Guidelines for living.
August 19th, 2026

God is as Close as Your Need

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1



Anyone who has ever looked up at the stars on a dark night has, at times, been awe-struck by their vastness and the greatness of space, yet only twelve men in all history have been privileged to stand on the moon and look back towards the blue planet, as Earth has described. Standing on the surface of the moon, the Earth is some 229,000 plus miles away, and, according to Jim Irwin, one of the 12 astronauts who saw it from that perspective, the Earth appears to be the size of a walnut.

It takes a second and a half for light to reach us from the moon. Accordingly, astronomers refer to heavenly bodies as being light-years away. Now, a light year is the distance it takes light to travel in 365 days at the speed of 186,282 miles per second.

Our closest star, excluding the sun, is Alpha Centauri: 26 trillion miles away. It’s five times the sun; it takes 4.5 light years for light to reach us even from the closest star.

Very quickly the vastness of God’s creation begins to challenge our minds and comprehension—too great to fathom. So, how can the human mind handle all of this when we are accustomed to measuring distance in terms of miles or kilometers from our home?

Now, imagine the thickness of a single sheet of paper and conceptualize that sheet of paper as representing the distance from the Earth to the sun, 93 million miles away. The distance to Alpha Centauri, the closest star, would be represented by the thickness of a stack of paper 71 feet high, or the height of a seven-story building. The diameter of our galaxy alone would be a pile of paper 310 miles high. Again, that’s based on the fact that the thickness of a single sheet of paper would represent the distance between the Earth and the sun.

On several occasions, Jim Irwin, one of the 12 astronauts, was our guest at Guidelines. Before I did an interview with him, we had lunch with several friends at a nearby restaurant. While he was away from the table making a phone call, I told the waitress serving us who he was. When Jim came back to the table, the waitress kept peering out of the corner of her eye.

But honestly, having experienced what Colonel James Irwin experienced separated him from the masses of humanity who stand on Earth and look up at the moon and the stars. One thing that impressed me about Jim is that his perspective of Earth, as well as of space and God, was different from most people. Why? He’d been there! He saw it from a different perspective, and for him life would never be the same.

Robert Louis Stevenson, the poet, put it so beautifully when he wrote,

The stars shine over the mountains,

The stars shine over the sea,

The stars look up to the mighty God,

The stars look down on me,

The stars shall last for a million years,

A million years and a day,

But God and I will live and love

When the stars have passed away.”1

God is not “out there” somewhere. He’s as close as your need. He will reveal something of that personal care for you as you turn to Him and trust Him. He’s the God who cares, as well as the God, the Creator—which you can discover for yourself. Friend, get to know God. That’s the secret to life.


Resource Reading: Psalm 19:1-14

Did you know?
Abraham gets called by God, a covenant, a near-sacrifice. Jacob wrestles an angel, gets renamed Israel, dreams of a ladder to heaven. Moses gets a burning bush, parts a sea, receives the Law. David kills a giant, becomes a king. Isaac digs a hole.
Out of every major name in the Bible, Isaac is the quietest. No new name. No vision. No miracle attached to him at all. In Genesis chapter twenty-six, the only story he really gets is this: the Philistines had filled in every well his father Abraham ever dug, packing them with dirt out of spite. Isaac didn't build anything new. He just went back and re-dug his father's wells, one by one, and gave them the exact same names Abraham already gave them. No rebranding. No legacy of his own. Just restoration.
The Philistines picked fights over two of the wells, Esek and Sitnah, meaning "argument" and "hostility." Isaac didn't fight back either time. He walked away and dug again somewhere else. The third well, nobody contested. He called it Rehoboth, "room enough," and said, "Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will flourish in the land."
No miracle. No confrontation. No moment of his own. Just a man who kept digging until the fighting stopped.
Maybe the quietest name in the Bible isn't the empty one. It's the one patient enough to hold onto what was already good.

This thought has been sitting with me for a while now.
And every time I think about it, I somehow become even more convinced.
I genuinely don't think you can afford to follow Jesus and ignore emotional intelligence.
Notice I didn't say every Christian is emotionally intelligent.

They're not.

We've all met Christians who can quote Scripture for hours but cannot apologize.

Who can discern "spirits" in every room but cannot discern that the person sitting beside them is tired, grieving or afraid.

Who know how to pray, but don't know how to listen.

Who know how to correct, but don't know how to restore.

And I don't say that to judge anybody.

I say it because I think we've accidentally separated two things that Jesus never separated.

We've treated spiritual maturity and emotional maturity like they are different journeys.

I don't think they are.

Actually...

I don't think they can be.

Because who exactly are you becoming if you're becoming like Christ?

Think about Jesus for a second.

And no, not just what He taught.

But the way He related to people.

That's the part that keeps arresting me.

He didn't speak to everyone the same way.

To some people, He asked questions.

To others, He sat and listened.

Sometimes He challenged.

Sometimes He comforted.

Sometimes He walked away.

Sometimes He stayed.

He knew when Peter needed correction.

He knew when Peter needed breakfast by the sea.

He stood in front of a woman caught in adultery and somehow managed to hold both compassion and truth in the same conversation.

How?

He wasn't just spiritually deep.

He understood people.

He understood timing.

He understood emotions.

He understood that the same truth can heal one person and crush another depending on how and when it's delivered.

And I think that's where a lot of us struggle.

We've become so committed to saying the right thing...

that we've forgotten to ask whether this is the right moment.

Sometimes the truth is right.

The timing isn't.

Sometimes the words are biblical.

The posture isn't.

Sometimes we're so eager to "speak the truth" that we forget Scripture didn't stop there.

It says to speak the truth in love.

Love changes how truth sounds.

I've also noticed something else.

A lot of us think emotional intelligence means having deep conversations.

Or using words like "boundaries" and "attachment styles."

No.

Sometimes emotional intelligence is much simpler than that.

It's noticing that your friend has gone unusually quiet.

It's realizing someone is angry but the anger isn't the real emotion.

It's apologizing without adding, "But you also..."

It's knowing when your spouse doesn't need another solution. They need to know they're not carrying the weight alone.

It's recognizing that the person who keeps interrupting everyone may not be proud. They may simply be desperate to be heard.

It's asking one more question instead of making one more assumption.

You know what I find interesting?

Paul spent so much of the New Testament teaching people how to relate.

Be kind.

Bear with one another.

Forgive one another.

Encourage one another.

Be patient.

Be gentle.

Those aren't just spiritual instructions.

They're relational ones.

And relationships are where emotional intelligence is tested.

Not during prayer meetings.

During disagreement.

During disappointment.

During correction.

During marriage.

During leadership.

During friendship.

During ordinary Tuesday afternoons when someone says something that hurts your feelings.

That's where you find out whether you've just learnt Scripture...

or whether Scripture has started reshaping you.

Because following Jesus should change more than your prayer life.

It should change how safe people feel around you.

How you handle conflict.

How quickly you assume the worst.

How you carry people's weaknesses.

How you respond when you're misunderstood.

How you hold both conviction and compassion without sacrificing either.

If ten years with Jesus has made me more knowledgeable but less patient...

something is wrong.

If I've learnt how to preach but not how to apologize...

something is wrong.

If I know every spiritual principle but cannot sit with someone's grief without trying to fix it immediately...

something is wrong.

I honestly think we've admired gifting more than we've admired Christlikeness.

And they're not the same thing.

You can be gifted and still be emotionally immature.

You can be anointed and still wound people with your words.

You can lead thousands and still not know how to love the person sitting across from you.

That should bother us.

Because the goal of Christianity has never been to know more about Jesus.

It's to become more like Him.

And every time I read the Gospels, I don't just see a man full of power.

I see a man who noticed people.

Who made space for questions.

Who wasn't intimidated by tears.

Who wasn't threatened by people's emotions.

Who could tell the hardest truths without making people feel unseen.

The more I think about it, the less I believe emotional intelligence is optional for the Christian.

Not because it's trendy or because psychology says it's important.

But because every step towards Christ should also be a step towards becoming more patient, more gentle, more aware, more compassionate, more self-controlled.

More human in the way heaven intended.

Maybe that's what emotional intelligence looks like in the Kingdom.

And not becoming better at reading people so you can manage them.

But becoming so formed by Christ...

that people consistently experience His heart when they encounter yours.

God Is Bigger Than What You're Worried About
The problem that's keeping you up at night is not bigger than the God who holds your future.
Worry has a way of making our problems feel bigger than they really are. We replay worst-case scenarios, try to figure everything out, and carry burdens that were never meant to rest on our shoulders. Before long, our fears begin to feel greater than
our faith. But the size of your problem doesn't change the size of your God. The One who created the universe, parted the Red Sea, and raised Jesus from the dead is more than able to handle whatever you're facing today.
Give Your Worries to God
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” — 1 Peter 5:7

God never asked you to carry every burden by yourself. He invites you to bring every fear, every uncertainty, and every anxious thought to Him. The moment you surrender your worries to God is the moment you make room for His peace. What feels too heavy for you is never too heavy for Him.

Conflict and Courage
Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Psalm 68:31.
Throughout his ministry Isaiah bore a plain testimony concerning God's purpose for the heathen. Other prophets had made mention of the divine plan, but their language was not always understood. To Isaiah it was given to make very plain to Judah the truth that among the Israel of God were to be numbered many who were not descendants of Abraham after the flesh. This teaching was not in harmony with the theology of his age, yet he fearlessly proclaimed the messages given him of God and brought hope to many a longing heart reaching out after the spiritual blessings promised to the seed of Abraham....

Often the Israelites seemed unable or unwilling to understand God's purpose for the heathen. Yet it was this very purpose that had made them a separate people and had established them as an independent nation among the nations of the earth. Abraham, their father, to whom the covenant promise was first given, had been called to go forth from his kindred, to the regions beyond, that he might be a light bearer to the heathen. Although the promise to him included a posterity as numerous as the sand by the sea, yet it was for no selfish purpose that he was to become the founder of a great nation.... “I will bless thee,” Jehovah declared, “and make thy name great; ... in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” ...

No distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste, is recognized by God.... Christ came to demolish every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment of the temple courts, that every soul may have free access to God. His love is so broad, so deep, so full, that it penetrates everywhere. It lifts out of Satan's influence those who have been deluded by his deceptions, and places them within reach of the throne of God, the throne encircled by the rainbow of promise. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free.26Ibid., 367-370.

A Smith Wigglesworth sermon ...

God's Word Is Sure
Whoever says to this mountain, "Be removed and be cast into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
-Mark11:23-24
These are days when we need to have our faith strengthened, when we need to know God. God has designed that the just will live by faith (Rom.1:17), no matter how they may be fettered. I know that God's Word is sufficient. One word from Him can change a nation. His Word is "from everlasting to everlasting". (Ps. 90:2). It is through the entrance of this everlasting Word, this incorruptible seed, that we are born again and come into this wonderful salvation. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). This is the food of faith. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom.10:17).
Everywhere people are trying to discredit the Bible and re[1]move its miracles. One preacher says, "Well, you know, Jesus arranged beforehand to have that colt tied where it was and for the men to say just what they did." (See Matthew 21:2-3.) I tell you, God can arrange everything. He can plan for you, and when He / plans for you, all is peace. All things are possible if you will believe.
Another preacher says, "It was an easy thing for Jesus to feed the people with five loaves. The loaves were so big in those days that it was a simple matter to cut them into a thousand pieces 1 each." (See John 6:5-13.) But he forgets that one little boy brought \ those five loaves all the way in his lunch basket. There is nothing impossible with God.
Read Smith Wigglesworth's other works at http://www.teleiosministries.com/Gifts-of-Healing.html
Free Downloads at www.teleiosministries.com

Escape this winter to Selah By The Sea. Trade snow for sunshine and enjoy:

Private pool access
Pristine beaches
Breathtaking sunshine

Contact Us: 713-469-2100

Book Online: www.selahshores.com

#SelahByTheSea #WinterEscape #BeachGetaway #EmeraldCoast #SunshineAwaits #LuxuryVacation #PrivatePool #WinterBreak #TravelGoal #EscapeTheCold

Daily Bible Lesson.
THE USA IN BIBLE PROPHECY! Rev 13:11

At the height of the papacy's power, its "iron teeth" fell upon Protestant Reformers. WHO PROTESTED THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES UNBIBLICAL TEACHINGS....

Many of those who were not martyred, however, found a means of escape to the New World.

Revelation prophesied this exodus in the symbol of a faithful woman, who represents God's true church. This woman, "persecuted" (12:13) by the dragon through papal Rome, fled "into the wilderness" during "a time and times and half a time" (v.14), the same 1,260 years of papal supremacy. Thus, the prey escaped the predator, and the most notable republic in the world was born.

In 1776, the United States declared its independence. It established its own rule of law, the Constitution (1787) and the Bill of Rights (1791).

By 1798, simultaneous with the head wound to the Roman Church, the nations of Europe recognized the United States as an independent world power, one built on TWO UNIQUE PRINCIPLES REPRESENTED BY the earth beast's two-lamb-like horns:
(Rev. 13:11) ...
REPUBLICANISM, a government without a king, and
PROTESTANTISM, a church without a pope.

( The two lamb like horns in verse 13:11 represented the 2 principles America was founded on..)

1) We were a republican Nation ~
we had a constitution
had, had had....
and 2) we were blessed by God for being a
Protestant nation)

The United States became the standard bearer of freedom of conscience and embodiment of the separation of church and state--all that the Roman Catholic Church was not.

THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST!!!

But the Bible makes a surprising prediction: AMERICA WILL FALL AWAY FROM ITS FOUNDING PRINCIPLES and advocate for the sea beast,
(Papacy) the very power the Founding Fathers resisted. Revelation 13:12-15 has a few key take aways:

A. The United States forms "an image to the beast"
(Rome)
This is not a statue; rather,
"an image"is a "representation" or "RESEMBLANCE."
Hence, an "image of the beast"(v.15) will be a religiopolitical power that look, speaks, and AND ACTS LIKE THE PAPACY!!!

B. The image of the beast will use a combination of deception (v.14) and coercion (v.15) to achieve universal worship of the papacy (vv.12,15).

C. The ultimate power behind the transformation of the United States is the dragon, Satan, who extends his "authority" (v.12) from the sea beast to the earth beast (v.4).
According to the Bible, the United States will one day LOOK, SPEAK, AND ACT LIKE THE PAPACY.

FACT: During the 1,260 years, the little horn "[persecuted] the saints of the Most High" (Daniel 7:25). During this period of papal supremacy, dubbed the Dark Ages, the Catholic Church labeled as heretics those who followed the Word of God over its own doctrines and, sources state, it condemned more than 50 million people to death.

Daily Bible Lesson.
THE USA IN BIBLE PROPHECY! Rev 13:11

At the height of the papacy's power, its "iron teeth" fell upon Protestant Reformers. WHO PROTESTED THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES UNBIBLICAL TEACHINGS....

Many of those who were not martyred, however, found a means of escape to the New World.

Revelation prophesied this exodus in the symbol of a faithful woman, who represents God's true church. This woman, "persecuted" (12:13) by the dragon through papal Rome, fled "into the wilderness" during "a time and times and half a time" (v.14), the same 1,260 years of papal supremacy. Thus, the prey escaped the predator, and the most notable republic in the world was born.

In 1776, the United States declared its independence. It established its own rule of law, the Constitution (1787) and the Bill of Rights (1791).

By 1798, simultaneous with the head wound to the Roman Church, the nations of Europe recognized the United States as an independent world power, one built on TWO UNIQUE PRINCIPLES REPRESENTED BY the earth beast's two-lamb-like horns:
(Rev. 13:11) ...
REPUBLICANISM, a government without a king, and
PROTESTANTISM, a church without a pope.

( The two lamb like horns in verse 13:11 represented the 2 principles America was founded on..)

1) We were a republican Nation ~
we had a constitution
had, had had....
and 2) we were blessed by God for being a
Protestant nation)

The United States became the standard bearer of freedom of conscience and embodiment of the separation of church and state--all that the Roman Catholic Church was not.

THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST!!!

But the Bible makes a surprising prediction: AMERICA WILL FALL AWAY FROM ITS FOUNDING PRINCIPLES and advocate for the sea beast,
(Papacy) the very power the Founding Fathers resisted. Revelation 13:12-15 has a few key take aways:

A. The United States forms "an image to the beast"
(Rome)
This is not a statue; rather,
"an image"is a "representation" or "RESEMBLANCE."
Hence, an "image of the beast"(v.15) will be a religiopolitical power that look, speaks, and AND ACTS LIKE THE PAPACY!!!

B. The image of the beast will use a combination of deception (v.14) and coercion (v.15) to achieve universal worship of the papacy (vv.12,15).

C. The ultimate power behind the transformation of the United States is the dragon, Satan, who extends his "authority" (v.12) from the sea beast to the earth beast (v.4).
According to the Bible, the United States will one day LOOK, SPEAK, AND ACT LIKE THE PAPACY.

FACT: During the 1,260 years, the little horn "[persecuted] the saints of the Most High" (Daniel 7:25). During this period of papal supremacy, dubbed the Dark Ages, the Catholic Church labeled as heretics those who followed the Word of God over its own doctrines and, sources state, it condemned more than 50 million people to death.