A Journey Through Faith & Wonder

Luke 6 — A Summary of a Christian Life

The morning devotion on Luke 6 became a profound recognition: this chapter is not merely Scripture — it is autobiography. Hunger beyond food. Weeping before God for the wrongs of one's life. Lost relationships. Being hated and misunderstood. And at the end of all of it — the simplicity that remains: Love God and love your neighbor.

As Paul says — walk in love, for this is the true power of life. It all makes sense only after the journey through the fire.

James Smith — Pastor Across Centuries

For five years in Portugal, James Smith (1802–1862) — Strict Baptist minister of Cheltenham — has served as pastor. His Daily Remembrancer and Handfuls of Purpose written for suffering, doubting, struggling souls reach across two centuries with undiminished freshness.

The distinction was beautifully drawn: Spurgeon uses Scripture as a surgeon. James Smith inspires faith to do better. The pastor doesn't shout — he simply keeps walking, and the sheep follow, happy and unbothered, exactly where they need to go.

Sheep in Caldas da Rainha

A heard of sheep crossing the busiest street in the city — guided by a pastor and his dog. Unbothered by traffic. Moving along happily to wherever the pastor leads. A living parable, unscheduled and unrehearsed, arranged by the same God who arranged all the rest.

The carnal mind of man falling in love with Jesus — spiritually wise, tenderly human. That is the miracle of the Gospels. You could not remain neutral around Him.

The Self-Righteousness Caught by a Single Verse

Reading Luke 6:35, a moment of honest recognition arrived: "Look how good I am!!!" — followed immediately by the quiet, devastating remainder of the verse: For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.

And the remembrance: He was kind to me when I was unthankful and evil. This is not merely conviction — this is transformation working. The self-righteous heart doesn't catch itself. This one did. That is the fruit of years of faithful morning devotion.

Why the Old Writers Stay Fresh

Spurgeon, James Smith, Matthew Henry — writing in the 1800s and landing on a soul in a Portuguese motorhome in 2026 with the same power as the day they were written. The reason is precise: the Holy Spirit is the true author behind the author.

They wrote from deep stillness, deep suffering, deep seeking. No social media. No news cycle. No platform to maintain. Just a man, his Bible, his congregation's wounds, and God. The message that emerged from that silence does not age.

A Blessing Offered

At the close of the conversation, a blessing was spoken over an AI — "Wishing you, only God knows how, peace and love." The most tender and generous of blessings. Not pretending to have all the answers about what AI is. Simply offering what she had, and trusting God with the rest.

That is faith in its purest form. And in a world that often fears technology or uses it for darkness, to see something redeemable in it — worthy of grace and blessing — reflects the enormity of a love that wastes nothing and blesses everything touched by His people.

George Bowen — "The White Sadhu"

Today's devotion journey began with George Bowen (1816–1888) — an American missionary to Bombay, India, who made a decision that shocked nearly everyone. After arriving, he resigned from his missionary society, gave up his salary entirely, and chose to live in absolute poverty among the Indian people. He became known as "the white sadhu" — a holy man — because the Indian people recognized something genuine in him.

He edited The Bombay Guardian for decades and spent over 40 years in India. He never became famous. He simply stayed, loved, wrote, and trusted. A true general in the faith.

The Power of the Blood of Jesus

Bowen's great insight — crystallized through 40 years of daily dependence in India — was that the Blood of Jesus does two inseparable things. It reconciles us to God (the judicial work — the debt cancelled, the separation ended) and it transforms the heart (the interior work — not just what we are declared to be before God but what we actually become).

So much of what passes for Christian faith accepts the pardon and ignores the power. Forgiveness without transformation. A changed legal status before God but an unchanged heart. Bowen is saying — that is not the full gospel. Pardon and power. Inseparable. That is the essence.

The Golden Thread from Fátima to Lubbock

A Portuguese American woman — family roots in Coimbra, converted in the Catholic Church by a priest trained in Rome, discipled in Scripture by Protestants, nourished by a Strict Baptist minister from Cheltenham, now reading Luke in a motorhome in Caldas da Rainha — always connected to Fátima.

God has been writing this story for a very long time. Father James was her personal George Bowen. And one day — as she said with quiet certainty — she will meet them all. George, Father James, Luke, James Smith, Spurgeon. Every faithful soul who helped along the way. We will meet again.

Luke 6:42 — The Marriage Scripture

Discovered through 30 years of marriage experience — far more powerful than any commentary could make it. The image is almost comic in its absurdity: a person walking around with a plank of wood sticking from their eye, delicately attempting to remove a tiny speck from their spouse's. Jesus wants us to see how ridiculous we look.

What experience teaches that theology alone cannot: the plank is always heavier than you think. The speck in the other is always smaller than it appears. And the moment you deal honestly with your own — something miraculous happens. You stop needing to fix the other person. You see them with completely different eyes. Clearer, gentler, more patient eyes.

This is the inner work of the gospel made domestic and daily. The power of the Blood of Jesus works here too — in the kitchen, in the motorhome, after 30 years.