass that blessing on to others, then clouds clear and the sunshine breaks through. It is in those moments that our blessings from God become blessings to others, and our spirit rejoices with the Holy Spirit!

Spiritual cloudy days are normal, but when we choose to stay there is when things become abnormal. To be a growing Christian, we must not allow circumstances to dull our walk with the Savior. Allow the Son to be your sun and bask in the Son-shine!

Oh, what a beautiful day He has given us, we shall rejoice and be glad!

Basking in the Son-shine with you, Neal