Hello! I am Jon Paulien and I’m glad you came to this page to check out my work. I am a New Testament scholar and Professor of Religion at Loma Linda University. On this website you will find a collection of my articles, commentary on Revelation, and links to my blog, videos, and other resources. Make sure you check the articles link above regularly to see the latest postings. In my hand above is an exact replica of p52, the earliest extant New Testament manuscript fragment, containing portions of John, chapter 18. Centered above my head is a replica of ancient Greek pottery. At either end above are two sets of books from, and about, my favorite spiritual author, Ellen G. White. I hope you enjoy the site.

Daily Devotional For August 9, 2026

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And the dragon was angry with the woman, and he went away to make war with the remnant of her seed, those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. And he stood upon the sand of the sea. Rev 12:17-18 (verse 18 in Greek = 13:1).

           A few years ago our house had no windows on the south side, the side where the sun shines most of the time. That made the public part of our house fairly dark. Since our garage is attached to the south side of the house, we couldn’t do much about the situation as things were. So we decided to add on a sun room to the west side of the kitchen and bring a flood of light into the house through the west side.
           Since a lot of fresh wiring was being run to the sun room, we thought we would add a couple of outlets along the kitchen counter. The contractor warned us that if we did that the code required us to upgrade all the kitchen outlets with a special push-button breaker system. We saw no problem with that and gave the order for him to redo the wiring in the kitchen.
           For several months we were totally delighted with our new sun room and the extra outlets in the kitchen. Then a strange thing happened. The lights and power went out in the garage. This was very annoying as the massive door to our two and a half car garage now had to be lifted and lowered by hand! I rushed immediately to the breaker box in our laundry room, fully expecting the red bar to show that the breaker to the garage had been tripped. But there was no sign of red anywhere on the breaker box. I couldn’t figure out any way to get the power going to the garage again. We called in our handyman and he was stumped as well.
           After a couple of days I was frantic. What could be causing the problem? I ransacked my mind for ideas and talked to everyone I knew about the problem. But no solution seemed to be in sight. On the third day I suddenly remembered the upgrade on our kitchen outlets. Could that have anything to do with the garage? It hardly seemed possible. But having tried everything else, I went into the kitchen and pushed the little breaker buttons on the kitchen outlets. Then I went to the garage and pressed the door opener. Immediately it responded! Somehow the new breakers in the kitchen were tied to the electricity in the garage!
           It strikes me that being connected to Jesus is a lot like a breaker box. When I break one of His commandments, He does not permanently disconnect Himself and cast me away. By His grace I can be reset and offered a fresh start. Thanks to Him, the remnant will prove one day to be genuinely obedient to Him. In the mean time let’s remember to push the button of repentance as often as necessary.

           Lord, I thank You that I can be reset today for a fresh start with You. Give me the confidence to let Your power flow through me.