SAPATE SUNE 28, 2026

SAAME 106-107; HEPELU 11:1-6

The life of faith can be summarized with three words: confession, remembrance, and proclamation.

Ko e mo’ui ‘i he tui ‘e malava ke fakama’opo’opo ki he fo’i lea ‘e tolu: vete, fakamanatu mo e talaki.

I once spoke on the nature of true faith at a retreat, where I tested the attendees' understanding of this bedrock Christian life concept. As Romans 1:17 tells us, "The righteous shall live by faith." Faith is the oxygen of the Christian life; you can't be spiritually alive without it. Consequently, you must understand what true biblical faith is. So I asked the group to define faith for me. One person said, "It means you believe." So I said, "What does it mean to believe?" Someone in the back shouted out, "It means to trust." So I said, "What does it mean to trust?" And from somewhere the answer came: "It means to have faith." We had ended up where we had begun, without much further illumination. Scripture is clear that faith is something more than mental assent. It is more than agreeing to a theological creed. Faith is not just an exercise of the mind. It is a commitment of the heart that fundamentally changes the way you live your life.

Embedded in Psalm 106 is a helpful summary of what true faith looks like:

Both we and our fathers have sinned;

we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.

Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,

did not consider your wondrous works;

they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,

but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Yet he saved them for his name's sake,

that he might make known his mighty power. (Ps. 106:6-8)

Three essential elements of a life of faith are laid out in these verses. Confession. Our sins have been forgiven, but they have not yet been completely eradicated. The Christian life, therefore, is a life of humble, heartfelt confession. The closer we walk with the Lord, the clearer our sin becomes. So, the life of faith demonstrates a daily commitment to confession. Remembrance. Faith involves fighting to remember the life-transforming magnitude of God's steadfast love. We resist the temptation to forget God, and instead strive for ever-increasing gratitude. Biblical faith replaces complaint with praise and demand with worship.

Glory. The life of faith acknowledges that we live in the midst of a glory war. We don't want to be glory thieves. We commit to live for a glory greater than our own. Faith finds joy in praising God's name and in making his mighty power known. In faith, we humbly acknowledge that God works for the sake of his own glory. 

Do you have regular habits of confession? Do you meditate on the gift of God's steadfast love? Do you live for his glory to be displayed? You don't have to deny the truth or wallow in shame. The Lord meets you in your weakness and failure with his forgiving and empowering grace. Faith is a gift from him. Reach out for that gift once more today.

 TOKONAKI SUNE 27, 2026

SAAME 103-105; SIUTA 24-25 

No greatness in the universe compares to the awesome, magnificent, expansive greatness of the Lord.

Take time to allow your heart to grasp and luxuriate in the words of Psalm 104 and in the grandeur of the God they portray:

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

O LORD my God, you are very great!

You are clothed with splendor and majesty,

covering yourself with light as with a garment,

stretching out the heavens like a tent.

He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;

he makes the clouds his chariot;

he rides on the wings of the wind;

he makes his messengers winds,

his ministers a flaming fire.

He set the earth on its foundations,

so that it should never be moved.

You covered it with the deep as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

At your rebuke they fled;

at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down

to the place that you appointed for them.

You set a boundary that they may not pass.

so that they might not again cover the earth. (Ps. 104:1-9)

We use the word great too casually. We talk about great games, great burgers, great shoes, and so on. We use this word so frequently and casually that it has nearly lost its meaning. But the God portrayed in Psalm 104 is magnificent and glorious. Nothing compares to him. He sits in majesty above all that he has created. He controls everything that exists. If anything were to bring you to your knees in awe, wonder, and worship, it should be him. Nothing else possesses his splendor. No one rivals his wisdom. Nothing compares to his power. No one can challenge his rule. The created world does his bidding. The Lord Almighty defines greatness. May awe of him shape and direct everything you think, desire, and do. And though I have quoted a few verses here, I encourage you to read the entire psalm.

Because God is this magnificently glorious, then what follows should be the

response of each and every one of us:

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;

may the LORD rejoice in his works,

who looks on the earth and it trembles,

who touches the mountains and they smoke!

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

May my meditation be pleasing to him,

for I rejoice in the LORD.

Let sinners be consumed from the earth,

and let the wicked be no more!

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

Praise the LORD! (Ps. 104:31-35)

How do you know when your heart has been captured by the glorious greatness of God? He will own your songs, he will be the subject of your meditation, and you will hate evil. So what makes you sing? How often do you meditate on the grandeur and glory of your Lord? Do you hate sin and what it does to your life? Happily, his empowering grace makes you able.

 FALAITE SUNE 26, 2026

SAAME 96-102; SEMISI 1:19-27

Sadly, for many of us, a dangerous gap lies between what we say we believe and how we live.

Ko hotau tokolahi, ‘oku va mama’o lahi ‘a e faikehekehe ‘o e me’a ‘oku tau tala ‘oku tau tui ki ai pea mo e anga ‘o ‘etau mo’ui ‘aki ‘a e ngaahi me’a ko iaa.

When I regularly counseled people, I found that the most difficult clients were those who had a high level of theological knowledge. It was hard to talk to them about biblical commands and principles because, in their theological prowess, they would quickly tell me that they already knew what I was telling them. But what they failed to understand was that I wasn't giving them an abstract, impersonal theological lecture. No, I was attempting to help them understand the real-life implications of the theology that they so confidently said they understood and believed. Theology is not just a pursuit of the mind; it is something that you do with your whole life. The theology that you actually believe is always exhibited by the way you live. For too many of us, a disconcerting gap lies between what we say we believe and the way we live.

You may say you believe in grace, but the way you treat your family lacks grace.

You may say you believe in God's call to love, but you respond impatiently and unlovingly to those around you.

You may say you believe in the sovereignty of God, but you give way to anxiety and fear.

You may say you believe in the theology of God's forgiveness, but you are self-righteous and unforgiving.

You may talk about God's generosity, but you invest your resources selfishly.

You may preach the doctrine of God's holiness, but in your private world you give in to temptation and sin.

In this struggle between formal confession and our daily living, we turn to Psalm 101:

I will sing of steadfast love and justice;

to you, O LORD, I will make music.

I will ponder the way that is blameless.

Oh when will you come to me?

I will walk with integrity of heart

within my house;

I will not set before my eyes

anything that is worthless.

I hate the work of those who fall away;

it shall not cling to me.

A perverse heart shall be far from me;

I will know nothing of evil. (Ps. 101:1-4)

These verses offer a prayer of commitment and a cry for help. The commitment is to a life of integrity. Integrity exists when there is no gap between what you say you believe and your actions, reactions, and responses. But this is what we must understand. If integrity were natural for us, we wouldn't need Jesus. So, embedded in these verses is a cry for the promised Messiah. Only through his person and work can we close the gap between what we say we believe and our daily actions, reactions, and responses.

The perfect integrity that we long for-when there is no gap-will be ours only when we're on the other side. Until then, our Savior meets us with his patience, his kindness, and his inexhaustible grace.

Make the commitment to integrity today, and cry out for the grace that is yours in Jesus. You will be glad that you did.

 TU’APULELULU SUNE 25, 2026

SAAME 90-95; SAAME 39:4-5

It is important to understand and live within the limits that God, in his infinite wisdom, has set for us.

‘Oku mahu’inga ke tau mahino’i pea nofo ‘i he ngaahi fakangatangata kuo fokotu’u ‘e he ‘Otua ma’a kitautolu, ‘o fakatatau ki he taumama’o ‘o hono poto.

One of the most significant limits that God, in his wisdom, has set for us is the limit of time. You and I will never enjoy a ten-day week. We will never experience the luxury of a forty-day month or a five-hundred-day year. We will never be granted a thirty-five-hour day, and none of us will physically live forever on this fallen earth. It is the height of foolishness to deny the limits of time that God, in his infinite knowledge, has set for us.

God has hardwired us with the limit of time. Denying this reality will only get you into difficulty. Psalm 90:12 reveals how we should approach this limitation:

Teach us to number our days

that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Notice that the psalmist connects numbering your days with gaining a heart of wisdom. Acknowledging the limits of the life God has given you is a significant part of living wisely. When you live with your limits in view, you don't waste your time. You don't load your schedule with things that don't matter. You value your time, and you want to invest it wisely. When you live with your limits in view, you want to understand what is important to God and you spend your days pursuing those values.

Wasting time is easier now than it ever has been before. With the twentyfour-hour infotainment media, social media platforms, network television, and streaming services-most of this content available on your phone-it is possible to waste hours every day without even being aware of how much time has blown by. It takes humility and discipline to say no to visual noise that greets you from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed.

Here's our problem. Humility and discipline aren't natural for us. We love what is comfortable and pleasurable. Most of us would rather be entertained than study, learn, work, and serve. So, like every other psalm, Psalm 90 preaches the gospel to us. It confronts us with the fact that our biggest problem in life isn't outside of us. No, our biggest problem in life is us. Psalm 90 reminds us that Jesus lived, died, and rose again both to rescue us from the external evils of this fallen world and to rescue us from us. He offers us not only forgiveness but also empowering and transforming grace. In the power of his grace, we can humbly admit our limits and live with the discipline of wisdom, investing ourselves in that which has eternal value. Our days are numbered; may we reach for the grace to invest in them well.

 PULELULU SUNE 24, 2026

SAAME 86-89; SAAME 56:1-4

Where does your mind go and your heart run when life doesn't make sense?

Ko e fe ‘a e potu ‘oku hola ki ai ho loto mo ho ‘atamaii ‘i he taimi ‘oku taumu’a valea ai ‘a e fononga?

I counseled a woman who had enjoyed a wonderful life. She and her successful husband had two wonderful children. She attended a good church and was surrounded by a group of devoted friends. But in an act of unfaithfulness and betrayal, her husband forsook her, and she lost everything. After she realized the extent of her loss, she had no life in her eyes, no spring in her step, and no hope in her heart. She was burdened by the uncertainty of her future. Where would she live? How would she survive? I couldn't answer all of her questions, but I knew one thing: she was not without hope. I told her that even in the face of all the grief and loss, she would stand. I told her this not because she was strong, wise, and capable, but because the most important person in her life, the one who was near to her and who would give the grace to continue, had not

forsaken her. We talked about the rock of hope that was hers in the steadfast love of the Lord, a love that never fails. I did my best to help her see that his steadfast love was as real as all of the loss that had so devastated her. Then we talked about the decisions she needed to make to move forward in her new circumstances.

When our comfortable plans for our life come crashing down, God can seem distant and inactive. Psalm 89 paints a picture for us of two colliding realities. It first celebrates God's steadfast love:

I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. (Ps. 89:1)

This is the rock of hope for believers of all generations, for Old Testament Israelites as well as people in the pews in Chicago. We all experience the bright mountain peaks and dark valleys of life. Things happen that make us think life is over. In our trouble, we can be tempted to think that God has withdrawn his presence and his promises. But nothing can break his commitment to love his own.

When we read the first verse of this psalm, we might think that it's going to be a happy psalm, but it's not. Psalm 89 is a lament. It was written in a moment when it seemed as though God had turned his back on his children, rejecting them and withdrawing his love. But his discipline in the face of their sin was not a sign that he had withdrawn his love.

The surest indication of the steadfast love of the Lord is the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. His sacrifice assures us that our sin will not cause God to withdraw the grace of his love. Today, in your trouble, remember where your hope is found: in the steadfast love of the Lord. That love is forever.

 TUSITE SUNE 23, 2026

SAAME 80-85; ‘EFESO 2:8-10

The grace of the gospel promises us both forgiveness and restoration. God will restore us to himself, and he will restore what sin has broken.

Ko e kelesi ‘o e koosipeli ‘oku ne palomesi mai ‘a e fakamolemole mo e fakafo’ou. ‘E fakafoki kitautolu ‘e he ‘Otua kiate Ia pea te ne fakafo’ou ‘a e me’a na’e maumau’i ‘e he angahala.

Workers were restoring a house across the street from us, and I couldn't resist checking it out. I asked whether I could look around. They told me I was welcome, but that I should be careful. A man in the kitchen was swinging a sledgehammer, knocking down walls. A guy on scaffolding in the living room was carefully prying old crown molding off the wall with a small hammer and little wedges. Elsewhere an electrician was using a meter to test the condition of the wiring, I loved that this grand old house, once barely habitable, was going to be made new again. But it wasn't just going to be restored; it would end up in better condition than when it was first built. I've thought about that house throughout the years, because it was a beautiful picture of God's restorative grace. Just as a carpenter uses a variety of tools to restore a house, God uses a variety of means of grace to restore what sin has damaged. The great divine restorer knows exactly what tool to use at exactly the right moment in order to restore what sin has broken. Because sin has wreaked such damage, we are all broken-down people living in a broken-down world, so the restoration themes in the Bible are precious and comforting. 

Psalm 80 is a prayer for restoration, one that we would do well to pray again and again until God makes all things new again. "Restore us, O God. Let your face shine, that we may be saved!" is its main cry. It's repeated three times throughout the psalm:

Turn again, O God of hosts!

Look down from heaven, and see;

have regard for this vine,

the stock that your right hand planted,

and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.

They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;

may they perish at the rebuke of your face!

But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,

the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!

Then we shall not turn back from you;

give us life, and we will call upon your name!

Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!

Let your face shine, that we may be saved! (Ps. 80:14-19)

The psalmist asks God to turn his face of rescuing grace toward his children and restore them. "Give us life," he pleads.

Where do you need restoration? Where in your life do things need to be made new? The great restorer offers you his restorative grace today. He has the necessary skills and always uses the right tool. Cry out today for his restorative craftsmanship, and watch what he, in mercy, will do.

 MONITE SUNE 22, 2026

SAAME 78-79; TEUTALONOME 6:4-9

More important than children's education, socialization, or physical development is the nurture of their souls. May their hearts be captured by the things of God.

Mahu’inga ange ‘i he ako faka’atamai ‘a e fanau, mo honau tu’unga fakasosiale mo ‘enau fakalakalaka fakasino, ka ko e fafanga mo e tutupu honau laumalie. ‘Ofa ke puke ‘e honau loto ‘e he ngaahi me’a ‘a e ‘Otua. 

When our children were small, they asked probing questions based on their keen observations. Luella and I knew we were parenting thinkers. If you are a parent or caregiver of little ones, it is vital to understand that these little theologians, philosophers, and archeologists will dig through the mountain of their experiences in order to make some kind of sense out of life. Sometimes we accuse our children of not thinking, but, in truth, they never stop thinking. Our children are meaning makers. They will develop ways of thinking about their identity, about what is important in life, about what is right or

wrong, and about relationships. And the sense that they make out of life will then determine how they live. Every day our children are observing, learning, interpreting, connecting, concluding, associating, and developing a view of life that will guide every word they say, every action they take, and every decision they make.

Because this is true, it is important for parents to start early and work often to instill in their children a view of life that has God in the center and on the throne. It is important that your children begin to understand that everything comes from the Lord, exists through him, and was made for him and his glory (see Rom. 11:36). Parents, hear the instructions of Psalm 78:5-8:

[God] established a testimony in Jacob

and appointed a law in Israel,

which he commanded our fathers

to teach to their children,

that the next generation might know them,

the children yet unborn,

and arise and tell them to their children.

so that they should set their hope in God

and not forget the works of God.

but keep his commandments;

and that they should not be like their fathers,

a stubborn and rebellious generation.

a generation whose heart was not steadfast.

whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Don't miss the vision here. We are called to faithfully teach our children the things of the Lord so that their children, yet unborn, will set their hope on God, remember his commands, and not rebel against him.

You may be thinking, "It's all we can do to keep our kids under control and put three meals on the table." But remember this: every one of God's commands is accompanied by his grace. He will meet you in your weariness and weakness and help you to do what he's called you to do. Someone will answer your children's questions. Some system of thought will capture their hearts and minds. May God use you, parent, to lead them to the one who is wisdom, so that they follow him, and their children and their children's children do as well.