Today, we are at the Ohio State Fair and having Monday Motivation.
Daniel: To me, Prayer has been a very formal activity. Not that I need to think deeply about my prayer; I just do the typical: God help this, do that, thank you for that. This isn’t a very normal relationship. I’ve heard it said that you can talk to God about anything, but the way it was put yesterday in Church got me thinking.
Matthew 6:8: Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
God doesn’t need to hear all your wants and needs; he already knows them, so instead have a conversation with God. The pastor put it like an experience he’d had with his son: he was in a board meeting, his son came in without a care in the world, walked up to his dad and sat on his lap to show him a cool drawing he’d made.
God isn’t too busy to hear all about us, every struggle, every high, every low, and all the in-between of our lives. When you pray, talk to God about your life like you would with your earthly family; your heavenly father cares about you far more than they ever could.
Mystery Monday
Where do you see a lot of people waiting for a ride?
??? (61)
??? (10)
??? (9)
??? (8)
??? (6)
??? (2)
It’s a Stumper this week. Join us next week for a chance to win TWO $5 gift cards to Watt’s Restaurant in Utica!
Today on the Afternoon Drive, we are at the Knox County Fair talking to presenters at the fair, talking about the events, and telling you about all the excitement happening down at the fairgrounds today. Find out more information HERE on our website.
Daniel: One of the things I struggle with is my giving. I’m not consistent with it; I give in larger amounts but not as frequently as I probably should; I should do more.
In Luke 21:1-4, Jesus and his disciples are sitting by the temple collection booth. He sees the Pharisees, Princes, and the Wealthy give large amounts. He saw them smile when others praised their “generosity.” But then he spots a widow slip through the crowd to give a measly two copper coins. She was avoiding notice and didn’t give to be recognized; she gave out of devotion to God. This was probably all she could give.
Even in the little she has, she still gives to God. Maybe you have a little time, or a little strength, or, as it is commonly thought, a little financially. It’s not about the number, the hours, or how much you can do; it’s about the fact that you do it at all. God asks us to simply do as he asks. Remember, he who is faithful in little is also faithful in much.
Mystery Monday
Give me a phrase containing the word “Hot”
1. Tamale (13)
2. Dog, Some like it hot (8)
4. Outside, Sauce (5)
6. That’s Hot (4)
Congratulations to Charla from Utica, who guessed those top two answers and wins a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica.
Daniel: Yesterday in church, the pastor’s message really convicted me. We’ve been studying the Sermon on the Mount, and this week we covered Matthew 5:21–48. I’ve read this passage many times before, but this time it hit differently.
Jesus teaches that God is concerned not only with our outward actions, but with the condition of our hearts. I may never go out and commit murder, but I still get angry at people. I still struggle with sinful thoughts and attitudes. Even if no one else sees them, God does. That realization reminded me how much I need Him every single day.
So what do we do when we recognize our sin? The answer is simple: take it to God. Stop and pray.
One habit I’ve found incredibly helpful is praying first thing every morning. I often begin my day by praying the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9–13
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’
When I wake up—and whenever I’m tempted—I ask God to guide my thoughts and help me keep my mind fixed on Him throughout the day.
Jesus reminds us that if God cares for the sparrows, He certainly cares for us. So don’t carry your struggles alone. Bring them to Him. He listens. He is with you in the darkest hours of the night, and He is faithful to guide you according to His perfect will.
Joe: I Speak Jesus
“Your name is power Your name is healing Your name is life Break every stronghold Shine through the shadows Burn like a fire
I just wanna speak the name of Jesus Over fear and all anxiety To every soul held captive by depression I speak Jesus
Shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness, over every enemy Jesus for my family I speak the holy name, Jesus!”
Why speak Jesus?
Because he tells us, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness…” (John 8:12)
When you believe, you believe His claims to be the source of spiritual truth, life, and guidance – to be the light is a bold claim. He’s saying He is the true, ultimate light from God. Jesus is not just a teacher—He is divine illumination itself!
Because He defines true freedom!
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
He reframes it as not political freedom, but freedom from sin! He’s the liberator of the human soul. The only one who can truly break sin’s power.
Mystery Monday
Name a phrase that starts with “Carry the…”
Load (24)
Bags (18)
Weight (8)
Baby, Ball, Groceries, Torch (6)
After a THREE-WEEK stumper, we want to say congratulations to Lisa from Centerburg, who guessed those top two answers and wins THREE $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica.
Mystery Monday and Monday Motivations here on The Afternoon Drive…
Daniel: Things have been moving a lot for me lately, a lot of changes around my life. My sister bought a house, my younger siblings are growing up and getting ready for adulthood, my brother is trying to get a job, and I have big expenses coming up, like an upcoming college payment; I need to find a new car plus a few other big expenses. Can life just stay still? It can kinda feel like quicksand sometimes.
Today is International Rock Day, and it had me thinking about rocks a bit. What is a rock? It’s solid, it’s immovable, sturdy, unshakeable, and most importantly, it’s what God tells us he is. David and Jesus both talked about it.
Psalm 18:2 (ESV): “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Psalm 62:6 (KJV): “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.”
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24
Life can be a bit shaky, but God never is. He is always going to be there; he’s always going to make sure that we stay steady during life’s challenges.
Joe: CeCe Winans’ song “That’s My King” was inspired by the famous sermon called “That’s My King. Do You Know Him?” by S.M. Lockridge, the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, San Diego, in 1976.
Here are some excerpts:
“The Bible says my King is a seven-way king.. He’s the King of the Jews; that’s a racial king.. He’s the King of Israel; that’s a national King.. He’s the King of Righteousness. He’s the King of the Ages.. He’s the King of Heaven. He’s the King of Glory. He’s the King of Kings, and He’s the Lord of Lords. That’s my King. Well. I wonder, do you know Him?”
David said, (Psalm 19) “The Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. My King is a sovereign King. No means of measure can define His limitless love. No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply. No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings.
He’s the greatest phenomenon that ever crossed the horizon of this world. He’s God’s Son.”
That’s just some of the sermon. Check it out sometime. It will definitely help you embrace the greatness of our King!
Mystery Monday
Name a phrase that starts with “Carry the…”
??? (24)
??? (18)
??? (8)
Four different answers tied for #4 (6)
It’s a Stumper for the second week in a row. We had someone guess #1, #3, and a couple other very good guesses, but we need #1 and #2… Join us next week for a chance to win THREE $5 gift cards to Watt’s Restaurant in Utica!
Hey, Daniel here. Today, I was thinking about a prayer request I gave to God at the beginning of the summer.
“Ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
That’s been the story of my summer so far. See, God has been doing amazing things in my life, granting me opportunities to not only talk to you, but he’s given me the blessings and gifts to do something very big in my life.
At the start of the summer, I knew that this was what I wanted to do, but it’s not exactly cheap or affordable, so I asked God to help provide a way to afford it. Over these past few weeks, I was house-sitting, and that went so well that I am getting another opportunity. I don’t know if you’ve ever hired a house sitter or been a house sitter, but it’s surprisingly lucrative. So it’s been enough that I am able to afford an important thing for my future, and I have only one person to thank for that, and it’s God
How do we say thank you to God when he’s gracious towards us? In the Bible, he asks us to give a tenth of his blessings back to him. I was talking to my mom the other day about this, and she mentioned how “some people think they can’t afford to give back to God,” but, she says, “you can’t afford not to give back to God.”
See, it’s not about the money, it’s about showing faith with his gifts; “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s”, everything is stewarded to us by God, so when he asks us to return to him a portion of his gifts, we ought to do that. Jesus talks about how he cares for the sparrows and feeds them, and we are of much more value than they are.
My Monday motivation is remembering who is responsible for this life’s blessings, and reminding myself to thank him for his blessings.
Daniel: What does it mean to be the salt of the earth?
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:13
If you’re like me, you’ve read that verse a million times and wondered, what does that mean?
What do you do with salt? You put it on food, but what else? Modernly, we normally only think of that, but in biblical times, its used for everything food. Preserving food, improving taste, purifying food, and generally just making everything better to eat. When Jesus asks us to be the salt of the earth, he’s asking us to make everything better.
But how can we do that? Simple: be the light in the room; we go around showing people the love we have from Jesus. He tells us this in John 13…
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
Jesus asks us to make everything just a little bit better and show love to others. When you go to work, spend time at home, or just talk to someone on the street, bring the smile, be encouraging, and be a little bit brighter because of the hope that is within you in Jesus Christ. Let everyone know that you follow Jesus, not only from your words, but from your works.
Joe: I was thinking about the song Waiting Here for You by Passion/Christy Nockels, and it reminded me of this verse
Psalm 27:14 (NIV) –“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
This is one of the many verses that drive this song.
If faith can move the mountains Let the mountains move We come with expectation Waiting here for You, waiting here for You
You’re the Lord of all creation And still You know my heart The author of salvation You’ve loved us from the start
A couple themes of this song are:
Faith over fear: “If faith can move the mountains, let the mountains move.” This reminds us to surrender our heavy burdens and expectantly wait for a breakthrough. Waiting, believe it or not, is a form of worship! Difficult? Yes. Building our character? Definitely.
How he knows us intimately: “You’re the Lord of all creation, and still You know my heart.” It acknowledges that the Creator of the universe is deeply intimate and present with you right now.
I think we know that waiting is not common practice for most humans. It’s hard to wait when you want to see something happen. It’s hard to wait when you are expecting something.
But if we don’t wait on His Holy Spirit to lead us, we will miss the blessings He has for us. We try to figure things out on how something is going to go, but we can pray for His Guidance and then wait on the direction given to us.
Mystery Monday
Name a food that you hope you ‘got milk’ to go with.
Cereal (60)
Cookies (21)
Brownies (3)
Mac & Cheese (2)
Cake (2)
Pancakes (2)
Peanut Butter (2)
Congratulations to James from Mount Vernon, who guessed those top two answers and wins the $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica.
Daniel: So I am house-sitting right now, helping take care of a house. To me, it sounded like an easy task. They have 3 cute cats, and I expected this to be simple. For the most part, it is, but one of the cats causes problems; he’s this old black-and-white cat named Gizmo, because he is literally a little stinker.
The other day, I came in from being out nearly all day, and I didn’t notice the present he had left on the floor, and I ended up stepping on it. Now I was still wearing my shoes, so I didn’t notice this until I had already tracked it all around the house. I remember spending nearly an hour trying to clean up from that and just being upset about it as I went around into each room, smelling as I went, trying to figure out where all needed to be cleaned.
Later that same evening, I was on the phone with my girlfriend, and it helped me recenter myself because this was already the 4th time there had been an accident on the floor since I got there the night before. I slowed down, took a deep breath, and remembered this…
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” – Philippians 4:6
We are also asked to give thanks in everything, but sometimes that’s challenging, so I tried to remember what was really important and find something to be thankful for.
“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18
It reminded me to remain calm and make my problems known to God, and strangely, he hasn’t had an issue since, which is just another everyday miracle to give thanks for.
Joe: In John 4, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. He ignores the so-called cultural taboos of the Jews and Samaritans to ask her for a drink of water.
He offers her “living water”, the kind that permanently satisfies her. He also reveals her past without judgment and declares Himself the Messiah. She then becomes a bold evangelist when she leaves her water jar behind and rushes back to her town to tell everyone about Jesus. 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
Her testimony results in many villagers coming to meet Jesus themselves, leading many Samaritans to believe He is the Savior of the world.
What can we take away from John 4?
We learn that God sees us and hears us; we also learn we can have a fresh start with Him, and we can find our voice in telling others about Him.
Mystery Monday
Name a movie that took place on water.
Titanic (38)
Jaws (20)
Waterworld (6)
Open Water (3)
Red October (3)
Congratulations to Jeanell from Danville, who guessed those top two answers and wins the $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica.
I (Daniel) Felt kinda tired today, after a bit of research and a quick diagnosis, I’ve got a case of the Mondays…
The highs of this past weekend, watching movies, spending most of yesterday with live butterflies at a conservatory, and spending a lot of time with my Girlfriend, but then coming to work today has been a bit of a challenge, but that’s okay.
You see, Jesus highlights the perfect cure for the Mondays and any other days of weariness
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Later on in Matthew, while Jesus was carrying the cross, Simon came in to help carry the burden.
Matthew 27:32 “As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.”
If you’re feeling a rough case of the Mondays or whatever day, then look to God, look to others to help carry the burden of the day.
Find rest with Jesus and kneel down to pray.
My (Joe) Monday motivation today comes from John 3, which is a very familiar passage to most people because it’s where we find John 3:16, but there’s also verse 17…
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17
The most important issue that we face in our lives is whether we will accept or reject Jesus and His identity as truth. Nicodemus, in this passage, was a member of the Jewish ruling class. And so their conversation is so significant to our faith because Jesus talks about the concept of being born again. And so what are some lessons we can pull from John 3?
1. That God loves us infinitely and unconditionally, regardless of what we may have done in the past, no matter how much we’ve rebelled against him, God still seeks us in love.
2. God demonstrated his love by giving His Son for us. That’s a profound truth. God did this for us while we were still in rebellion against him. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8b
3. That we must believe in Jesus in order to receive God’s forgiveness and enter his kingdom. Believing in Jesus means trusting in him for forgiveness and eternal life, and accepting that through his death, he paid in full the debt of your sins and my sins. And by that resurrection, he assures us of eternal life.
Mystery Monday
Name something that little kids eat that leaves telltale evidence on their faces.
Chocolate/Candy (55)
Ice Cream (18)
Tomato Sauce (7)
Cookies (6)
Hot Cocoa (4)
Milk (3)
Congratulations to Kirsten from Mount Vernon, who guessed those top two answers and wins the $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica.
James 1:2–4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Did you have joy in your trials this weekend? I really struggled to find it! The storm and resulting power outages Saturday and Sunday were certainly a trial for many, including me.
James tells us to consider trials “pure joy”—not because they’re easy, but because they produce perseverance. Patience isn’t natural; it’s developed under pressure. Trials are not interruptions to your growth—they are the pathway to it.
I know not having power for 27 hours, trying to get back the house Saturday night, and having to throw out almost everything in the fridge seems like a trial. And it’s not the first time we’ve had to do it. But big picture? It was a chance to reset, slow down and think, despite an initial measure of impatience.
Our prayer? God, help me not to resist the process. Grow perseverance in me so I may become mature and complete.
Name a food or drink that you smell outside a restaurant in the morning.
Bacon (35)
Coffee (35)
Eggs (16)
Bread (5)
Donut (5)
Congratulations to Pam from Newark, who guessed those top two answers and wins the $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica.
