From the Home Place

April 10, 2026

The weather forecast simply reads, “Cloudy and windy.”

That’s the forecast for conditions on the outside, but inside of me this morning the weather is bright and calm. Last night’s meeting with our young men’s group was amazing! I sure wish I would have had that kind of wisdom and spiritual insight when I was in my 20’s. Each of these young men remind me of a person from the Bible. Remember, biblical names represent who that person really was.

One of our young men honestly plans to be the President of the U.S. before his earthly journey is complete. I’ve given him the name of Joshua. Another one impresses me with his ability to speak kindness and encouragement into the group; he is a Barnabas for sure. In my mind this one needs to be appointed to the office of the Secretary of Kindness in Congress. Another one of them, shines as the DAD of the group, everyone looks to him for leadership, yet his humility reminds me of Moses. Yep, and then there is the Peter of the group, full of ideas and energy. The rest are great young men, still growing, learning faithful, and yes, I have biblical labels for them as well.

As I interacted with them last night, I thought to myself, “I suppose these guys see me as Abraham?” Just old. There is nothing to make a man wish for another run at this thing called life like being around a group of young men who are full of the wisdom and the grace of God.

So, as long as we are handing out biblical character names, what is your biblical name? Would you be a Martha or a Mary or an Esther, or an??? Or you guys, who would be your biblical likeness? As far as my two cents goes, I think each of us as followers of Jesus have a strong resemblance to one of the folks mentioned in the Bible. You know, as a child of God, you have similar “characteristics” of someone mentioned somewhere in the Bible.

Unfortunately, much like today’s weather forecast, many folks claiming to know Jesus as Savior appear to be “cloudy and windy.” Cloudy because there is more despair and worry in their lives than there is Son-shine. Windy, because their words, of which there are many, say one thing, but their life says another.

You see, last night we spent considerable time visiting about allowing Jesus to be our LORD, not just our Savior. For Jesus to be my Lord, I have to allow Him to be my Master, the common understanding of the word lord. Yet with Jesus Christ, He is called Lord with a capital “L” because He wants to be the Master of my whole life, not just when I’m in church. Because Jesus is truly God, He will not force Himself upon any of us. If He is to be my Lord, I have to yield my life to Him fully, not just occasionally.

A life that is fully yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is a life that has way more brightness and Son-shine in it than any other condition. Oh for sure, things won’t always go perfectly for a Christ-follower, but what happens on the outside of that person does not determine who they are on the inside. In another words, a person who knows Jesus as Lord does not allow life circumstances to determine their attitude and actions, they let Jesus do that.

Enough for today. May I ask one more question though, “If Jesus was to walk into our homes today, what biblical name would He give us?” After all, Revelation 2:17 says that He will give “a new name” to those who remain faithful to the end.

Waiting to hear our new name with you, Neal