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SUNDAY DRIVE: THE PARABLE OF THE FAILED TRAFFIC LIGHT

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

🚦The Parable of the Failed Traffic Light

Most would agree that traffic lights exist to create order at busy intersections. They don’t think, adapt, or show discernment — they simply function. But what happens when the systems we’ve come to depend on go offline?

That’s exactly what I witnessed one day: two traffic lights out on a heavily traveled stretch of road. According to conventional wisdom — and the traffic engineers who installed them — their absence should have caused chaos. Instead, something extraordinary happened: peaceful order emerged. Drivers slowed, considered others, and moved cautiously through the intersection. No honking, no wrecks, no gridlock. Just mutual respect and personal responsibility.

What a picture of what’s possible when people operate not by rigid control, but by internal conviction.

🔥Spiritual Spark

This moment reminded me of the difference between law and grace. Laws are good — needed even — to teach boundaries and consequences. But they’re passive tools. Grace, however, is active. It empowers. When the light was out, drivers leaned not on a device but on discernment. Similarly, when we operate under grace, we move with humility. We act with caution. We have a shared awareness that we’re not the only ones on the road.

God didn’t create us to be micro-managed. He gave us the Holy Spirit — the ultimate inner guidance system — to navigate life with wisdom.

“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” — Jeremiah 31:33

This new covenant re-centers our spiritual flow not around blinking lights and external control, but around responsive hearts. The civil cooperation I witnessed at the failed intersection mirrored a kind of Kingdom living. Each person was yielding, aware, gracious, and sober-minded.

📖Scriptural Infusion

Let’s layer in a few more connections:

  • Romans 8:14 — “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
    → Spirit-led believers aren’t reckless; they’re responsive.
  • Galatians 5:22–23 — “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance… Against such things there is no law.”
    → When the Spirit governs, the need for excessive regulation diminishes.
  • 1 Corinthians 10:23 — “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial.”
    → Freedom without wisdom is a collision course. But freedom exercised in love builds a civil and spiritual society.

Reflection Question for the Ride:
When “the lights go out” in your life, how do you respond? When systems fail, how do you react? What do you do when you’re left without outside guidance? Do you lean into the Spirit within, or do you panic without?

You were made for more than controlled stops and starts. The traffic of life might be dense, but grace empowers you to move with purpose, empathy, and faith.

This has been “A View From the Nest” please like, share, and subscribe to our newsletter for more Sunday Drive Devotionals.

Worship Is Our Warfare: Reclaiming Praise with Purpose

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Worship is more than a song. It is a weapon we wield.



In a world noisy with distraction and heavy with unseen battles, worship remains one of the most powerful weapons God has placed in our hands. Not a soundtrack for Sunday. Not an emotional indulgence. But a deliberate, Spirit-anchored declaration that God is God — and we are His.

📖 More Than a Melody — A Battle Cry

Throughout Scripture, we see worship wielded like a sword:

King Jehoshaphat sent singers ahead of soldiers (2 Chronicles 20:21–22), and God Himself set ambushes.

Paul and Silas sang in chains (Acts 16:25–26), and the foundations of the prison trembled.

The psalmist spoke of praises paired with a double-edged sword (Psalm 149:6–9), symbolic of divine authority.

These weren’t acts of passive praise. They were bold movements of faith that invited divine disruption.

🎺 Jericho Jazz & the Wall-Fall Waltz

Now imagine the folks in Jericho watching this parade of priests and trumpeters circle their city. Day after day, they see the same scene: a mariachi band of misfits marching in silence, save for the occasional trumpet blast.

At first, they might have laughed, pointing and jeering from the safety of their walls. But as the days wore on, perhaps their laughter turned to unease. What kind of army fights with music? What kind of strategy is this?

And then, on the seventh day, the music swelled, the people shouted, and the walls that had stood for generations crumbled like sandcastles under a tidal wave.

This wasn’t just a battle won; it was a divine declaration. Worship wasn’t their weapon — it was their witness.

🌊 Noah and the Ark: A Parallel of Faith

The story of Jericho harkens back to Noah, who built the Ark of safety while his neighbors mocked him, believing he had lost his mind. Just as Noah’s neighbors trusted in their own understanding and dismissed the warnings, the people of Jericho trusted in their man-made fortress, believing their walls were impenetrable.

But when the Shout came, their sense of security crumbled along with their walls. They were unprepared because their trust was misplaced.

Thus is the power of praise. Worship centered on God’s might and not on our own creations is our weapon; it is our warfare.

🙌 Worship with Intent, Not Emotion

Vibrant worship is heartfelt, yes — but it is also directed. It honors God not merely in volume or vibe, but in posture:

A posture of surrender, where we relinquish control.

A posture of dependency, where we declare, “You alone are my shield” (Psalm 3:3).

A posture of remembrance, where we reinforce our identity as conquerors in Christ (Romans 8:37).

Lip service may sound sweet to ears, but it does not shake kingdoms. True worship is not a performance — it’s a positioning.

🕊️ Where Praise Dwells, God Defends

When our praise rises, God defends.

Psalm 22:3 reminds us that God inhabits the praises of His people. This means that when we worship, we invite His presence into our battles.

Consider the walls of Jericho. They didn’t fall because of brute force or military strategy. They fell because God responded to the faith-filled worship of His people.

In the same way, our worship today can dismantle strongholds — not just physical ones, but spiritual ones.

Reflect & Respond

What walls are you facing? Take a moment to identify the barriers in your life that seem insurmountable.

Where is your trust? Are you relying on your own strength, or are you placing your faith in God’s power?

How can you worship intentionally? Consider ways to make your worship more than a melody — a deliberate act of faith.

As you reflect, remember that worship is not just a song; it’s a stance. It’s not just an expression; it’s an invitation for God to move.

So lift your voice, raise your hands, and let your praise rise. The walls won’t stand a chance.

Let’s Hear Your Voice

Testimony of God’s deliverance, shout your praise, sound your trumpet of triumph, and join us in marching together as we worship the King of Kings. Share your thoughts and comments — we’d love to hear from you!

This has been a View From the Nest. Be sure to like and share! Until next time, be blessed!

Promoting the General Welfare

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Philippians 2:4 (HCSB)
4 Everyone should look out not ⌊only⌋ for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

The Preamble to our Constitution reads: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. The Constitution therefore was established with an express purpose of securing justice, domestic tranquility, defense, promote the well-being of its citizenry, and secure liberty now and into the future. How are we doing?

“Tocqueville began with a shocker: That the first political institution of American democracy is religion. His thesis went something like this: The premises of secular materialism do not sustain democracy, but undermine it, while the premises of Judaism and Christianity include and by inductive experience lead to democracy, uplift it, carry it over its inherent weaknesses, and sustain it.

[Because of its] own inherent tendencies, democracy tends to lower tastes and passions, to devolve into materialistic preoccupations, and to undercut its own principles by a morally indifferent relativism. Further, democracy left to itself tends to surrender liberty to the passion for security and equality, and thus to end in a new soft despotism, tied down with a thousand silken threads by a benign authority.”

Timeless Comfort: Embracing Psalm 23’s Wisdom

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Experience the timeless comfort as we explore the profound words of “Psalm 23”. Allow this “christian meditation” to bring you “comfort” and guide you into a deeper connection with your “faith”. May these scriptures bring peace and renewal to your soul.

🌅 Wednesday Worship: Great Is Thy Faithfulness – A Hymn of Steadfast Hope

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

🎵 Intro: The Song That Refuses to Expire

There’s something timeless about a melody that echoes eternity. Great Is Thy Faithfulness isn’t flashy—it’s quietly strong, like the steady sunrise or the whisper of grace when you least expect it. This isn’t a song for the mountaintops. It was born in the valleys.

📖 Historical Backdrop

Thomas Chisholm, the hymn’s author, didn’t write from abundance—he wrote from dependence. His life, marked by frail health and modest means, shines with the truth that God’s faithfulness doesn’t depend on our circumstances. It endures.

Chisholm once said:
“I wanted to write something that would show the faithfulness of God as I had experienced it during my many years.”
And so this hymn became a testimony—not to triumph, but to trust.

✨ Lyrical Meditation: “Morning by morning new mercies I see”

How often do we overlook the miracle of “morning”? Not just the literal dawn, but the daily divine reset. The lyric echoes Lamentations 3:22–23:

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

When Chisholm wrote “new mercies,” he was reflecting on the faithful provisions of God that arrive like clockwork, not because we deserve them, but because He’s faithful.

🛡️ Biblical Anchors

  • James 1:17 — “Every good and perfect gift is from above…who does not change like shifting shadows.”
  • Psalm 119:90 — “Your faithfulness continues through all generations.”
  • Hebrews 13:8 — “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Each of these verses confirms what the hymn proclaims: God doesn’t flinch, falter, or fade.

💬 Personal Reflection Prompt

Think of a moment recently, when God showed up, not dramatically, but dependably—in a steady provision, a quiet comfort, or the grace to make it through a hard morning. That’s the kind of faithfulness this hymn celebrates. Write it down. Sing about it. Tell someone.

🔥 Closing Challenge

This week, look for mercy not in the miraculous—but in the mundane. Let each sunrise be a reminder that God remains. That His love still holds. That faithfulness isn’t an event; it’s His essence.