6/24/2026 | Encountering God
May you take away from our time today, timeless principles that quickly get your heart in the right place despite your season or circumstances.
Expressing gratitude and thanks to God has a miraculous way of opening and changing our hearts. Today we’ll explore the discipline of thanksgiving, and encounter God in response. May you take away from our time today, timeless principles that quickly get your heart in the right place despite your season or circumstances.
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
Psalm 100:4 ESV
Thanksgiving is a gift given to us by the good and loving nature of our heavenly Father. In and out of every season of life, we have a reason to give thanks because we serve a wholly faithful, good, and loving God. We serve the only King who would lay down his life for his unworthy, rebellious servants. We serve a God perfectly worthy of all the thanksgiving and praise we could possibly give.
In using the incredible gift of thanksgiving, we remind ourselves of how truly good our Father is. In thanksgiving, we experience the joy of a proper perspective and have our hearts stirred by the renewing of our minds. Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” When we come before God with thanksgiving, we seek the face of our Father while grounding ourselves firmly in the truth of his perfect nature. When we begin our days, prayers, worship, reading, and fellowship with a heart of thanksgiving, we live out of a place of faith and reality found in the kingdom of God come to earth.
Our God is bigger and better than our circumstances, fears, wounds, misconceptions, and past failures. There is security and joy in declaring the goodness, kindness, loving, and eternal nature of our Father. We dictate the emotions we feel by what we choose to dwell on and believe. Our minds are the battleground for our emotions, actions, and desire to dwell in communion with our good God.
Ephesians 5:20 says we are to be “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And Psalm 92:1-5 says:
Our hearts become glad when we offer continual thanksgiving. Five minutes of thanksgiving and praise has the power to change the direction of each day. It has the power to stir our hearts and make us open to and aware of God’s will for us in every situation. It fills us with an atmosphere of joy and of the Spirit. And it can greatly assist us in choosing the life of communion with the Father over the pursuits of the world as temptations and situations arise. May you be empowered and filled with transcendent joy as you engage in continual thanksgiving.
Take time in guided prayer to practice thanksgiving and enjoy the fruits of a renewed mind and a heart filled with joy and truth.
1. Meditate on the importance of thanksgiving. Allow Scripture to stir up your desire to offer thanksgiving in every season.
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2
2. Take time to give thanks to God. Think about how he sent Jesus to die for you. Think about how faithful he is and always will be. Think about how good heaven will be. Give thanks for any gift he’s given you.
3. How do you feel after taking time to engage in thanksgiving? Have your concerns, desires, and perspectives shifted? Take a moment to reflect on the effects of thanksgiving on your heart and mind.
We are continually commanded by Scripture to remember the deeds of our God. When the world comes crashing down around us, it’s hard sometimes to remember how faithful God has been and will be. It’s easy to get so wrapped up in the fleeting cares and problems of this life and forget how perfect and never-ending the next life will be. Psalm 103:2 says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” May you be quick to remember the benefits of restored relationship with your heavenly Father today as you take time to bless and thank the Lord for all the wonderful things he’s given you.
Extended Reading: Deuteronomy 8 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Deuteronomy.
May you be quick to remember the benefits of restored relationship with your heavenly Father today as you take time to bless and thank the Lord for all the wonderful things he’s given you.
]]>6/23/2026 | Encountering God
May your heart and mind be at peace today as you encounter the living God.
Prayer is so simple, but often times our minds convolute and complicate it. Today we’re exploring how to encounter God through prayer, and I pray you take away a simplified, childlike approach to spending time with your heavenly Father. May your heart and mind be at peace today as you encounter the living God.
Jeremiah 33:3 ESV
Through prayer we have access to deep encounters with the heart and mind of our heavenly Father. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” God longs for us to call to him as our source of life, wisdom, guidance, and truth. He longs to answer our calls by shepherding us into a lifestyle of continually seeking and receiving revelation from his word and Spirit.
But in order for us to truly engage with God in prayer, we must learn what it means to listen. Mother Teresa said, “Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” I find that we do not pray incorrectly as believers from a lack of earnest desire for God, but rather from a lack of knowledge and past experience. Do you know and believe that you can truly put yourself in the hands of your heavenly Father and listen to his voice as Mother Teresa did?
Do you know that your Creator longs to open your eyes and heart to receive the knowledge of his love, will, and divine nature? Taking time to listen to God in prayer is at the very core of Christian spirituality. It is a skill of the highest value that is only learned by patience, repetition, and faith. You can hear God because he wants to talk to you. You have no less inherent ability to hear God than me, Mother Teresa, or any of the disciples. Those who hear God are simply those who make space and seek out his voice. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” In stillness we grow in our knowledge of who God truly is.
God longs to make us a people who know him the way you know your family and friends. He longs to make us a people who live, think, and work out of true encounters with him. And learning to encounter God throughout your daily life starts with getting alone in the secret place, quieting your heart, and growing in your knowledge of God. Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:5-6: And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. May you seek and find the knowledge of your heavenly Father today as you enter into the secret place, quiet your heart, and listen to him in guided prayer.
1. Meditate on the importance of listening to your heavenly Father in prayer. Allow Scripture to stir up your faith and desire to know your Creator by being still, opening your heart, and listening.
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10
2. Ask the Lord to reveal himself to you in the secret place today. Ask him to shepherd you into an encounter with him that you might grow in your knowledge of his heart.
3. Take time to simply listen to God. He knows what you need even before you ask him for it. He will speak to you exactly what you need to hear. Pay attention to the way you feel as you quiet your heart. Pay attention to thoughts and ideas that he places in your heart. Pay attention to any desires that shift.
Brother Lawrence said, “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.” Meeting with God consistently is the foundation of everything God desires to give you in this life. All of the abundant life stems from a place of intimate and continuous encounters with your heavenly Father. May your ears and heart be opened to receiving the knowledge of your Father’s love, grace, and purpose for your life. May you experience to greater levels the joy of intimacy with the God of love. And may your heart come alive in the stillness of meeting with the God who dwells in all of eternity.
Extended Reading: Psalm 42 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Psalms and Studies on Prayer Volume 1 & Volume 2 by Janet Denison.
May you experience to greater levels the joy of intimacy with the God of love. And may your heart come alive in the stillness of meeting with the God who dwells in all of eternity.
]]>6/22/2026 | Encountering God
May this week be filled with transformational encounters with the living God as we learn what it is to seek the face of the one who has formed us, knows us, and loves us unconditionally.
Having consistent and transformational encounters with God while on earth is meant to be foundational to the Christian life. Our God has not left us. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we’ve been filled with the very Spirit of God who longs to reveal to us daily the nearness and love of our heavenly Father. We are never alone. There is nowhere we can flee from the presence of our God. May this week be filled with transformational encounters with the living God as we learn what it is to seek the face of the one who has formed us, knows us, and loves us unconditionally.
Hebrews 11:6 ESV
By faith we come into the throne room of God and have an authentic, transformational encounter with our Creator. By faith we accept the free gift of eternal salvation. By faith we believe we will one day live in heaven with our Father. And it’s by faith that we seek the fullness of relationship available to us on earth.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” The Lord longs to reward your seeking him with an abundance of his presence. You can have consistent, transformational encounters with God. But in order to seek God, you must take him at his word. You must believe that he will reward you out of his good pleasure when you come to him with faith.
Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Faith is simply a response to God’s promises and faithfulness. We can have faith because our God has proven himself wholly faithful. When he says in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me,” he is making a foundational promise to you.
The Lord knocks on the door of your heart and longs to meet with you. He is asking you to have the faith to make space in your life, open your heart to him as an act of trust, and meet with him. His presence is fully available to you here. The veil separating us and the presence of God was torn by the power of Jesus’ sacrifice.
Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” I pray that your heart would be filled with the assurance that comes from faith in response to God’s faithfulness. I pray that you would passionately pursue consistent encounters with your loving heavenly Father. I pray that today your faith will be rewarded with the powerful presence of the living God. And I pray that your life will forever be changed in light of how loving and near your Father is to you.
1. Meditate on the importance of drawing near to God in faith. Allow Scripture to fill you with confidence and faith, and to cast out any fear.
“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matthew 21:22
2. Come before the throne of your God in faith that he will shepherd you into an encounter with his love.
In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says:
3. Rest in the presence of your heavenly Father. Allow his love to lay a foundation of grace, joy, peace, and purpose in your heart.
May Psalm 139:7-12 fill your heart with faith to experience the nearness of your Father:
Extended Reading: Listen to Living Generously, a part of our Rhythms series.
Psalm 139 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Psalms.
May Psalm 139:7-12 fill your heart with faith to experience the nearness of your Father.
]]>6/21/2026 | The Marks of a True Christian
May God show us the pathway to his power today, and illuminate specific ways we can overcome evil with good today.
In our final episode of this week long series on the marks of a true Christian, today we’re looking at God’s command to overcome evil with good. May God show us the pathway to his power today, and illuminate specific ways we can overcome evil with good today.
Romans 12:21 ESV
The world is filled with the destruction that sin and separation from God has caused. All around us are signs of the enemy’s hand working tirelessly to keep God’s children from the abundant life our Father longs to give. Even when looking at the state of the church, you see lives still impacted by either their own sin or the sin of others. Reflect for a minute on your own life. What are your struggles? What are the struggles you see in the lives of other believers around you? What about the world around you?
The last command God gives us in the Romans 12 passage we’ve been studying this week says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). The idea of overcoming the world is a consistent concept throughout the entire New Testament. Scripture is clear that through the death of Christ we’ve been given the power and authority to overcome the work of the enemy in our own lives and lead others to freedom. Revelation 12:11 says, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” Conquering the enemy is our destiny as God’s people. In Matthew 10:6-8 Jesus says, “But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.”
God gives us an important piece of his battle plan for the war against evil in Romans 12: we are to triumph over our enemy with good as our weapon. God doesn’t fight evil with evil; he fights evil with love. It’s the love of God that will lead you to victory over the enemy in your own life, and it’s God’s love that will be the weapon you use to lead other people to victory as well. God’s goodness will draw you out of pursuing the world and lead you to victory as Revelation 12:11 says, “They loved not their own lives even unto death.” And it is God’s goodness that anoints you to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers” and “cast out demons” as Matthew 10 says. The goodness of God will always be more powerful than the enemy. His love will always triumph over the power of sin.
So, how can you “overcome evil with good” in your own life? James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Because of the authority of your heavenly Father, when you put up a fight with the enemy, you will win. He will flee from you. That’s God’s promise to you. You have victory over the enemy in Christ because “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Greater is the Spirit who lives inside of you than the enemy who wages war against you. Finally, Galatians 5:1 says, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Christ has set you free from bondage to the world. But you are free to choose who you submit yourself to. Experiencing consistent victory requires you to submit yourself to God and not to the world. You have to wake up and choose to live every day for God. You have to choose being successful in God’s eyes instead of society’s. You have to choose to live your life in light of eternity. But God promises if you will simply make that choice, he will lead you to victory over sin and its destructive effects and anoint you to help others do the same. In choosing God, you will discover the incredible life he has in store for those “who love God” and “are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Choose God today, and overcome evil with the goodness of restored relationship with your heavenly Father.
1. Meditate on God’s promise to you of victory over the enemy.
“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” Revelation 12:11
2. Reflect on the areas of your life in which you need to overcome your enemy. Where do you struggle with sin? Where do you need victory today?
3. Now renew your mind to the truth of God’s word while focusing on that area. Use God’s truth as the sword to defeat the lies of your enemy.
Overcoming sin is a daily battle. But it is a battle that’s already won. Experiencing the victory available to you will happen as you spend time with God every day meditating on his word and experiencing his goodness. Choose to place spending time with him above every other priority, and you will walk in victory over your enemy.
Extended Reading: Romans 12 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Romans.
Choose to place spending time with him above every other priority, and you will walk in victory over your enemy.
]]>6/20/2026 | The Marks of a True Christian
May God give us wisdom, and empower us to walk the path of humility and love as we seek to live in harmony today.
As we near the end of our series on the marks of a true Christian, today we’re going to explore together what it means to live in harmony with one another. There’s hardly a better feeling than being in harmony with those that are close to you. We were created for close, thriving relationship with God and others. And God in his power and love wants to equip us to build and keep harmony, even in the midst of our brokenness. May God give us wisdom, and empower us to walk the path of humility and love as we seek to live in harmony today.
Romans 12:16 ESV
Harmony in music is this beautiful, fleeting occurrence that most singers and musicians work their entire lives to continuously experience. It requires diligence, patience, humility, and unity between people pursuing the same goal of making beautiful music. And when musical harmony is achieved, it touches not only those singing or playing, but everyone listening as well. Living in harmony with one another in everyday life isn’t too different than musical harmony. For most of us it’s a target just as elusive and fleeting. But like musical harmony, it’s worth fighting for. Like musical harmony, it produces joy and life in those who pursue it and touches those around them. All throughout the New Testament, we find exhortations to live life in unified, harmonious community. Scripture is clear that unity in the body is foundational to the Christian life. So, let’s look more deeply today at how we can grow in unity and open our hearts to the Spirit’s work to fill us with the desire and ability to pursue harmony with one another. Romans 12:16-20 says:
Not only does Paul offer us the important exhortation to live in harmony, but he also provides practical ways to achieve harmony. Romans 12 teaches us that harmony requires humility, grace, the pursuit of peace, not fighting for our own justice, and blessing those who hurt us. What would our communities, churches, and families look like if we all committed ourselves to these virtues? What would your relationships look like if you strived to obey these commands? God doesn’t ask you and me to pursue these virtues; he commands us. It is a command because God knows that pursuing a life lived in harmony with one another will lead us to the abundance of joy, peace, and purpose we are created to experience. As our good Father, he wants his children to experience the peace that can only come from living in harmony with one another.
Not only do unity and harmony provide a better life for all involved, but they also glorify Jesus. Romans 15:5-6 says, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When we love each other well and offer grace and forgiveness, we demonstrate Christ’s power to change hearts to the world. When we live in harmony together, we worship with our lives in one beautiful, unified voice. The power of the gospel is that God will always love us in our pride and transgressions, but he doesn’t intend to leave us there. God works in the hearts of his people, knitting them together in harmony like a beautiful tapestry of transformed lives. You and I are written into the pages of God’s beautiful narrative. We have an important place in his eternal story of redemption. Spend time in God’s presence today allowing him to fill you with the desire and ability to pursue harmony with others. Pursue unity with the people God’s placed in your life. And experience transformation in your relationships as God works through you to produce unity and joy.
1. Meditate on God’s command to live in harmony with others.
2. Humble yourself and ask the Spirit to mold and shape you into a person who lives out the virtues of Romans 12.
3. Now ask the Spirit for specific ways you can pursue harmony with others. Whom could you invite over for a meal to hear their story? Whom can you bless who has hurt you in the past? Whom could you associate yourself with that the world deems “lowly?” How can you honor that person you always seem to disagree with?
When you remove from yourself the burden of appearances, you will experience a joy and peace that cannot be found in any other lifestyle than humility. Caring what people think is exhausting! Climbing the ladder in your work, society or relationships will never lead you to more satisfaction. There will always be another step to take, always another person to surpass. Choose to pursue harmony, unity and love with those around you. Count them as more significant than yourself. If you will live your life in the pursuit of glorifying God instead of yourself, you will gain more satisfaction in this life than 10,000 lifetimes lived selfishly could produce.
Extended Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 or watch the Bible Project’s video on 1 Corinthians.
If you will live your life in the pursuit of glorifying God instead of yourself, you will gain more satisfaction in this life than 10,000 lifetimes lived selfishly could produce.
]]>6/19/2026 | The Marks of a True Christian
Jesus allowed himself to be burdened by others burdens, pained by their pain. And may we follow the way of our Savior today as we spend time in his word, and in his presence.
In today’s First15, we’re going to continue our series on the marks of a true Christian by looking at Paul’s encouragement to rejoice and weep with others. One of the most powerful acts of love we can make is to follow the way of empathy and compassion. Jesus allowed himself to be burdened by others burdens, pained by their pain. And may we follow the way of our Savior today as we spend time in his word, and in his presence.
Romans 12:15 ESV
Have you ever experienced love and compassion from someone right when you needed it? Have you laughed or rejoiced with friends or family when you wanted to celebrate something great? Or, have you ever had a friend cry with you in a time of great trial and grief? In Romans 12:15, God commands us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus because his heart is filled with compassion for people. David exemplifies this truth in Psalm 30:11 when he says, “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.” Let’s spend time today encountering God’s heart of mercy for his people and learn how we can better share the love we’ve been shown with others.
As children of God, we are called to community. We are called to step away from the path of selfish ambition and sacrifice our lives for others the way Jesus has for us. Often this sacrificial life requires simply being there for those God has placed in our lives in whatever capacity they need. Colossians 3:12-13 says, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” God calls us to clothe ourselves with his heart. He asks us to be ambassadors for him by sharing his love with others. Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Jesus counted our redemption more important than his own life and “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). And he asks us to be like him.
So, how can you and I live our lives like Jesus? How can we better “rejoice with those who rejoice [and] weep with those who weep?” It all starts with encountering the heart of God ourselves. Only in seeing the incredible compassion and love God has for you will you be able to have his heart for others.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” We’re meant to love others out of the overflow of God’s love for us. He doesn’t ask you to have compassion and mercy in your own strength. He knows those are gifts that come from the Spirit working in our lives. You and I can do nothing in and of ourselves. To truly share God’s heart we need God’s help, and that starts with simply spending time encountering God for who he is.
After being filled with the love of God, you must choose to humble yourself before others and step outside of your comfort zone to bless someone. Humility requires strength, courage, and the help of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will always help you share God’s love for someone. Follow his leading, ask him for his heart for people around you, and follow through with courage in love. If you will make it your goal to see God’s heart proclaimed through your life, you will experience more joy and purpose than you can imagine. Being a person who gives their own life for the sake of others will fill you with more peace and passion than living for yourself could ever produce. Spend time encountering God’s heart today, and walk in obedience to his command: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” If you do so, you will find yourself filled with the knowledge of God’s love today and satisfied in knowing you proclaimed God’s love through your life.
1. Meditate on God’s love for you. Ask God to show you how he feels about you in this very moment.
2. Now ask for God’s heart for someone else today. Who needs you to rejoice with them? Who needs you to weep with them?
3. Right now in your own heart, humble yourself before the person that God has shown you. Choose in your own heart to count them as more significant than yourself. And commit to share God’s love with them in whatever way the Spirit leads you.
Choose to love people today in whatever situation you find yourself. Whether you’re driving, having a conversation, working, or just relaxing with someone, you can always count others as more significant than yourself. You can always show others God’s love. And the more you encounter God’s heart for yourself, the more natural sharing his love with others will become. Share in the joy of co-laboring with God to see his kingdom, founded on love, come to earth today. There is no better life we can live than one spent working with our heavenly Father.
Extended Reading: 2 Corinthians 1 or watch the Bible Project’s video on 2 Corinthians.
Share in the joy of co-laboring with God to see his kingdom, founded on love, come to earth today. There is no better life we can live than one spent working with our heavenly Father.
]]>6/18/2026 | The Marks of a True Christian
Truly blessing those around us that seem to be against us is an incredible act of love, producing fruit not only in the lives of others, but in our lives as well. May God give us insight into his heart for this command today, as well as the courage to live it out.
In the middle of our week on the marks of a true Christian, today we’re looking at Paul’s command to bless those who persecute you. Truly blessing those around us that seem to be against us is an incredible act of love, producing fruit not only in the lives of others, but in our lives as well. May God give us insight into his heart for this command today, as well as the courage to live it out.
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.”
Romans 12:14 ESV
Think back on an unresolved conflict you’ve had. Maybe a friend, spouse, family member, or coworker wronged you. Reflect on the anger, frustration, and sense of injustice you felt. Maybe you still feel those feelings today when you remember that situation. Conflict without grace and forgiveness is like a small hole in the fabric of our emotions that seems to tear larger and larger with every passing day. The more we play the scenario over in our heads, the worse it seems to get. The feelings of unforgiveness and the need for fairness carry with them an increasingly heavy burden. And the Bible teaches us that unforgiveness and seeking fairness are weights we were never intended to bear.
Jesus completely turned our system of fairness on its head. In Luke 6:27-31, he said, “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.” The way of God is grace-filled, unconditional love, not fighting for what you feel owed. Jesus himself “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8). Jesus chose to never reciprocate the persecution and cursing he faced. Instead, he lived his life in the pursuit of blessing everyone with grace and mercy so that they might know the depth of God’s love. And he calls you and me to do the same.
Matthew 5:43-45 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” We are called to live our lives out of the understanding that we are sons and daughters of God. And Jesus says that loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us demonstrates our position as God’s children. You have been delivered from the world’s system of fairness. You no longer have to fight to get what is owed to you. Instead, you can choose to cast off that weight and bless and serve those around you.
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Romans 12:14). God will fight for your justice. He will be your protector and defender. Leave those heavy needs at the foot of the cross, and come follow the way of your Savior. The only path to experiencing the fullness of abundant life is choosing to bless your enemies instead of fighting with them. God’s path to peace and joy is founded on the concept of grace. When you choose to bless others, even if they don’t deserve it, you are choosing to live your life in light of eternity. You have been forgiven and offered grace not because you deserved it, but by the mercy and love of your heavenly Father. Follow the example and teaching of Jesus today, live your life in obedience to his word, and experience the fruit of choosing to bless everyone around you regardless of how they treat you.
1. Meditate on Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness and grace.
2. Now ask the Spirit to fill you with the desire to be like Jesus and obey his word. Trust that God’s commands are meant to lead you to the absolute best life you could live.
3. Spend time in God’s presence, allowing the love and grace he offers you to mold and shape you into the likeness of Jesus. The more time you spend with God, the more you will become like him. Rest in his nearness.
Blessing those who have hurt you is one of the hardest things to do as a believer. It requires the perspective and fortitude to choose God’s ways over what feels most gratifying at the time. But you have the power to choose the abundant life God makes available to you in every moment. The Holy Spirit will help you forgive and offer grace to others if you will allow him to. Choose to bless those who persecute you today, and watch as the love and honor you show others brings heaven to earth around you.
Extended Reading: Matthew 5 or watch the Bible Project’s video on Matthew 1-13.
Blessing those who have hurt you is one of the hardest things to do as a believer. It requires the perspective and fortitude to choose God’s ways over what feels most gratifying at the time. But you have the power to choose the abundant life God makes available to you in every moment. The Holy Spirit will help you forgive and offer grace to others if you will allow him to.
]]>6/17/2026 | The Marks of a True Christian
May God give us wisdom, joy, and eternal perspective today as we make space for him to fill.
In our third episode in this week-long series on the marks of a true Christian, today we’re going to explore together what it means to rejoice in hope. In a world that can so often bring us down, so often appear to be without hope, today we have the opportunity to make room for God to give us his perspective, that we might rejoice in his hope. May God give us wisdom, joy, and eternal perspective today as we make space for him to fill.
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
Romans 12:12 ESV
We are not promised a life without struggle here on earth. In fact, the Bible makes clear that the world will hate us for our love of Jesus. John 15:18-19 says, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” Jesus even promises us in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation.” Except John, each disciple was martyred for his faith in Christ, and John was exiled to the prison island of Patmos for preaching that Jesus is God. We live in an imperfect world wrought with the destruction sin and separation from God has caused. You and I will face trials here as followers of Jesus.
In light of Jesus’ promise of problems here on earth, it’s interesting that Paul would write in Romans 12:12, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Paul knew all too well the trials we as believers can face in the world, but he wasn’t about to let them affect his ability to “rejoice in hope.” Along with promising us tribulation, Scripture speaks of the perspective we as believers are to have in light of our restored relationship with God. Hebrews 13:14 says, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” Scripture is clear that this world is not your home. Jesus commands us in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The Bible doesn’t tell us that trials won’t hurt here. Being disliked by others or the loss of a loved one, a job, or finances will not feel good. But you can “rejoice in hope” and “be patient in tribulation” with the knowledge that the trials you suffer here will one day end. Earthly success and possessions are not the goal because “the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). And you are promised an eternity with your heavenly Father where “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
So in light of the hope we have in God, how can we be obedient to his word in Romans 12:12? How can we consistently “rejoice in hope” and “be patient in tribulation” when everything seems to be crashing down around us? Only by being obedient to the last exhortation in Romans 12:12: “Be constant in prayer.” James 5:13-15 says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up.” There is power in praying to God. Just as God has answered his children in the past, he will answer you. If you need his peace, pray and ask him for it. If you need to be reminded of what matters, pray and ask for revelation from the Holy Spirit. Humble yourself before your brothers and sisters in Christ and ask for their prayer. “Be constant in prayer,” always conversing with your heavenly Father.
God knows what it is to suffer. He knows what it is to go through trial and tribulation. Through every problem, Jesus exemplified what it is to “rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation,” and “be constant in prayer.” Spend time with Jesus today in prayer. Allow the Spirit to mold and shape you into his likeness. May his love lay an unshakable foundation for you to remain hopeful and patient in every trial and tribulation that comes your way. Jesus says, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In this is our hope: Jesus overcame the world, and so will we. Spend time with the One who has overcome every trial you are going through. Receive his guidance and direction today as you pray.
1. Meditate on God’s promise of tribulation and the hope you have in Christ Jesus.
2. Reflect on any trials or tribulations you are going through. Where do you need hope, patience, and constancy in the midst of trial?
3. Now ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen you in the midst of your trials. Place your hope in your God who walks with you through this life. He is near to you.
You have a real enemy fighting to steal, kill, and destroy you. But “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). You can overcome by the blood of Jesus. In the Spirit you have a constant source of hope, joy, and power. When you feel the enemy fighting against you, clothe yourself in the armor of God. Stand against him in the authority of Jesus. Rise up, take hold of the temptations and condemnation your enemy brings against you, and throw them at the foot of the cross where Jesus crushed the power of the enemy in your life once and for all.
Extended Reading: John 16 or watch The Bible Project’s video on John 13-21.
Rise up, take hold of the temptations and condemnation your enemy brings against you, and throw them at the foot of the cross where Jesus crushed the power of the enemy in your life once and for all.
]]>6/16/2026 | The Marks of a True Christian
May God fill all our hearts with his love in a meaningful, authentic way. And may we find the courage in him to live our faith passionately.
As we continue this week on the marks of a true Christian, today we’re going to look at what it means to be fervent in spirit. You were made to live with a fervent faith, zealous in response to God’s passionate love for you. May God fill all our hearts with his love in a meaningful, authentic way. And may we find the courage in him to live our faith passionately.
“Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”
Romans 12:11 ESV
God shares with us, his disciples, an important command in Romans 12:11. Scripture says, “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” Do you ever feel slothful in zeal? Here, Paul is talking about feeling sluggish in your relationship with God. He’s describing a feeling of laziness, a lack of desire. Do you ever feel like your spirit is anything but fervent? The word fervent here is better translated as “boiling over.” Do you ever feel like your spirit is more like stagnant water? Let’s look today at how we as followers of God can stir up our affections for the Lord. Let’s make space for God to put fire under any area of our spiritual life that feels stagnant that it might boil over in him.
Foundational to understanding Romans 12:11 is the knowledge that God will never ask you to do something or be something without his help. You are never alone in your spiritual growth. Your job is simply to create space in your heart for God to mold and shape you. Your job is to engage with him and let the Spirit teach, lead, and fill you. Your heavenly Father is near to you. He has a perfect plan to guide you into spiritual growth and fervor. So, in light of that understanding, how can you engage with God and allow him to mold and shape you into a person of greater fervor and zeal?
Psalm 19:7 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” And Psalm 19:8 says, “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.” Scripture makes clear that to be zealous and fervent in your service to God, you must spend time allowing his word to inflame your spiritual fire. Spending time reading about the depths of God’s love for his people, the length he will go for you as his child, and the example of lives empowered by the Spirit will assuredly fill you with passion and zeal. When you spend time in God’s word, you are not only reading incredible stories, but hearing the voice of your living and active heavenly Father. Spend time with his word, allowing the voice of God to direct your soul to finding its rest and passion in him.
When you spend time with God, you will naturally be filled with a desire and passion to serve him. Reflect for a moment on how different you feel when you are inflamed with passion in comparison to feeling slothful. You have the power to choose how you will live life every day. You have the choice to engage with God, read his word, spend time in his presence, and allow him to mold and shape you. You also have the power to live a passionless life. The choice is yours. But know God is faithful to fill you with his Spirit every day if you will make space for him to do so. He has total grace for the times you feel sluggish; at the same time he has a perfect plan to lead you out of that state into being “fervent in spirit.” Engage with God today in prayer. Meditate on his word. Let him fill you with the power and anointing of his Holy Spirit.
The Message translates Romans 12:11 as saying, “Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant.” May you experience today the life of a “cheerfully expectant” person “fueled” and set “aflame” by the love and leading of God.
1. Spend time meditating on God’s word. Choose a passage that will stir up your affections for God.
2. Now, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you afresh.
“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” Psalm 90:14
Spend time in God’s presence allowing him to fill you with a desire to serve him.
3. Ask the Spirit to show you ways you can serve God today. God has a specific plan to use you today to bring spiritual awakening to those around you. He could have you give someone a gift, encourage someone, pray for someone, or even simply engage in conversation with a stranger. Follow the voice of the Spirit as he guides and directs you today.
Finish up the time you spend alone with God today by simply asking his presence to linger with you. Ask him to continually fill you with the flame of his love. Know that wherever you go today he will be there. Whenever you feel sluggish in spirit, he is there to fill you up. Continually engage with him and live today with his grace and love as your foundation and fuel.
Extended Reading: Psalm 43 or watch the Bible Project’s video on Psalms.
Continually engage with him and live today with his grace and love as your foundation and fuel.
]]>6/15/2026 | The Marks of a True Christian
May you discover God’s grace and perspective this week as you examine your life in light of this powerful passage of Scripture.
This week in First15, we're going to take a look at seven principles found in Romans 12 that describe the marks of a true Christian. The intent of studying this passage is not to condemn or lead you to comparison, but instead, let Paul's teaching fill you with a deep, transformative longing to wholeheartedly pursue the life God intends for you.
Ask God to help you see yourself as He sees you, to see the grace He's placed upon your life by the blood of Jesus, so that you might walk more fully in the power and anointing of the Spirit. May you discover God's grace and perspective this week as you examine your life in light of this powerful passage of Scripture.
Romans 12:9-10 ESV
Paul begins his description of what it looks like to be a true disciple of Christ in Romans 12 with a foundational phrase for this passage: “Let love be genuine.” Genuine love is one of the most powerful forces in all of creation. Genuine love drove Jesus through his life, death, and resurrection. Genuine love started the advance of the gospel, leading to the salvation of billions. The world tirelessly searches for genuine love. And it is genuine love that is meant to set you and me apart as disciples of Jesus. Scripture says in 1 John 4:7-11:
Paul sums up his beautiful description of love in 1 Corinthians 13:13 this way: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” And Jesus, when asked what the greatest commandment is, said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).
You were created to give and receive love. Love is your highest calling. God has set you apart to minister to others, sharing the genuine love you’ve been shown. It’s only in living for love that you will truly find peace and purpose. It’s only in the giving and receiving of genuine love that you will feel whole and satisfied. The Bible is clear about God’s plan for you. God intends to pour his love out over you to the level of overflowing, enabling others to get a glimpse of his vast love for them through your life.
So, how can you be a person who shows genuine love to those around you? What does a life lived for love look like? It starts with spending time daily encountering the vast ocean of God’s love for you. In John 13:34, Jesus says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” The disciples could only love each other because they had experienced firsthand the incredible love of Jesus. You will not be able to love genuinely if you aren’t receiving God’s love for yourself. You must take time every day to simply encounter the love of your heavenly Father. His love is designed to lay the foundation for the good works you do. He never intends for you to give what you haven’t received. Romans 12:9-10 proves to be great instruction for living a life of genuine love. Paul writes, “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” Choose to engage in good over evil. Fill your life with all that is good. Show grace and respect to others because that is what your heavenly Father has done for you. Live a life of outdoing those around you in showing love and honor.
God has chosen to reveal his love to the world through your life. He’s committed to using you to bring others to himself. And he has a perfect plan to mold and shape you through his love into a person who naturally shows genuine love to others out of the overflow of God’s love in your own life. You don’t need to place the weight of others’ salvation on your shoulders. Instead, encounter the love God has for you today. Let his perspective of you change the way you see yourself and others. And simply love those around you with the love you’ve been shown. Choose to live a life of genuine love today and find out just how broad, long, high, and deep is the love of Christ for both you and others around you (Ephesians 3:18-19).
1. Spend time receiving God’s love for you. Ask him to make his nearness known to you. Let his presence fill up the places of your heart that need a fresh encounter with him.
2. Ask God to give you a fresh revelation of how he sees you. Ask him to mold and shape you into the person he would have you be. Allow his grace and love to transform your heart.
3. Now ask the Spirit to help you show genuine love to others. Who around you needs to be genuinely loved by you today? Who needs to be shown honor and respect? Let the love that you’ve received fill you with the desire and power to love others well.
God has chosen to reveal his love to the world through your life. He’s committed to using you to bring others to himself. And he has a perfect plan to mold and shape you through his love into a person who naturally shows genuine love to others out of the overflow of God’s love in your own life. You don’t need to place the weight of others’ salvation on your shoulders. Instead, encounter the love God has for you today. Let his perspective of you change the way you see yourself and others. And simply love those around you with the love you’ve been shown. Choose to live a life of genuine love today and find out just how broad, long, high, and deep is the love of Christ for both you and others around you (Ephesians 3:18-19).
Extended Reading: Listen to Abundant Thoughts, a part of our Rhythms series.
1 John 4 or watch The Bible Project’s video on 1-3 John.
Extended Reading: 1 John 4 or watch The Bible Project’s video on 1-3 John.
]]>6/14/2026 | Faith
May God fill our hearts with faith, and may our lives be filled with the fruit of trusting in our good and able God.
In today’s First15 we’re wrapping up our week on faith by looking at the power of faith. Trusting in God changes things. Faith is powerful. As we’re going to discover today, when we choose a lifestyle of faith, our life shifts and comes into greater alignment with God’s desires, his kingdom. May God fill our hearts with faith, and may our lives be filled with the fruit of trusting in our good and able God.
“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.”
Hebrews 11:30 ESV
The Holy Spirit loves to move with power in response to faith. Hebrews 11:30 tells us, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.” Hebrews 11:32-33 says, “For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—Who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.” As we conclude this week on living by faith, I believe God would fill us with a fresh revelation of his power. Let’s open our hearts and minds to receive all that God would reveal to us about his power and invite him to work in our midst in faith today.
We serve the Creator of all. 1 Chronicles 29:11 says, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.” And throughout Scripture we see God using his power in response to the faith of his people. Whether it be the walls of Jericho tumbling down into rubble or the lame man at the temple gate called Beautiful jumping to his feet, God clearly moves in powerful ways when his people live by faith.
Jesus even promises in Matthew 17:20, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” If we have the smallest amount of faith, Jesus says, “Nothing will be impossible” for us. The God who formed every mountain, valley, river, ocean, and person has told you that he will fight on your behalf in response to your faith.
David was an incredible example of a child of God filled with the faith and powerful work of God. David was constantly in need of God’s help. From stepping up to slay Goliath in faith to escaping pursuers, he exemplified what it was to live constantly in the power of faith. David wrote in Psalm 3:1-6, “O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” David knew of the power of God when he asked for God’s help. So great was his faith in God’s ability and desire to come to his aid that he found rest and security in the face of thousands of enemies.
You are the child of the Most High, all-powerful God. May your life be marked by the power of your faithful heavenly Father.
1. Meditate on the power of faith. Take a few moments to reflect on faith, and allow your desire for more faith to be stirred up.
2. Where do you need the power of God in your life? Where do you need the help of your heavenly Father? Take some time to assess your own heart, and ask that God would meet you at your place of need today.
3. In faith ask God to move in mighty, specific ways. Come before your heavenly Father boldly and ask him to make his reality, power, and love known in your life.
There is no pride in living your life in line with God’s word. It isn’t haughty or selfish for you to have faith for God to work in your midst. God loves you and longs to help you. He has perfect plans to work in and through every circumstance in your life. Have faith in the love, mercy, and power of your God today.
Extended Reading: Psalm 3 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Psalms.
He has perfect plans to work in and through every circumstance in your life. Have faith in the love, mercy, and power of your God today.
]]>6/13/2026 | Faith
May God empower us with revelation today that would bear the fruit of steadfast faith, even in the midst of trials.
Today we’re looking at a topic I think all of us can relate to, how to have faith in the midst of trials. All throughout Scripture we see examples of God’s people struggling with faith in the midst of challenges. Doubt is something so natural, so human. And the world teaches us that when things get tough, we need to take this life into our own hands and sort it out. But God has a better way for us – the way of faith. May God empower us with revelation today that would bear the fruit of steadfast faith, even in the midst of trials.
James 1:2-4 ESV
Trials and tribulations have the power to either keep us from abundant life or produce in us character that sustains abundant life. The choice is up to us. Will our faith remain steadfast in the face of trouble or will we abandon the lifestyle of faith for one of the world?
James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Allow the phrase, “Count it all joy” to settle in for a second. What trials have you faced in the past? What trials stand before you today? Is joy the emotion that stirs up within you when you think about your problems?
My first instinct in the face of trial is to run. I long to abandon the problems before me, to act as if they don’t exist. But Scripture commands me to count my trials as joy and run at them head-on for the sake of being transformed into a faith-filled, steadfast child of God. God sees trials as a chance to produce character within me, not as a circumstance intended to harm me or derail his plans for my life.
The greatest gift we’ve been given in the face of trials is faith. When problems are staring at us head-on it’s hard to see around them to the beneficial outcome God intends. In order to face trials the way God intends, we must have faith. We have to believe that God has an outcome as beneficial as the trial is hard. We have to have faith that God will see us through every problem that stands in our way and produce in us a steadfastness on which we can experience abundant life.
Hebrews 10:35-39 says, “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, ‘Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” May we not be a people who shrink back but stand on the firm ground of God’s promises. May we be believers filled with faith founded on the faithfulness of God.
Spend time in prayer allowing God’s word to fill you with fresh perspective about your trials and tribulations.
1. Meditate on God’s desire to use trials for your benefit. Take time to gain God’s perspective about trials, allowing him to fill you with hope for whatever challenge you’re facing today.
Romans 8:18 says:
2. Reflect on the trials standing before you. What insurmountable problem is weighing on you? What job, relationship or circumstance troubles you?
3. Ask God to fill you with faith in response to the trial before you. Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to you his plans to use the trial for your good. Ask him to show you what characteristic he longs to produce in you. And ask him to fill you with the strength and courage to face your trial head on and overcome.
As we close today, I just want to read 1 Peter 1:6-9 over you. I pray that it would be the foundation for you to stand on, whenever trials come your way.
Extended Reading: James 1 or watch The Bible Project’s video on James.
May 1 Peter 1:6-9 be the passage you stand on when trials rise up around you today.
]]>6/12/2026 | Faith
May we gain revelation today that would stick, that would transform our understanding and deepen our experience of the connection, the relationship between faith and works.
In today’s First15, we’re going to look together at the marriage of faith and works. One of my greatest struggles is working with God rather than for God. God cares deeply about our work, our impact in this life, but not because he needs us to serve him or work for him, but because he wants to work with us. He wants to give us a picture of his goodness and love at work in the lives of others, and he wants to deepen our relationship with him by identifying and empowering us in our unique calling.
May we gain revelation today that would stick, that would transform our understanding and deepen our experience of the connection, the relationship between faith and works.
“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
James 2:26 ESV
“Work” typically has a negative connotation in my mind. I associate work with something I have to do but don’t feel like doing. I separate out work from play or fun. But with God, the word “work” couldn’t be more different. Work is designed to be the expression of our abundant, life-giving relationship with our heavenly Father. God doesn’t call us to work out of obligation or to earn his love, but to live our lives in response to his love. It’s for this reason that Scripture is clear about God’s intention for the marriage of faith and works.
James 2:26 says, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” What is our faith if it doesn’t produce action? What is the nature of our relationship with God if it doesn’t cause us to live differently? Often we have a misunderstanding about what it is God would have us do if we were to truly submit our life fully to him. And our misunderstanding veils our heart from receiving the fullness of life and enjoyment of the work God intends for us.
Often we believe if we were really to hand over our life to God in faith he would call us to do a lot of things we don’t want to do. Maybe we believe he’d call us to a foreign mission field, to make little to no money, or simply to live our lives awkwardly and intrusively. If you only remember one thing today, remember this: God will only ever lead you to a life perfectly, uniquely, and wonderfully designed to bring you and others around you the utmost fulfillment, purpose, passion, and joy. Everything he calls you to he intends to use to satisfy the desires of your heart. Maybe he is calling you to something you don’t fully understand yet, but if you will say yes to him, the very calling that you possibly feared most will be the satisfaction of a dream you didn’t know you had.
God calls us to a life of works because he loves us and has designed us for such a purpose. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The work he is calling you to is perfect for you because he is the one who formed you and knows you. Have faith in the love and perfect will of your heavenly Father. Choose to live a life of good works. And experience the joy of living every minute of your day with intentional and eternal purpose.
Spend time in prayer allowing the word and character of God to renew your mind on the subject of faith and works. Allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with a desire to live a life of good works today in light of God’s love for you.
1. Meditate on the marriage of faith and works. Take a few moments to renew your mind to the goodness of working with God.
“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” James 2:26
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what works he has laid before you today. Hand over to him the tasks set before you and ask him to fill you with the knowledge of how he would have you accomplish them.
3. Commit to living today with a renewed perspective on work. Work is joyful and life-giving when we do it with the Holy Spirit.
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Choose to live your life in line with God’s intention for you and enjoy the work set before you!
What would your life look like if you chose to do your work filled with the joy and purpose of the Holy Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit is just as available to you during work as it is at any other time of the day! All you have to do is choose to live your life with a different perspective than others around you. Take hardships to God and ask him for his heart! Enjoy your days working and bearing the fruit of your faith.
Extended Reading: Listen to Praying for Peace in a Troubled World, a part of our Simple, Intentional Guided Prayers for Everyday Life. James 2 or watch The Bible Project’s video on James.
Take hardships to God and ask him for his heart! Enjoy your days working and bearing the fruit of your faith.
]]>6/11/2026 | Faith
May God’s goodness become the foundation of our prayer, that we would learn to pray out of a place of belief instead of begging, and hope instead of doubt.
In today’s First15, we’re going to look at what it means to pray in faith. We have a good Father who listens to every word we pray, and knows every need of our hearts before we even ask for it. May God’s goodness become the foundation of our prayer, that we would learn to pray out of a place of belief instead of begging, and hope instead of doubt.
Mark 11:22-24 ESV
Prayer is our most powerful gift when done in faith. E. M. Bounds described the power of prayer in saying, “We can do nothing without prayer. All things can be done by importunate prayer. It surmounts or removes all obstacles, overcomes every resisting force and gains its ends in the face of invincible hindrances.” God loves to move when we pray. He is not a God who forces his will on his people, but in love waits for us to capture his heart and ask him to move and work in our lives and the lives of others. There is no more important task before us today than to learn what it is to pray in faith.
Mark 11:22-24 says, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Jesus illustrates an important link between prayer and faith. When we have faith that God will move as he has told us he would and we pray in response to that faith, the impossible happens.
Conversely James 1:5-8 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” Where faith positions us to receive from God, doubt has the opposite effect. Scripture is clear that the prayers God responds to are prayers of faith. God has given us purpose here. He longs to co-labor with his people. Our job is to capture his heart by spending time in his presence and pray boldly in response to his faithfulness.
You and I have been given the incredible gift of conversation with a God who longs to move in response to our prayers. What obstacles stand in your way today? Where do you need a miracle? Who needs prayer around you? Spend time capturing the heart of your heavenly Father and praying with boldness. He waits to respond to your prayers and do the work only he can do.
1. Meditate on the power of prayer in faith. Allow God’s word to stir up your faith, that God can and will help you overcome your obstacles. He is both faithful and able.
“Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matthew 21:21-22
2. Reflect on your life. What obstacles stand in your way? Where do you need God to work? Who around you needs the power of your prayer today?
3. Ask God what he thinks about the situations in which you desire to pray and then pray boldly according to his will. Seek out Scripture and pray in line with God’s word. Have faith that God will move according to his word in response to your prayer of faith.
Often we are turned off to the idea of praying boldly when we feel God hasn’t answered our prayers in the past. Don’t let past experience stand in the way of living your life in total alignment with the word of God. We will never fully understand all of God’s ways. All we can do is live as he has led us and trust in him. Scripture is clear that God cares for you and longs to help you. He desires to move and work in your midst on a daily basis. Have faith in your heavenly Father and pray to him boldly today.
Extended Reading: Mark 11 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Mark.
Don’t let past experience stand in the way of living your life in total alignment with the word of God. We will never fully understand all of God’s ways. All we can do is live as he has led us and trust in him.
]]>6/10/2026 | Faith
May you find the strength and courage to trust in him today with all that you are.
We’re in our third day in our series on Faith. Today we’re going to look in greater depth at how we can actually live by faith, experiencing every moment the incredible fruit that comes from trusting in the faithfulness of God. God is with you, and his heart is filled with love for you. May you find the strength and courage to trust in him today with all that you are.
2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV
Living by faith is the key that unlocks the door to the fullness of God’s promises. There is no doubt that God will always be faithful to his promises. Scripture is clear in 2 Timothy 2:13 that “if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.” Faithfulness is within God’s nature. But, without faith we will not experience the fullness of what is available to us in God’s promises. God does not force emotion on us. He does not force us to receive the joy and peace that comes through trusting him. He does not force us into the fullness of relationship available to us in faith. And he does not force his purposes on us. Faith is the vehicle by which we experience all that God longs to give us. Specifically, faith is the avenue on which we experience the fullness of God’s promises for intimacy with him, purpose in this life, and freedom from sin.
Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” By faith we walk into God’s presence. In faith we believe God desires to be with us. Experiencing the fullness of restored relationship with our heavenly Father requires a heart full of faith and trust that God longs to tangibly be with us, his children. Without faith we will live solely for the pleasures this world has to offer and miss out on all the satisfaction of living this life for and with God above all else. In faith we can experience all the intimacy available to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Hebrews 11:32-34 says, “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.” We’ve been sent out by Jesus to make disciples of all nations. We’ve been given a command to bring light into the darkness everywhere we go. You and I have been given a purpose of eternal value and of great importance to our Lord and King. And Hebrews 11 is clear that it is by faith that the works of God are done. When we live by faith we bring the kingdom of God into every dark corner around us. When we live by faith we invite the Holy Spirit to work in and through every situation to draw others to himself. It’s in faith that we find our purpose.
And finally, Ephesians 6:16 says, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” It is through faith that we walk in the freedom from sin available to us by the promise of God. As children of God wrapped up in the finished work of Christ, we have been set free from the bondage of sin. By the power of Jesus’ death on the cross, you and I never have to sin again. But Paul teaches us in Ephesians that it is through faith that we extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one. If we don’t trust God at his word that we who were completely entangled to the schemes of the enemy by sin are now considered the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21), we will not walk in freedom. It is through faith that we renew our mind and experience the wonderful freedom from sin available to us.
We all need a greater measure of intimacy with God, purpose, and freedom from sin. Not one of us has experienced all that is available to us through faith. May you seek out all that God has in store for you if you will take him at his word and trust him in response to his faithfulness. Spend time in prayer receiving all that God longs to give you by faith.
1. Meditate on all that is available to you in the lifestyle of faith. Allow your heart to be filled with a desire for greater faith in response to God’s promises in his word.
Ephesians 6:16 says:
2. Ask God to lead you to a greater measure of faith. Ask him to give you the faith to pursue intimacy with him, his purposes, and freedom from sin. Listen to all that he would say to you in these quiet moments. Let him give you a fresh perspective of what it is to live by faith.
3. Pursue all that is available to you today in the promises of God. What new levels of relationship does God long to lead you to? What new purposes does he have in store for you? What freedom does he long to bring you? Make space to get a fresh revelation of the abundant life he has for you. Allow God to reveal what life looks like when you seek greater depths of relationship with him.
May you be filled with hunger for the deeper things of God today. And may you have the courage and tenacity to seek out everything God has in store for you. If you will pursue him with all your heart in faith you will discover all that your heart has been searching for. He has adventure, excitement, joy, fulfillment, and love for all who live by faith. Today is the day to live in the newness of life Jesus died for you to have.
Extended Reading: 2 Corinthians 5 or watch The Bible Project’s video on 2 Corinthians.
May you be filled with hunger for the deeper things of God today. And may you have the courage and tenacity to seek out everything God has in store for you.
]]>6/9/2026 | Faith
God is faithful no matter what. But faith allows us to have trust in that faithfulness, producing a peace and sense of calm in the midst of challenges that we desperately need.
In this week of First15, we’re focusing on faith. Living with our faith stirred up is absolutely foundational to living an abundant life. God is faithful no matter what. But faith allows us to have trust in that faithfulness, producing a peace and calmness in the midst of challenges that we desperately need. I pray that your faith would be stirred today as we look at the biblical principle, that faith comes by hearing.
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
Romans 10:17 ESV
Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Scripture offers us every truth we need to live a lifestyle of faith. Within its pages are powerful stories describing the miraculous works of a God who remained faithful to a people who chose pride, selfishness, and rebellion over his perfect, loving ways. And it contains incredible moments where God’s people responded to his faithfulness with faith and were greatly rewarded.
Proverbs 4:20-22 says, “My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.” The desire of God for you and me is to be children filled with his life-giving words. God longs for us to experience the joy, purpose, and peace of faith founded on his word. He longs for us to live our lives with Scripture as a constant source of hope when the world seems to be crashing down around us.
For a long time, the Bible bored me. I knew I should read it so I would try and make some time here and there to read a little bit. But it felt more like an assignment than an encounter with the powerful words of God. It wasn’t until I began to read Scripture as an avenue to connect with God and have my life transformed that I began to enjoy it. As I began to allow God’s word to fill me with faith to live differently, I discovered the power of the Bible. When I used Scripture as a way to learn about and connect to the heart of my heavenly Father, my desire to read it grew to the point of overflowing.
Scripture has the power to lead us to a different way of living: the way of faith. Stories like Abraham and Isaac should guide us to trust the promises of our God. Stories like Israel and the walls of Jericho should lead us to act on God’s word and leadership in faith that he will move in powerful ways to destroy our seemingly insurmountable obstacles. And the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus should guide us to a life of service to our God who would give up everything just to have restored relationship with us.
May your faith be stirred today in the reading of Scripture. May the pages of God’s word guide you to a lifestyle of trust, hope, and surrender. And may you experience the joy of living by faith in response to your God’s amazing acts of faithfulness.
1. Meditate on the ability of God’s word to fill you with faith. Take a few moments to reflect on God’s desire and ability to fill you with faith through his word.
2. Where do you need faith today? What problem or obstacle seems insurmountable before you? Where do you need hope and joy? Take a moment to assess your own life, that you would be cognizant of where your need is today.
3. Take time to reflect on the story of Jesus walking on water. Matthew 14:28-33 says:
The story of Jesus walking on water in Matthew 14:28-33 serves as a great example of life lived in faith and in doubt. May we be a people who live in full faith and stand on the unshakable truth of God’s word.
Extended Reading: Romans 5 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Romans 5-16.
May we be a people who live in full faith and stand on the unshakable truth of God’s word.
]]>6/8/2026 | Faith
May you experience a greater depth of intimacy with your living, Almighty, and loving heavenly Father.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith is the undercurrent of everything we do as followers of Jesus. Without faith we lose all that Christ died to give us while here on earth. It is by faith we access the peace, joy, guidance, love, and purpose that comes from restored relationship with our heavenly Father.
In this week's First15, we’re going to seek an increase in faith in response to God’s faithfulness. May you experience a greater depth of intimacy with your living, Almighty, and loving heavenly Father.
“That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:5 ESV
As believers living our lives founded on the hope given to us by God, faith is our lifeblood. Without faith we have nothing. Without faith, all sense of purpose, value, and joy in present trials and circumstances scatters as dust in the wind. But with faith we discover a wellspring of life with its origins found in the faithfulness of our Creator God. With faith we experience the effects of promises made to us by our living, loving, active, and trustworthy heavenly Father. With faith the abundant life God desires for us is removed from a shroud of doubt, fear, and hopelessness and becomes our reality. So what’s at the heart of this incredible gift of faith? How do we as children of God access the life-giving fruits of faith?
The Bible defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Hebrews 11 continues in verses 2-7 saying,
Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is simply this: trusting in our God who is completely and altogether faithful. Faith is the natural response to a revelation of God’s faithfulness.
We are to live entirely by faith, or entirely in response to God’s faithfulness. Every action, thought, emotion, word, and perspective is meant to be founded on the faithfulness of our heavenly Father. Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice because he had a greater revelation and trust of God’s faithfulness. Enoch was saved from earthly death because he pleased God with his faith. Hebrews 11:6 makes it abundantly clear: “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” We are to believe in the reality of God and to trust that he will reward us when we seek him. In other words, we are to live our lives entirely out of the revelation of God’s faithfulness. And Romans 4:20-21 says in reference to Abraham, “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” We are to be children convinced of the overwhelming ability of God to move and work in our lives.
Where do you lack faith today? What areas of your life have you taken into your own hands? Where are you full of fear, anxiety, depression, or hopelessness today? Know that the path to faith in those areas is paved with fresh revelation of God’s faithfulness. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.” Your God will always be faithful to you. You can trust him with any problem you are going through. He longs to work in your favor.
Seek out a greater understanding of your God’s faithfulness and allow your heart to be transformed. Spend time in prayer meditating on the character of your heavenly Father and allowing the Holy Spirit to do a work in your heart on a level that would fill you with the ability and desire to live entirely in faith.
1. Begin by meditating on how Scripture defines faith.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
2. Reflect on any areas in your own life where you struggle with faith. What areas do you seem to live out in your own strength? What anxiety or fear consistently comes against you?
3. Meditate on the faithfulness of your heavenly Father. Allow God’s faithfulness to wash away any fear or anxiety you struggle with. Allow his amazing character to fill you with hope, joy, and peace.
“Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.” Psalm 36:5
The Scriptures declaring the faithfulness of God go on and on. All of the earth finds its life as the result of God’s faithfulness to his promises. We live and breathe by the goodness and love of our God. God longs to give you a tangible story of his faithfulness. He longs to work in your life specifically and uniquely. Open up your life to him, ask him for his help, and watch as he works faithfully in your midst. Your God loves you, cares about you, and is for you. May you experience the abundant life only faith can bring you today.
Extended Reading: Listen to Emotional Abundance, a part of our Rhythms series.
Hebrews 11 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Hebrews.
Your God loves you, cares about you, and is for you. May you experience the abundant life only faith can bring you today.
]]>6/7/2026 | Faith
As God’s people, he’s inviting us into his victory, a victory we so desperately need. May God establish us in his power today, and may chains fall off us and others as God guides us into a lifestyle of victory in him.
In our final day of this week-long series seeking to put our faith to action, today we’re going to look at the victory we have in God’s love. As God’s people, he’s inviting us into his victory, a victory we so desperately need. May God establish us in his power today, and may chains fall off us and others as God guides us into a lifestyle of victory in him.
Romans 8:37-39 ESV
Through Jesus, God has obtained victory in the earth. The dominion the devil had over humanity was crushed by the cross of Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:13-15 says, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” Jesus has triumphed over everything that stood between us and a life lived in relationship with God.
One of my favorite chapters in all of Scripture, Romans 8, tells us, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). We’ve been given victory over the enemy and all his schemes. But even though we have obtained victory in Jesus, the devil still works to lead you and me back into our former ways. Even though Jesus has defeated the enemy, we still must live out that victory every day and help others around us do the same. Even though love has won, we still must fight for the victory in others.
We need each other to experience the freedom available to us in Christ. Scripture admonishes us to engage in confession, community, worship, and spiritual battle together. Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” James 5:13-16 says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” We must engage with one another and fight for a life lived victoriously in Christ together. The Bible is clear that sanctification is a process worked out, and it’s a process meant to be worked out together.
We must call out the greatness in each other. If you see a brother or sister struggling with temptation, fight for them through prayer. Speak life into them. Encourage them in who God has made them to be. Stand with them through whatever circumstances and consequences come their way. See them through the fight until they experience victory over the power of sin and darkness in their life. Open up to those around you and ask for their help in your own life! You don’t have to fight spiritual battles alone. There are people around you who will fight for victory in your own life.
Through Christ, love has won. He has paved the way of victory for you and me. We are the world’s no longer. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Walk in the works God intends for you today and, in love, fight for those around you to do the same. You and I are meant for more in this life than the struggle with sin. Let’s fight for the victory in each other.
1. Renew your mind to the victory available to you in Christ.
2. Who needs you to fight for their victory today. Who needs encouragement from you? Who needs you to speak truth over them in love? Who needs you to intercede on their behalf?
3. Pray for their victory. However the Spirit prompts you, pray that they would overcome the power of sin in their lives. Trust that God will move when you pray.
“The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” James 5:16
You don’t have to be perfect before you can fight for the victory in someone else’s life. You don’t have to be fully experiencing freedom before your Father would use you to help someone else. If the only people that could engage in ministry had to be perfect, the movement of Christianity would have died long ago. You are equipped to help right now exactly as you are. Engage in community with fellow believers as God intends and experience more life together as you walk in the victory laid out before you by the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Extended Reading: Ephesians 2 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Ephesians.
Engage in community with fellow believers as God intends and experience more life together as you walk in the victory laid out before you by the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
]]>6/6/2026 | Faith
We need God to give us fresh vision for the work he’s doing and will do in the world around us. And we need him to empower us to share that vision with others, that our perspective would be grounded in his goodness. May God fill us as his people with fresh hope in his presence today.
As we near the end of our series on love does, today we’re going to look at the role of hope in putting our faith into action. You and I need hope more than ever. We need God to give us fresh vision for the work he’s doing and will do in the world around us. And we need him to empower us to share that vision with others, that our perspective would be grounded in his goodness. May God fill us as his people with fresh hope in his presence today.
“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
1 Corinthians 13:7 ESV
Through Jesus we have been afforded an anchor of hope. Through God’s promises of his presence now and total restoration in the age to come, we can have peace in the midst of trials, joy in persecution and steadfastness when it seems nothing can go our way. 1 Peter 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” As believers, we have an inheritance of boundless communion with our heavenly Father. And with this inheritance we are called to share our hope with a lost and hopeless world.
The hope that’s been freely given to you was not meant to be solely contained within you. You have a testimony in Christ that has the power to transform lives. 1 Corinthians 13:7 says, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” You are called to hope for a better life for those around you. You are called to believe in people when no one else will. God has abundant life and relationship for all if they will simply come to know him. And he’s chosen to use his children to share that message of hope. Your life has been transformed from being lost and lifeless to being filled with the powerful hope of the gospel. No one is hopeless. No one is beyond the saving grace of Jesus. And God is calling you to love others enough to share with them the reality of his love in both word and deed that they might have hope in God.
The only hope the world has is Jesus. No amount of money, no friends, and no politician can save us from the destruction of sin. The truth of God’s unconditional love and unmerited grace is the only source of redemption and joy this world has.
So who around you needs hope today? Who around you needs to know that God has a plan for their life? Who around you needs you to have hope in “all things” for them today? There is no love without hope. There is no gospel without hope. In you lies the hope for all the world, the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Share that hope with those around you today who are in desperate need of restored relationship with their heavenly Father.
1. Reflect on the hope you have in Jesus. Allow Scripture to remind you of the destruction that awaited you apart from God’s saving grace.
2. Ask God who he would have you hope “in all things” for today. Who around you needs someone who will simply believe in them and reflect the unconditional love of God?
3. Ask the Spirit to show you how you can share the message of hope with that person today. How can you reveal God’s heart of grace, love and peace?
Both believers and non-believers need hope. Everyone needs love from the people around them. Whether you’re sharing the gospel with someone for the first time or helping a fellow believer through a tough time, you are needed by the people around you. Exemplify the hope God offers as Jesus did, and watch as lives are transformed around you. May your day be filled with reconciliation and good works as you allow the Holy Spirit to use you.
Extended Reading: 1 Peter or watch The Bible Project’s video on 1 Peter.
Exemplify the hope God offers as Jesus did, and watch as lives are transformed around you. May your day be filled with reconciliation and good works as you allow the Holy Spirit to use you.
]]>6/5/2026 | Love In Action
Every day we’re wronged in some way. And every day is an opportunity to show others forgiveness, not because they deserve it, but because loving forgiveness is the way of our Good Shepherd, the author and founder of our faith. May God empower us to forgive as he does today.
In today’s First15, we’re going to look at the role of forgiveness in putting our love into action. In God we have forgiveness for every sin we can commit. And that forgiveness not only washes us clean, but empowers us to become like our great Forgiver. Every day we’re wronged in some way. And every day is an opportunity to show others forgiveness, not because they deserve it, but because loving forgiveness is the way of our Good Shepherd, the author and founder of our faith. May God empower us to forgive as he does today.
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:32 ESV
We’re promised forgiveness from our Father because his forgiveness is offered in complete grace. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In [Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” We have done nothing to deserve the forgiveness God so freely lavishes upon us. God offers us forgiveness because he is love; it is his very nature. And as Jesus demonstrated through his death, love forgives.
Sin stood between us and God like a great chasm separating a wanderer from an oasis; and so great was the Father’s love for us that he sent his only Son that we might be justly forgiven. Jesus fully bore the weight of our sin. In doing so, he received the wrath of God on our behalf that we might be afforded restored relationship with our heavenly Father. He set aside what was fair for himself and chose to give grace. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Christianity is the only religion where salvation is based on grace instead of works. God, in his love, has laid before us a path founded on mercy, and he calls us to do the same for others. As the children of God, brought into his family solely by his grace, we must forgive as God has forgiven us. Colossians 3:13 says, “[Bear] with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, [forgive] each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Jesus modeled forgiveness perfectly in laying down his own life for you and me. In order for us to forgive others, we must be like Jesus and die to our own rights for the sake of the person who has wronged us. Forgiveness requires humility. It is a decision to offer unmerited grace because “as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
Think about your own life for a moment. Who in your life do you feel has wronged you? It could be a small wound. It could be a life-altering sin committed against you. Maybe a parent left you. Maybe you were abused. Maybe you lost a job opportunity that should have been yours. Maybe it was a word someone spoke against you that hurt you. Whatever sin was committed against you, large or small, call it back to mind. Feel the injustice over it.
Now reflect for a minute on the sin of the world committed against God. The story of humanity is a fall from perfection because of pride. In every age thus far, man has chosen his own way over God’s and has thereby perpetuated the cycle of sin and destruction we live in today. God placed his judgement over the sins of all humanity, past and present, on the person of Jesus because he couldn’t take being separated from you and me. We have all been wronged, but no one more than God. Every day humanity turns away from God.
God weeps over what’s been done to you. He knows your pain because people wrong him every minute of every day. But still he chooses to forgive because there is no love without forgiveness. There is no abundant life apart from restoration of relationship. There is no joy for God or us when we harden our hearts and live for what is fair rather than what is good.
We aren’t called to forgive because someone deserves it. We forgive because love requires it. We forgive because abundant life requires it. Choose love today over your own sense of fairness. Choose to be like your heavenly Father and forgive those who have wronged you. Choose to be a doer of Colossians 3:13 and “[forgive] each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” You weren’t made to live with the weight of unforgiveness, so don’t bear it any longer. The Spirit will help you. He will give you the strength and courage to do what seems impossible. Spend some time in God’s presence today and forgive as he guides and directs you.
1. Meditate on God’s heart to forgive. Allow God’s forgiveness to be the foundation for your own.
“As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12
2. Ask the Spirit who you need to forgive. Whether the wound was small or big, to whom do you need to offer grace today?
3. Forgive that person. Forgive them in your heart right now. If you can, set up a meeting with them to talk through what happened. The awkwardness or pain of the conversation will never outweigh the lasting peace you will experience from offering grace and forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a process. But it is a process worth going through. Assess your heart immediately after you’ve been wronged. Go through the process of forgiveness instead of allowing the wound to be reopened time and time again. The French proverb says, “Write injuries in sand, kindnesses in marble.” It’s ok to be hurt. It’s only harmful if you write your wounds in marble and let them linger longer than they should. God has designed you in his image and has given you his Spirit. You have the strength to forgive. So choose love today and every day. Allow the Spirit to work in your heart, healing the wounds people and life have caused you through the wonderful gift of forgiveness.
Extended Reading: Listen to Sunday Morning Prayer for Sabbath Rest and Peace, a part of our Simple, Intentional Guided Prayers for Everyday Life.
Colossians 3 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Colossians.
Forgiveness is a process. But it is a process worth going through. Assess your heart immediately after you’ve been wronged. Go through the process of forgiveness instead of allowing the wound to be reopened time and time again.
]]>6/4/2026 | Love In Action
May God encourage us today, and empower us to encourage another as we make space for his loving presence.
In today’s First15 we’re going to look at the role of encouragement in putting our love into action. In a world that constantly seems to beat us down, we’re in need of some real encouragement. God has an encouraging word to speak to everyone around you. And if we’ll make space to listen, he longs to share that word with us that we might see his kingdom advancing in the heart of another. May God encourage us today, and empower us to encourage another as we make space for his loving presence.
Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV
When was the last time someone really encouraged you? Maybe it was a family member or friend. How did it make you feel? How did you view yourself afterwards? If you haven’t been encouraged in a while, how greatly do you long for it?
Encouragement is powerful! It has the ability to change emotions and trajectories. It has the power to fill someone with courage and boldness to say yes to the plans and heart of God. Encouragement is truly a gift we’ve been given for edifying each other. We are meant to encourage one another. The Bible makes it clear that as brothers and sisters in Christ, we are meant to both give and receive encouragement.
Hebrews 10:23-25 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Have you ever thought about how you could change the day of a complete stranger just with a few kind words? Jesus knew the power of encouragement. He loved to use the tool of encouragement to direct his disciples into the life God intended for them. Jesus spoke life into the people he encountered. He encouraged the outcasts, the downhearted, the needy. A perfect example of the power of encouragement can be found in the story of Zacchaeus. Luke 19:1-10 reads:
Jesus encouraged an outcast tax collector and changed the trajectory of his life. He simply told Zacchaeus that he wanted to spend time with him, followed through with that commitment, and the entire town was blessed. Zacchaeus got his income through overtaxing his own people for the benefit of Rome and himself. He was cast out from society and hated by those around him. Jesus, to the dismay of the others, encouraged Zacchaeus, spent time with him, and changed his life.
You can live like Jesus today. Who needs an encouraging word from you? Who needs to be encouraged by you simply wanting to spend some time with them? There’s grace on your life to minister to the hurting and lonely around you. There’s grace to minister like Jesus. Walk in relationship with your heavenly Father, live with the knowledge that you are fully loved, and love others through the power of encouragement.
1. Take some time to meditate on what the Bible says about encouragement.
“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” Proverbs 12:25
2. Ask the Lord whom he would have you encourage today. Maybe it’s a co-worker that’s seemed down lately, a family member going through a hard time or even a stranger that just needs a kind word.
3. Ask God how he would have you encourage that person. It could be as simple as sending a text message or taking someone out for a meal. Maybe it’s a few kind words or help financially. Ask the Spirit to help you follow his leadership.
The Bible makes it clear that the tongue wields incredible power. Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” Choose to speak life today. Choose to honor those around you instead of condemn. Choose to see the grace God has placed in people around you—to see past the façade and tough exterior people put up and speak to the heart. God intends for you to both give and receive encouragement. Who will you speak life into today?
Extended Reading: Romans 12 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Romans 5-16.
God intends for you to both give and receive encouragement. Who will you speak life into today?
]]>6/3/2026 | Love In Action
May God grant us his perspective and fashion us into his likeness today.
In our third day of this series exploring how to put our faith into action, we’re looking at how we can love others by simply making time for them. The busier our schedules get, the harder it can be to make time for the needs of others. But we see in Jesus someone who while holding the power to save and heal the world, made time for the one. May God grant us his perspective and fashion us into his likeness today.
Luke 8:40-42 ESV
There’s a story in Luke 8:40-42, 49-56 that gives us insight into Jesus’s love for those in need. Luke writes,
Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. . . While he was still speaking, someone from the ruler’s house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more.” But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” And her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. And her parents were amazed, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened.
Jesus made time for those in need. He wasn’t too busy to leave what he was doing, which happened to be ministering to a large group of people, to make time for a single girl. Jesus displayed the heart of the Father in going after the one. Throughout his ministry, Jesus consistently made time for people around him. Whether it was eating a meal with his disciples, going to the house of Zacchaeus, or spending time with little children, Jesus was there for those around him.
God is the same way with you and me today. Through the death of Jesus we have been given an opportunity to have conversation with God all day, every day. God’s desire is to make time for us. He counts our needs as important. Jesus’s ministry exemplified God’s heart to make time for his children.
This week as we are looking at what it means to not only be a hearer of God’s word but a doer, let’s ask God how we could be more like Jesus. In what ways could you make time for those around you today? Will you choose to spend time with someone in need even if it doesn’t fit in your schedule? Will you put those around you above yourself? If you will choose to be a doer of God’s word today, you will experience the joy of not living just for your own goals and pursuits, but for the benefit of others around you. Spend some time with God in prayer today, and ask him to help you know when and how to make time for those around you in need.
1. Reflect on Jesus’s heart to make time for those in need. Choose to make Jesus your example.
2. Who needs you to make time for them? Ask God to bring someone to mind you can love well today.
3. How can you spend time with someone in need today? How could you make time to listen to, help, or simply be there for someone?
Love is powerful. It has the power to lead someone to Jesus, heal a wounded heart, and even help someone on the path to restored relationship with God. It’s worth your effort to make time for those around you today. Jesus never wasted a minute. He did everything in perfect accordance with the Father’s will. You won’t be missing out if you make time for someone today. Follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit as you seek to love others well.
Extended Reading: Luke 19 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Luke 10-24.
Follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit as you seek to love others well.
]]>6/2/2026 | Love In Action
May God empower us as his people to simply be present today.
As we continue this week’s focus, seeking to put love into action, today we’re going to look at how simply being present can make all the difference in the life of another. As our world becomes more and more distracted, and takes less time to notice what’s happening in the life of another, may God empower us as his people to simply be present today.
“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?”
Psalm 139:7 ESV
One of the most comforting aspects of God’s character is that he is present. Jesus made clear God’s desire to be present when he left his throne and took on humanity. God has never desired distance with his children. He fights to have close relationship with us every day. This week we’re looking at how we can not only receive God’s word, but experience more of God through being doers of his word. So, today let’s explore how we can follow the example of Jesus and be present for those around us.
Being present in people’s lives always requires sacrifice. It requires stepping outside of what will solely benefit you in order to live for the benefit of others. Philippians 2:3 teaches us, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Jesus counted you and me as more significant than his own life. He died so that we might live, and he calls us to do the same. Luke 9:23 says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” John 12:24 makes it clear that in order to bear fruit in this life we must die to ourselves: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Choose today to be a doer of the word, and die to yourself that you might better love others.
You see, before people need your advice they need your presence. Before our need to be fixed we simply need to know we are loved and cared for. It’s in the giving and receiving of love that healing takes place. Being present creates space for them to thrive, heal and be transformed.
Who in your life needs you to be present for them today? In what ways has God been present in your own life? In what ways has he demonstrated his nearness to you? And in what ways could you be his reflection today? I promise you there is someone around you that just needs you to be present in their life. There is someone who simply needs to know that somebody would love them enough to think about them—to be near to them. Take time today to let someone know you are there for them. Listen, love, and watch as God works through you simply being present in the lives of others.
1. Take a moment to reflect on God’s nearness to you. Receive his presence. Encounter his closeness.
2. Now ask the Spirit to show you someone who needs you to be present for them today. Spend some time thinking about and praying for that person.
3. Ask God how he would have you be present in their life. How can you be a reflection of God’s love to them today?
Have the courage to humble yourself before people around you. Count them as more significant than yourself. You being present isn’t about what they can give you in return or even how they appear to receive your love. Love selflessly today the way Jesus did, and experience the joy and peace that comes from serving rather than seeking to be served.
Extended Reading: Philippians 2 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Philippians.
Love selflessly today the way Jesus did, and experience the joy and peace that comes from serving rather than seeking to be served.
]]>6/1/2026 | Love In Action
May your faith come alive this week as you seek to be a doer of the word.
James 2:26 tells us, “Faith apart from works is dead.” If we are going to experience the fullness of life offered to us through our faith we must be those who put our words into action. We must not profess to love God on Sundays and live as if he isn’t present, real, or good on Monday. May your faith come alive this week as you seek to be a doer of the word.
“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
James 2:26 ESV
God has designed the Christian life to be one filled with adventurous and redemptive action—action that is fueled by the love and work of Jesus in our own lives. So great is God’s love for us that he would leave the glory of heaven, take on flesh, and destroy the power of sin and death with his loving sacrifice. God’s love was so great that he gave himself up for us who are undeserving and could never repay him. And he longs for his love to be the foundation for all we do, think and feel.
As Christians we are to reflect the love we’ve been shown in Christ through the way we offer compassion and love to those around us. God has appointed us as the sole carriers of his message of redemption for all. He longs to use you to share and exemplify the hope that comes solely through relationship with him. Love doesn’t mean all that much just as an idea. The power of God’s love comes through action. It comes through helping a stranger, showing compassion and mercy to those who wrong you, serving someone while expecting nothing in return, and sharing the hope of Christ through word and deed. Jesus proved that love isn’t just an idea. Love does.
Bob Goff champions the cause for putting action to love in his book, Love Does. In it he writes, “He says to ordinary people like me and you that instead of closing our eyes and bowing our heads, sometimes God wants us to keep our eyes open for people in need, do something about it, and bow our whole lives to Him instead.” In his book he articulates an important spiritual principle—your faith was never intended to be limited to hearing. Your faith was never intended to be limited to conversation. James 2:18 tells us, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
What does your love mean if it isn’t demonstrated? What would the love of God have meant if he stayed in heaven and never suffered for us? How would you feel about God if he could have saved all of humanity but didn’t? Jesus would have been completely justified to stay on his throne. God would have been completely justified to wipe out humanity and start over every time we chose idols over him. But instead he put action to his love for us. He committed the most incredible act of love possible in sending his Son to die for you and me. Jesus didn’t just talk about love. His love was demonstrated in every crack of the whip on his back, in every taunting word, in every nail that pierced his body and in every excruciating gasp for air in which he prayed for us rather than end the torture. He lived out his love for you and me, and he calls us to do the same.1 John 4:9-11 says,
Spend time with God today asking him how you can put your faith into action. In what ways has the love of God been demonstrated to you? In what ways can you share with those around you the incredible gift that’s been given to you? Oftentimes, we think of the big things: leading someone to Jesus or selling everything we have. But putting your faith into works could be as simple as a phone call, a cooked meal, a kind word, or a hug. Whatever God shows you, choose to live life as a believer whose faith and works are tethered, bringing redemption to a world desperately in need of God’s grace.
1. Take a minute to meditate on God’s love put into action. Choose to make Jesus your example.
2. Now ask God how he would have you put action to love today. What can you do to show the Father’s love to those around you?
“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” James 2:26
3. Ask the Spirit to fill you with the strength and courage to do the works he has planned for you today in love. Let him empower you with his presence.
The Holy Spirit longs to help you connect with God and live out of the fruit of your relationship. He longs to empower you to love others. By his power and grace you can do incredible, eternal and impactful things with your time on earth. You are the child of God, made in his image and filled with same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. Lean on God, ask for his help and have the courage to submit to his leadership today.
Extended Reading: Listen to Abundant Life, a part of our Rhythms series.
James 2 or watch The Bible Project’s video on James.
Lean on God, ask for his help and have the courage to submit to his leadership today.
]]>5/31/2026 | Love People
Jesus says we will be known by the way we love each other. Would people know you’re a Christian by the way you love your brothers and sisters?
As we wrap up our week on loving people, we look today at how we can love the Church as God does. Jesus says we will be known by the way we love each other. Would people know you’re a Christian by the way you love your brothers and sisters? People are messy, it’s true. We all are. And yet Jesus saw our worth and loved us in the midst of our messiness. How can you mimic that same love today as you seek to love his Church? Today we’ll look at the perspective and affections of Jesus for his people. May our hearts and minds be transformed as a result.
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:35 ESV
The words of Jesus in Matthew 6:9 radically changed the way God’s people are to relate to him. Scripture says, “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name.'” Through Jesus, we now come before God as his child. And because God is our Father, fellow believers are now our spiritual family. Other disciples of Jesus are our brothers and sisters. And church is now a spiritual family reunion designed to be centered around the love and goodness of our Father.
1 John 3:1 says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” We have been brought into fellowship with one another because God loves us. We are children of God because he longs to have the relationship of a father and his children with us. In fact, God created the family unit to be an earthly reflection of God’s heavenly family.
And Scripture is clear that it is incredibly important that God’s children love one another. Colossians 3:12-15 says, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.”
For the church to work as “one body,” its members must commit to loving one another as Christ has loved us. Church requires selfless acts of grace, love, honor, and respect. It requires sacrificial commitment. But the result is a glorious union founded on and fueled by the depth of God’s love.
And the world will come to join our family as we increasingly love one another. Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” The world isn’t enticed by rules and regulations. And it assuredly isn’t enticed with drama, quarreling, bickering, slander, and division. The world needs real, loving relationship with God and his family. The world needs love.
May you be a child of God committed to the people of God. May you receive and give the grace of your heavenly Father to all those he has brought into your spiritual family. And may you love your brothers and sisters in Christ so that the world might know the love of the Father when it sees you. Allow God to fill and empower you to love the church well as you enter into guided prayer.
1. Meditate on God’s desire for you to sacrificially love the church.
“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” Romans 12:10
Allow God’s word to motivate you to love and show honor to those you serve and worship alongside.
2. Reflect on your heart for the church. Allow God to fill you with a greater desire to love others in the family of God. Repent for any ways in which you have made church about anything other than loving God and his children.
3. Ask God to empower you to sacrificially love others in your church. Ask him to fill you with grace and love for his children. Spend time resting in his presence and taking note of his heart for his people. Allow his heart for the church to become your heart.
God has placed within you a love that can change the trajectory of human lives. May loving others increasingly become a natural extension of your relationship with God. May you be filled with his heart for others daily as you spend time with him. And may he use you in powerful ways to bring his kingdom to earth everywhere you go.
Extended Reading: Ephesians 2 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Ephesians.
May loving others increasingly become a natural extension of your relationship with God.
]]>5/30/2026 | Love People
Let’s try to take our eyes off ourselves and see those we pass every day and don’t seem to notice.
As we near the end of our week on loving people, today we shift to loving those we don’t know. We are all so busy, and most often unaware of those around us, becoming too focused on ourselves to notice others. Perhaps today God would shift our focus upward to see the faces we pass on the streets or on the elevator. How much could a kind word or smile help someone out having a rough day? Let’s try to take our eyes off ourselves and see those we pass every day and don’t seem to notice. Could God want to use you to minster to someone you don’t even know? Let’s find out.
Hebrews 13:2 ESV
Matthew 25:34-40 gives insight into God’s passionate love for the lost, broken, and alienated. Scripture says,
The world around you is living every day apart from the saving and freeing knowledge of God’s love for them. They try to find hope in the created rather than the Creator and discover that the world contains nothing to help them. Relationship with Jesus is the sole source of hope for the earth. And God longs to use us to love the strangers around us so that they might enter into relationship with our Lord who longs to sustain them, provide for them, help them, and offer them eternal hope.
I am not by nature an outgoing person. The concept of talking to complete strangers scares me to death. Apart from God, my natural propensity is to go from place to place without interacting with anyone. But that is not the life my heavenly Father is calling me to. We are not called to keep this free gift of salvation for ourselves, but to share it with all those God is beckoning to himself. God longs to fill each of us with the courage to love the unloved. He longs to fill us with passion to see the world around us awakened to the goodness of Jesus. Every time we set foot outside our homes, we are entering into a mission field filled with countless people who need what we have to give.
Galatians 5:14 says, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” You were created to receive the love of your Father and go out to share that love with a lost and dying world. God is calling you to a lifestyle of sacrifice, courage, adventure, and passionate pursuit of lost sheep who desperately need a Shepherd.
Allow God to strengthen you and fill you with courage to love strangers today as you enter into a time of guided prayer.
1. Begin by meditating on God’s command to love your neighbor as yourself.
Galatians 5:14 reads, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Allow God to fill you with a desire to reach the unreached today as you reflect on his word.
2. Next, what fear holds you back from loving others? What thought, perspective, or past experience does God need to address and speak truth and love to in order for you to effectively love others? Allow him to come and meet with you in the deepest places of your heart.
3. Finally, ask God to fill you with courage to engage with others today. Ask him to fill you with his love for those around you whom you have never met. Find your source of security in his opinion alone.
Luke 10:2 says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” May we be laborers who work diligently for our Lord today. May we love others with the depth of love we have been shown in Christ.
Extended Reading: Luke 15 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Luke 10-24.
May we be laborers who work diligently for our Lord today. May we love others with the depth of love we have been shown in Christ.
]]>5/29/2026 | Love People
May we be filled with the love of Jesus and grace of God to go out of way to love and minister to those special people in our lives today.
In today’s First15, we’ll be learning about what it means to be a friend who loves well. Think about your dearest friends. What role have they played in your life in the best and in the worst times? Does your heart fill with thankfulness as you acknowledge what a good gift God has given you in them? May we pinpoint exactly what it means to intentionally love our friends well today. May we be filled with the love of Jesus and grace of God to go out of our way to love and minister to those special people in our lives today.
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
Proverbs 17:17 ESV
Good friends are one of God’s greatest gifts. Not one of us is meant to go through life alone and without help. God longs to use you as his hands and feet to those he has placed in your midst. He longs to make you a friend as he is a friend to us, in order to bless others and extend the reach of his kingdom.
1 Samuel 18:1-3 tells of the powerful friendship of David and Jonathan. Scripture says, “As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.”
Jonathan was an incredible example of God’s heart for friendship. Jonathan was the rightful heir to the throne of Israel. Behind Saul’s pursuit of killing David was his desire to make Jonathan king. But instead of seeking earthly success, Jonathan humbled himself before David and served him, thereby serving his heavenly Father as well. Jonathan chose friendship over worldly power. As a result, David became Israel’s greatest king and ushered in the lineage of Christ.
Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” God longs to transform you into a friend who loves others unconditionally. It’s in the hard times that we most need our friends. Yet in the hard times, many friends abandon us for relationships that require less of them. The heart of God is to stick with us through trials, sin, and bad decisions. He never leaves us or forsakes us, and he longs to make us like him. He longs to make us friends that will love through every season of life. He longs to empower us to love, serve, honor, and bless those he has intentionally given us.
God is calling you to love your friends “at all times.” He is calling you to a lifestyle of service and grace. What friend of yours needs your help right now? Who can you choose to serve over yourself? What friend is God calling you to love with the love he has shown you today?
1 Corinthians 13:7 says, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” May you exhibit the heart of your heavenly Father to your friends by loving them as he has loved you.
1. Meditate on God’s desire for you to pursue godly friendship.
“A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24
Allow Scripture to stir up your desire to love friends well today.
2. How can you be a better friend today? In what ways can you love those God has given you as friends? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you ways you can better love those around you today.
3. Ask God to empower you to be a friend who loves unconditionally.
Ask him to make you like himself. Spend time resting in his presence and allowing his love to fill you and empower you.
Living sacrificially without the burden of entitlement and self-satisfaction is absolutely the most peaceful and joyful way to live. You deserve nothing from others. Christ, Lord of all who deserved everything, sacrificed his life to the point of death for the very people who shouted, “Crucify him!” (Luke 23:21). If he pursued love over what was owed him, you are called to do the same. Choose to follow the example of Jesus and love others around you well today. If you do, you will discover a wellspring of abundant life directly connected to the heart of your heavenly Father.
Extended Reading: Listen to Courage in Seeking Help, a part of our Christian Prayers for Mental Health series.
1 Samuel 20 or watch The Bible Project’s video on 1 Samuel.
Choose to follow the example of Jesus and love others around you well today. If you do, you will discover a wellspring of abundant life directly connected to the heart of your heavenly Father.
]]>5/28/2026 | Love People
The beauty of it is, our God is with us every step along the way. He has purpose and power for you in loving the family in which he’s placed you.
As we continue in our week of loving people well, today we’re going to learn about loving family. For some this is an easy task, but for many this is a little more difficult. The beauty of it is, our God is with us every step along the way. He has purpose and power for you in loving the family in which he’s placed you. Our families have the potential to be our greatest place of influence. How might he use you today to minister for his goodness and glory? Let’s take a closer look.
Exodus 20:12 ESV
One of the most direct examples of the kingdom of God on the earth is the family unit. God longs to use the love between family members to tell the world of his love as the Creator and Father of all. As believers, we must choose to continually love, forgive, help, and pursue strong relationships with those God has given us as our family.
You are not a member of your family by mistake. Psalm 139:13 says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” God formed you perfectly for your family. He had plans for you and your family before the formation of the heavens and the earth. And he has placed your family on the earth intentionally and purposefully. He has incredible plans for a family that will pursue love for each other and walk in his eternal purposes.
Your heavenly Father knows the follies of your family. He knows their weaknesses, trials, and temptations. But he also longs to empower you with grace to love them. He longs to use you to restore your family to him so that you might experience the wonders of God-filled family relationships.
Scripture is filled with commandments about the family unit. Exodus 20:12 says, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” Ephesians 5:22 says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” And later in Ephesians 5:25 it says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Proverbs 17:6 says, “Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.” 1 Timothy 5:8 says, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” And Leviticus 25:35 says, “If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.” God clearly values the family unit.
The commands of Scripture are not suggestions based on how your family has treated you in the past. They are loving commands from your Lord who has the absolute best plan in store for you behind every word. God knows that there are wounds from your family. He knows that loving them can be difficult, especially when your love isn’t reciprocated. But he is calling you to a lifestyle of grace-filled love for those he has specifically given to you. He will provide for you all the courage, strength, power, and grace you need. He longs to help you love your family into restoration. Have patience with them. Pray constantly for them. And love them as your Lord Jesus has loved you: passionately, faithfully, and gracefully.
1. Meditate on God’s command to love your family. Allow Scripture to influence the way you view the importance of loving your family.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12
2. Pray for your family. Pray for each family member specifically, and ask God to meet and bless them. As you pray for them, allow the Lord to fill you with grace and love. Allow God to fill you with the knowledge of how he feels about them.
3. Ask God to empower you to love your family well today. Ask him to give you a creative way to love them. Pursue forgiveness in your own heart as well as with your family. God will help you do what you have felt is impossible. He will fill you with the strength to love your family well.
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
As you grow in your pursuit of loving your family well, look to Jesus as your model. He loved all those around him perfectly. Sometimes he would speak the truth in love. Other times he would rest with those who simply needed to be around him. Other times he would provide for their physical needs. The Holy Spirit will give you wisdom into exactly how to love your family if you will open your heart and ask him for it. May your family be blessed by the love of God working through you today.
Extended Reading: 1 Corinthians 13 or watch The Bible Project’s video on 1 Corinthians.
The Holy Spirit will give you wisdom into exactly how to love your family if you will open your heart and ask him for it.
]]>5/27/2026 | Love People
What better example or model is there for how to love than the One who laid his life down for the world?
As we continue our week on loving people well, we’re going to fix our eyes on Jesus. What better example or model for how to love than the One who laid his life down for the world? Today may you catch a glimpse of this beautiful King who loves perfectly. May you not only get a picture of how you could love others, but experience his incredible love for yourself afresh.
1 John 3:16 ESV
Everything Jesus did was done out of his perfect love for the Father and us. Every word, healing, prayer, and action was done out of unconditional devotion. Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Scripture commands us to love others the way Christ did. Jesus is our model for living. And God never commands us without perfectly equipping us. If we are to “walk in love, as Christ loved us,” we must believe God will fill us up with the ability to love as Jesus loved.
The concept of living like Jesus always seemed unreachable. It often reminded me of motivational posters that read, “Reach for the moon—even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.” But God’s word is not an unachievable suggestion. His word is perfect and true. And Scripture says in Romans 8:29, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” God’s plan is to conform us into perfect reflections of Jesus’ love. His plan is to fashion us into disciples who live, work, and love as he did.
We can live our lives in obedience to God’s command to love others for one reason alone: our heavenly Father is near, alive, and active in us. The same God who empowered Paul, Peter, John, Stephen, David, Daniel, and Esther lives in us today. Romans 8:11 says, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” And the Bible says that the fruit of the Spirit who dwells within us as believers is love. We can love like Jesus because his Spirit longs to produce the fruit of love deep within us. He longs to love people through us. He has a perfect plan to use you to reveal to a broken and searching world the unfathomable riches of Jesus’ love.
If we are to look to Jesus as our model, we must first believe that God can and will help us. We must believe that the Spirit is perfectly capable of taking what was dust and fashioning it into the likeness of the Son. Secondly, we must spend time allowing the Spirit to move in and through us. We must make space in our lives to be loved by God so that we can be used by him to love others. I can offer nothing of value that I haven’t first received from my heavenly Father. I can do nothing great unless God has done something great in me. 1 John 2:6 says, “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” We have to be children who abide in Jesus so that we can walk in his ways.
God longs to love you and help you love others today. He longs to meet you and heal the wounds and insecurities that have kept you from loving others well. He longs to empower and transform you to live like Jesus. Run to him with open arms, and allow him to do a mighty work in you as you enter into guided prayer.
1. Meditate on God’s desire for you to love like Jesus. Remember that God doesn’t command you to do something you are incapable of doing. Allow Scripture to fill you with desire and faith for what God has for you.
2. Where do you need God to do a mighty work in you today? Ask the Spirit to reveal what areas he wants to heal today. Ask him to guide you to a wound or insecurity he longs to speak to and love.
3. Receive the love of your heavenly Father. Allow him to heal and empower you to love others. Ask him to transform you into the image of Jesus and fill you with his heart for others around you.
It is impossible to be consistently loved by God and not love others. His love has this incredible ability to heal us and empower us at the same time. His heart is always to love us while helping us to love others. As you grow in your relationship with your heavenly Father, allow him to use you in increasingly powerful ways. Allow him to make you selfless and servant-hearted. Allow his love to make you more like Jesus. May you discover the joy and peace that comes from wholeheartedly loving others today.
Extended Reading: 1 John 3 or watch The Bible Project’s video on 1-3 John.
As you grow in your relationship with your heavenly Father, allow him to use you in increasingly powerful ways. Allow him to make you selfless and servant-hearted. Allow his love to make you more like Jesus.
]]>5/26/2026 | Love People
Brokenness can often make us hard, bitter and difficult to deal with. But we’ve been given the call to see past that hard exterior and love people in the midst of their pain.
We are all broken people, living in a broken world. It’s that simple. Unfortunately, no one is exempt from the effects of sin. The good news for all of us is that Jesus steps into the midst of our brokenness, is near to us and makes us whole in his love. What’s even more amazing is God wants to use you to see past the broken exterior to the hearts of the people in your life. Brokenness can often make us hard, bitter and difficult to deal with. But we’ve been given the call to see past that hard exterior and love people in the midst of their pain. In today’s First15, we’re looking together at how we can see past the brokenness in others to love them well.
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18
Without perspective given by the Spirit, our love will only reach as far as the human eye can see. Brokenness comes in all forms and fashions. Without Jesus, the man or woman covered in dirt and filth standing on the street corner begging for help is just as broken as the millionaire lying and cheating his way into fleeting fame and fortune. It’s just that our brokenness takes on varying forms depending on what temptations and trials get the better of us.
Jesus saw past the brokenness to the hearts of those around him. He chose to love and minister to the core of the person rather than being intimidated by the symptoms of sin in those around him. He saw into the heart of the woman at the well in John 4 and ministered to her brokenness caused by failed marriages and sexual sin. We see him speak to the core of the wealthy tax collector, Zacchaeus, in Luke 19 and love him by spending time with him when no one else would.
If we are ever going to love others well, we have to devote ourselves to loving people at a heart level. We have to care for and speak to the core of their wounds rather than dismissing them for their external problems. Romans 15:1-5 says:
We must follow the example of Jesus and love those no one else will. We must take in the outcasts, orphaned, widowed, poor, prideful, arrogant, and selfish. We must have our Father’s heart for the enemies, strangers, socially unacceptable, and downcast. If we don’t love them, who will? If we don’t speak and provide love for the deep wounds that cause their brokenness, who will? If we don’t reveal the heart of our Father, who will?
Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” May you discover the unconditional love your heavenly Father has toward those broken and crushed today as you enter into guided prayer.
1. Let’s start by meditating on the importance of seeing past brokenness to the heart of those around you. Allow Scripture to fill you with desire and purpose to love people well today.
2. Whose brokenness has kept you from loving them well? What person would God fill you with the ability to minister to today that desperately needs a touch from God?
3. Ask the Lord for his heart for that person. Ask God to give you an understanding of what wound he wants to minister to. Ask him to give you a creative insight on how to love them well today.
Often, loving someone well can be as simple as going out of your way to say hello, ask a loving question, or make an uplifting comment. Many people just need to know that someone cares about them and notices them at the heart level. May the Lord use you in mighty ways to draw others to himself today.
Extended Reading: John 4 or watch The Bible Project’s video on John 1-12.
Often, loving someone well can be as simple as going out of your way to say hello, ask a loving question, or make an uplifting comment. Many people just need to know that someone cares about them and notices them at the heart level.
]]>5/25/2026 | Love People
Loving others is one of the most important and difficult commands Jesus gave us.
Loving others is one of the most important and difficult commands Jesus gave us. We are a messy, needy, and broken people. We constantly have to deal with our own wounds and the wounds of others. But if we can learn to love others well, rich, life-giving relationship will be our reward. May you receive the love of your Father given you by his grace, and be empowered to love others this week as we look to grow in our obedience of Jesus’ command to love others.
“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”
Proverbs 19:11 ESV
Taking offense allows others to dictate your emotions and thereby your quality of life. When we allow the expressions of brokenness in others to affect us, we take our minds off of the ways of heaven and place them on the ways of the world. If we are to effectively live in obedience to the second greatest commandment of loving others, we must allow God to transform us into those who live without offense.
When someone wrongs me, I instantly feel a need for justice and fairness rise within me. I feel as if I inherently have the right to be angry or even to exact revenge for the wrong they committed. Offense stirs up feelings of insecurity, pride, anger, and frustration that I will do just about anything to rid myself of. But when I look at Scripture, I see Jesus modeling the exact opposite reaction to offense.
Matthew 27 is filled with wrongs done to Jesus. As seen in his betrayal, the freeing of the murderer Barabbas, the floggings, a crown of thorns, carrying of the cross, the mocking by the soldiers and thief, and his eventual death, Jesus had more right to take offense and exact revenge than any human in all of history. But Jesus saw past all the offense to the heart of those who wronged him. He saw past the hard, aggressive, and angry exteriors to the wounded places of the soul and found within him the strength, love, and courage to pray, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). In the face of the worst offenses and injustices, Jesus chose to offer grace, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion.
Jesus lived his life free from offense and therefore was freed to love others. His ability to look past expressions of brokenness to the hurts beneath the surface empowered him to live with joy, passion, love, and purpose. Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” If we are to fulfill the command of Scripture, we must look to Jesus as our model and live without offense. We must choose grace over revenge and compassion over worldly justice.
You have the ability to choose how you will respond to others. Your emotions and actions do not have to be dictated by the sinful acts of others. Choose to pursue love and humility over vengeance and anger. Allow the Lord to highlight and heal any wounds and insecurities that cause you to respond poorly to offense as you enter into guided prayer.
1. Meditate on Scripture’s command to live without offense. Reflect on Jesus’ response to offense and elevate him as your model for living.
2. What insecurities or wounds cause you to respond to offense in ways other than those of Jesus? What’s at the core of your offense? What’s keeping you from fully loving others?
“Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.” Ecclesiastes 7:21-22
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you look past acts of brokenness to the heart of those who offend you. Ask God to heal your own brokenness and transform you into a person who loves others well.
“So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” Romans 14:19
What would your life be like if you were free from offense? How much more consistently would you experience peace and joy? If God commands you to choose humility and compassion over offense, it must be a far better way to live. Vengeance, anger, and frustration will only rob you of the abundant life God intends for you, whereas humility and compassion will fill you with the very power and grace of God himself. May you be a child with the heart of the Father and love others with his love today.
Extended Reading: Listen to When You Feel Emotionally Overwhelmed, a part of our Christian Prayers for Mental Health series.
Matthew 27 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Matthew 14-28.
If God commands you to choose humility and compassion over offense, it must be a far better way to live. Vengeance, anger, and frustration will only rob you of the abundant life God intends for you, whereas humility and compassion will fill you with the very power and grace of God himself. May you be a child with the heart of the Father and love others with his love today.
]]>5/24/2026 | Love People
May today be a breath of fresh air as you encounter the grace of God that requires nothing in return.
As we wrap up this week of simple Christianity, today we look at grace. Many of us are so hard on ourselves and struggle to allow ourselves to taste the grace the Father has for us. We look to earn love and acceptance in this world, but God’s way of grace couldn’t be more different from the world who tells us we are what we do. May today be a breath of fresh air as you encounter the grace of God that requires nothing in return.
1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV
Grace is a glorious commodity of heaven that can only be received and experienced in surrender to the will and love of our heavenly Father. Our world is unable to offer grace because it is in a constant state of need, and grace can only be offered from a place of true wholeness and love. In utter completeness, our God is able to offer us grace because he needs nothing from us in return. He requires nothing of us, so he offers us everything apart from any ability or inherent value we possess.
Grace comprises the core of the Christian foundation. It’s God’s grace that drove him to send his Son as payment for our sins. It’s through grace that we enter into the fullness of restored relationship with our good Father. It’s through grace that we receive forgiveness for our sins. And it’s in the simplicity of grace that we are transformed into the very image of our Savior.
I find myself continually missing out on all that God’s grace offers me. I retreat into a lifestyle of works where I try to earn what God has already given me. I work for the love of my heavenly Father and others, vying for affection rather than receiving the ceaseless love of God for me. I strive and work for holiness and righteousness instead of simply aligning myself with the new nature of freedom God has offered me in grace.
1 Corinthians 15:10 says, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.” Can you say today that you are what you are by the grace of God? Is your life marked by and founded on God’s limitless supply of grace? Are your emotions, perspectives, pursuits, and relationships founded on the notion that God loves you simply because he loves you? Have you found total security and rest in the loving embrace of a God who longs to fill you, sustain you, bless you, provide for you, and love you simply because it’s his desire?
Allow God to fill you with a fresh revelation of his grace today. Come before him with an open heart, and allow the truth of his unceasing and grace-filled love wash through you. Allow him to cast out any fear, toil, or burden that is keeping you from the abundant life available to you. Spend time in guided prayer being transformed by the simplicity of grace.
1. Meditate on the principles of grace. How does it work? Where does it come from? How can you experience it? Allow God’s word to lay a foundation of grace by which you live.
2. In what ways are you living a works based life? Where do you need a fresh vision for living by grace?
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a fresh vision for how deeply God’s grace goes in any and every circumstance you face. Ask him to fill you with a fresh revelation of how deeply he loves you regardless of what you do. Allow him to lead you into a lifestyle of living by grace in every pursuit, relationship, thought, and perspective.
Living in response to God’s love rather than working to earn it changes everything. It eliminates the pressures of this world that are founded upon personal success in every area of life. It frees us to live joyfully and satisfied rather than incomplete and in a constant state of want. May you make time throughout your day today to receive a fresh revelation of grace. May you discover through grace the life Jesus died to freely give. May you discover how wonderful it is to be loved by a God who requires nothing of you before he gives you everything.
Extended Reading: Ephesians 2 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Ephesians.
May you discover how wonderful it is to be loved by a God who requires nothing of you before he gives you everything.
]]>5/23/2026 | Love People
May we gain clarity and deep understanding of the freedom afforded to us as children of God. May we adopt the simple truth of our freedom and truly be set free.
As we near the end of our week on simple Christianity, we look today at the simple truth of our freedom in Christ. Our sin and bondage often feels like a convoluted web that entangles us. Satan would like nothing more than to keep us foggy and confused about the freedom and righteousness bought for us through the precious blood of Jesus. Today I’m praying that chains are broken in God’s presence. May we gain clarity and deep understanding of the freedom afforded to us as children of God. May we adopt the simple truth of our freedom and truly be set free.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV
2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Freedom from sin is not something we pay for with our own blood, sweat, and tears. It is not bought by any measure of human strength or will, but by the precious and powerful blood of Jesus Christ. Scripture tells clearly of the pervasive and liberating effects of Jesus’ death for all those who come to believe in him and claim him as Lord. May we be children freed from the bonds of slavery Christ died to set us free from.
Romans 8:1-4 says,
With the filling of the Spirit came a new law, a new covenant by which the chains of sin are broken. We are no longer condemned to live under the tyranny of sin, but rather freed to live under the new law of the Spirit. And “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
The simple truth of Scripture in regards to sin is that freedom is ours through Christ Jesus. To experience true freedom from sin is to simply live in light of the powerful infilling of the Holy Spirit and the living and active word of God’s truth about you. Romans 6:6, 18 and 22 say, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin . . . . And, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness . . . . Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.”
You are a slave of this world no longer. Your past does not define you. The future before you is one of peace, joy, and freedom in the Spirit. God has incredible plans in store for you that far surpass simply overcoming sin. Jesus died to give you abundant life here in which freedom and love are your portion, not habitual sin and destruction.
Renew your mind to the law of the Spirit to which you now belong as you spend time in guided prayer.
1. Meditate on the freedom available to you through the death of Christ and infilling of the Holy Spirit. Allow Scripture to renew your mind and change your perspective on sin and freedom.
2. What sin seems to continually entangle you? What victory do you feel the enemy has over you?
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with his perspective in regards to your sin. Ask him to show you the path to freedom. View your sin through the lens of Scripture and put it in its proper place.
“And, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:18
James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” The act of confessing our sin to one another is powerful in experiencing the freedom available to us. Everything the devil does is in the shadows and is marked by deception. When we confess our sin, we bring it into the light, expose the lies, and are able to better see the destructive plans of the enemy. It’s in the light that we experience the freedom available to us. May you be filled with courage to expose your sin and walk in the freedom of righteousness today.
Extended Reading: Romans 8 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Romans 5-16.
May you be filled with courage to expose your sin and walk in the freedom of righteousness today.
]]>5/22/2026 | Love God
May your heart and mind be open to all the wisdom and goodness God has for you today. And may you find comfort in making Jesus your one necessary thing.
Today we are going to explore the actual discipline of simplicity by answering questions like, What does it mean to simplify life? How would Jesus have us actually simplify our lives? How can embracing simplicity enrich our day to day experience? May your heart and mind be open to all the wisdom and goodness God has for you today. And may you find comfort in making Jesus your one necessary thing.
2 Corinthians 1:12 ESV
Often, we are kept from living lives marked by the joy and peace of our heavenly Father because of our continual pursuit for more. Humanity’s first sin was pursuing more than God intended for us, and the enemy continues to entice us with that temptation today. A core value of the world is more: more money, more fame, more friends, more success, more happiness, more possessions, more of anything, because we feel dissatisfied with our lives. We are constantly grabbing for that which will never fully satisfy in the present or lead us to a lifestyle of continual satisfaction.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:12, “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.” Simplicity is a God-given discipline that prunes the dead branches of waste that effectually deplete us of the energy, time, and provision with which God has blessed us. When we make the decision to stop pursuing more, we step in line with the Spirit and place our trust and faith in God rather than our own understanding.
You see, at the core of a continual pursuit for more is a lack of faith in God’s goodness. If we truly believed God provides all we need, we would never step outside his provision and strive for more. Adam and Eve questioned God’s goodness and thereby brought the destructive nature of sin into humanity. They decided for themselves what was enough rather than trusting God to know what was best for them.
Our own forbidden fruit takes on all sorts of forms. We work our fingers to the bone for a taste of greater success all the while forgetting who it is we are to work for in the first place. We take God-given financial provision and waste it on worldly pleasures rather than investing it into that which will actually satisfy us. We take what we receive from God and use it to finance self-indulgence rather than sharing it with those whom God wanted to use us to bless from the beginning. And we take the valuable resource of time and waste it on pursuits that were never God’s intention to begin with.
We desperately need transformation and training in the discipline of simplicity. In order to experience joy and peace that transcends circumstances and position ourselves through faithfulness to receive more of what God longs to give, we must offer our time, energy, and money to God and follow the guidance of his Spirit and word.
Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Take time in guided prayer placing all your treasure in the only place that can truly offer you eternal reward.
1. Meditate on the importance of simplicity and the destructive pursuit of more.
2. Reflect on areas of your life that are not marked by simplicity. Ask the Spirit to convict you of anything you need to get rid of. It’s incredibly important to note the difference between guilt and conviction. Conviction from the Spirit is always done in love and will always bring you inner peace and joy as you follow through in obedience.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
3. Commit to ending the pursuit of more by trusting in the provision and goodness of your heavenly Father. Place your trust in him alone and ask him to guide you into a lifestyle of simplicity.
God has different plans for each of his children. But what is always true is that he loves to bless his children. To live simply, we just need to live in continual relationship with the Holy Spirit and allow him to show us what gifts are from him and whether they are for our benefit or pleasure or to give away to others. May you find greater depths of peace as you grow in trusting God and following the perfect and abundant leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Extended Reading: Listen to When Healing Feels Slow, a part of our Christian Prayers for Mental Health series.
2 Corinthians 1 or watch The Bible Project’s video on 2 Corinthians.
May you find greater depths of peace as you grow in trusting God and following the perfect and abundant leadership of the Holy Spirit.
]]>5/21/2026 | Love God
May God reorient the way you see him today, and show you his purpose and pleasure over his children taking time for true rest in him.
As we continue our week on simple Christianity, we have the joy today of discovering what it means to truly rest in God. In all the stress and hurry of life, don’t we all need to find even just a few moments of rest today? May God reorient the way you see him today, and show you his purpose and pleasure over his children taking time for true rest in him.
Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
One of the simple, core values of restored relationship with our heavenly Father is rest. From the beginning God exemplified its importance. Genesis 2:3 says, “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” And Hebrews 4:9-13 says,
I fear that we as children of God have allowed the busyness and stress of the world to influence us in greater ways than the “living and active” word of our heavenly Father. We are designed for rest. We are designed to have a full day and various times throughout each day set aside to simply enjoy God and the blessed life he has given us. When we value success and busyness over relationship with God and obedience to his commands, our priorities begin to fall out of place. When we choose busyness over rest, we place more value on whatever we are working toward than on our restored relationship with God and the abundant life he died to give us.
We are created to work. Prior to sin entering the story of humanity, Adam and Eve labored for God. Work is not a symptom of the fall but rather an incredible joy and privilege given to us by the hand of our Father. But our society promotes a lie that resting is directly related to laziness or selfishness and working is always good. Too much work takes us outside of the grace and provision of God for our work and forces us to labor in our own strength. God has perfect plans and grace for everything he has laid before you, but it is often in rest that you will be refueled and made ready to receive that grace to accomplish your tasks. It’s in rest that our souls are restored, replenished, and filled. And it’s in rest that we are able to take time to be thankful and celebrate what God has helped us accomplish, rather than always bearing the burden of the never-ending list of tasks before us.
May we be children who choose to live by the word and systems of God rather than the values and structures of the world. May we be children who live with the simple, core value of rest as we follow the model of our heavenly Father.
1. Meditate on God’s desire to bring you rest. Allow Scripture to renew your mind and transform the way you make decisions and live.
“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.” Exodus 34:21
2. Where have you forgone rest for busyness and work? In what ways have you allowed society to influence you more than God’s word?
3. Confess to God any ways in which you have forsaken rest and receive his forgiveness. Ask God to fill you with a fresh vision for his purposes behind rest. Ask him to guide you into a lifestyle of taking a Sabbath. Rest in him right now, and allow him to replenish and rejuvenate you with his presence.
A large part of being led by the Spirit is following where God’s grace takes you. God has grace and provision for every task he has laid before you. He will help you accomplish everything you need to do in a timely and productive fashion. If you don’t feel grace for whatever task is before you, take time to ask the Spirit what he would have you do. Sometimes he will replenish you on the spot so you can keep working. Other times he’ll have something else for you to do instead. But often he will guide you into a few moments of rest and finding satisfaction in him so that you can work with proper perspective and his strength rather than just your own. May you work and rest in the grace and glory of your heavenly Father today.
Extended Reading: Hebrews 4 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Hebrews.
May you work and rest in the grace and glory of your heavenly Father today.
]]>5/20/2026 | Love God
May we discover what it means for our hearts, minds and will to be fully surrendered to Jesus, and in return may we find the abundant joy he has promised. He is trustworthy and true.
On the third day of our series on pursuing simple Christianity, we’re looking at what it means to live a life of sacrifice to God. May we discover what it means for our hearts, minds and will to be fully surrendered to Jesus, and in return may we find the abundant joy he has promised. He is trustworthy and true. And we will find the life God has planned for us when we surrender all to him.
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 9:23 ESV
Living for our own gain adds stress, pressure, and chaos to life, successfully robbing us of all the transcendent peace available through sacrificial living. We were never created to be our own provider or sustainer. We were never meant to develop our own source of joy and purpose. The only place we will find lasting peace is in complete surrender to God’s intention for us: a life of total sacrifice.
Jesus was our perfect model. He did everything according to the perfect and pleasing will of the Father. And Jesus said in Luke 9:23-25, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” Jesus makes it clear that sacrifice is the gateway to finding the life God intends for us. It’s the pathway that leads to the perfect will of our heavenly Father.
If you’re like me, living life sacrificially initially sounds terrible and unattainable. It feels impossible based on past experiences and present selfish desires. But, we need to take time to know the God to whom we are sacrificing our lives. We need to renew our mind to the perfect love of Jesus who would lay down his own life for us before ever asking us to follow in his footsteps. The life God intends for you is better than anything you could discover on your own. If he’s asking you to live sacrificially it must be wholly and perfectly for your benefit.
We are not sacrificing our own wills, plans, and dreams to a God who has less satisfying plans for our lives. We are not surrendering a happier, better life for something less, boring, or meaningless. Jesus said in John 10:10, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” God has plans greater than we could ever ask or imagine in store for us if we will lay down our dreams to make space for his. He has inexpressible joy for us if we will exchange what has made us temporarily happy for his dreams and visions that are full of purpose, meaning, and adventure.
Jesus willingly laid down his life and received everything he had dreamed of: restored relationship with you. What’s waiting for you on the other side of sacrifice today? Find out as you engage in the act of surrender during guided prayer.
1. Meditate on Jesus’ command for you to live your life sacrificially. Reflect on God’s desire to lead you to abundant life through surrender and sacrifice.
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
2. What do you need to surrender to the Father? What dream, idea, person, or possession is robbing you of the abundant life God intends for you. Where do you need to live sacrificially to experience more of Jesus? Surrender whatever stands in the way of you and the abundant life God has for you.
3. Choose to live sacrificially today. Ask the Holy Spirit to make the will of the Father known to you as he did for Jesus, and commit to following whatever he is asking you to do.
Taking up your cross isn’t a weight designed to burden and constrain you, but an opportunity to live in the presence, peace, and purpose of God. There is freedom in store for you through sacrifice. There is purpose and joy in laying down your life for God and others. If you will receive the perspective and courage to pursue God’s will for your life, you will discover more peace, consistency, passion, and direction than you ever thought possible.
Extended Reading: Philippians 2 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Philippians.
Taking up your cross isn’t a weight designed to burden and constrain you, but an opportunity to live in the presence, peace, and purpose of God. There is freedom in store for you through sacrifice.
]]>5/19/2026 | Love God
God knows our weaknesses, and any command he gives, he has a plan to empower us and give us grace to be obedient.
As we continue our week exploring the simple principles of the Christian faith, today let’s look at what it means to love people. Many of us know that God asks us to love others, but often loving people is easier said than done. See God knows our weaknesses, and any command he gives, he has a plan to empower us and give us grace to be obedient. As you explore how God may want you to love people today, may your heart be opened to his profound grace.
1 John 4:7 ESV
As we step into a deeper abundance of relationship with our heavenly Father, our hearts will naturally burn to love people as he has loved us. Loving people was never a chore for Jesus. He loved those around him with the fiery passion of his Father, and God calls you and me to do the same.
1 John 4:9-12 says, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” God’s love, perfected in you, will be demonstrated in the way you love others. Allow that fact to rest in your heart for a minute. Allow Scripture to establish in you the core value of selfless love.
I used to think that the highest form of Christian spirituality would be surrendering all forms of pleasure and human contact in order to devote my entire life to relationship with God. But Scripture is clear that God desires to produce in us a passionate pursuit and love for everyone around us. We demonstrate the depth of our love for him through the depth of our love for others. Christianity is not a religion of cliques, comfort zones, or isolation. Rather, it is a personal relationship with a God who loves people and longs to fill us with his love for others.
Our heavenly Father knows that we are incapable of consistently and selflessly loving others in our own strength. He knows that apart from him we are selfish, prideful, fearful, and inconsistent. But our God is fully capable of remarkable transformation if we will open the doors of our hearts to his love and allow him to change us for the better. If we will allow him to satisfy us and heal our wounds, we will receive a flood of genuine love for others that casts out all fear, selfishness, and pride in light of God’s glorious grace.
Jesus said in John 15:12-14, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” What is holding you back from loving others selflessly? Where do you need a fresh filling of God’s love to heal your wounds and satisfy your heart? What fear or source of pride is keeping you from receiving God’s passionate heart for others around you?
Spend time in prayer allowing Scripture to influence and reprioritize what you view as most important. Allow God to flood the dry and wounded places of your heart. And allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with his heart for those around you who desperately need someone to reveal God’s love to them.
1. Let’s start by meditating on Jesus’ commandment to love others in response to his love. Allow Scripture to lay the foundation for how you will decide to live your life.
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35
2. Spend time receiving God’s love. Where do you need his love in order to love others well? What wound is causing you to live fearfully, selfishly, or pridefully? What area of your life needs to be healed or satisfied? Ask God to pinpoint that place.
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with God’s heart for others. Allow him to show you how he feels about people at your work, school, church, or neighborhood. Ask him to reveal specific people he desires you to love well today. Ask him for specific ways he would have you love them.
The ability to genuinely love others is a sign of the new nature placed within you at salvation. Genuine love is not of this world, but of the kingdom of God. When you love selflessly you bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. The world has no rebuttal for love. It has no grid for acts of selfless generosity. Love tears down walls that have been built up between man and God. It pierces through hard exteriors and reaches the core of man’s heart. May you reveal the great love of your heavenly Father today through acts of genuine, selfless love.
Extended Reading: John 15 or watch The Bible Project’s video on John 13-21.
May you reveal the great love of your heavenly Father today through acts of genuine, selfless love.
]]>5/18/2026 | Love God
May we discover the peace and joy that come from pursuing a simple Christianity this week.
This week we’re going to focus on the simplicity the Christian life is meant to be marked by. Jesus summed up our purpose with two statements: love God and love people. But in our humanity we have made complex what God designed to be peaceful, purposeful, and simple. May we discover the peace and joy that come from pursuing a simple Christianity this week.
Matthew 22:37-38 ESV
The world is an exhausted place. We search constantly for what should be most important or what deserves our attention from moment to moment. As the tides of societal values ebb and flow, so do our affections. We invest value and love into that which offers us nothing in return. And unfortunately the cares of this world have creeped into the people of God. Our gatherings are often marked by complexity and exhaustion. With program goals and achievements, we make complex what God intended to be so blessedly simple. We give our attention, energy, and love to that which isn’t always rooted in simply loving God.
When asked to highlight the most important commandment in all of Scripture, Jesus responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38). All of Christianity boils down to this one pursuit. And because we are to pursue loving God in all we do, all of life boils down to this single pursuit. Every single thing we do, whether it involves work, family, friends, church, entertainment, school, or solitude, is meant to be marked by the simplicity of loving God.
At the end of our days, the way we loved our heavenly Father will matter most. Our love for God matters more than any achievement, success, or program. It matters more than any possession, status, or relationship. And when we align our perspective with the first and greatest commandment, everything else comes into focus. When we pursue loving God above all else, all other pursuits fall into their proper places.
We were not created to offer our affections to anyone or anything but God first and foremost. To do otherwise is simply idolatry, and it will ruin the heavenly peace and simplicity God intends for his children. We create our own golden calves and ask them to satisfy us in ways only God can. We look to the world to offer us love it never had to begin with. But your heavenly Father is a wellspring of love and affection for you.
The commonly quoted verse John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” You will never be satisfied until you rest in the powerfully simple truth of Scripture that God has loved you and will always love you. And you will never experience the fullness of what Christ died to give you until you respond to his ceaseless love by crowning him Lord and loving him with every fiber of your being.
May you come to realize the beauty and fulfillment of a life lived in pursuit of God above all else as you spend time in prayer.
1. Meditate on the first and greatest commandment. Allow Scripture to be your foundation for truth and life.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38
2. Reflect on your own life. What pursuits have become more important than loving God? What are you giving energy and affection to above relationship with your heavenly Father? What areas of your life are not being done as worship?
3. Confess your pursuits and receive God’s loving forgiveness. Crown him as Lord of your heart and life, and ask him to help you respond to his love with your own. Ask the Spirit to help you do all that is set before you as worship to your King. Take time to give him your affections now. Worship him. Thank him. Love him. Offer him the deepest places of your heart.
You were created for worship. And until all that you do is done as worship to God, you will not experience the fullness of peace, joy, and purpose available to you through Christ. Rest, fun, work, friends, family, and church are all to be filled with the joy of loving God and being loved by him. He is the God of fun, parties, rest, and love. He has the absolute most abundant and joyful life in store for you if you will simply love him first and foremost. May you experience deeper relationship with your heavenly Father today and love him as he has loved you.
Extended Reading: Listen to Guided Prayer for Depression, a part of our Christian Prayers for Mental Health series.
Matthew 22 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Matthew 14-28.
May you experience deeper relationship with your heavenly Father today and love him as he has loved you.
]]>5/17/2026 | A Foundation of Love
May you find that the weight of the world falls away. And may you choose the path of simplicity and love going forward living out in joy and peace.
As we wrap up our week on the simplicity of love, today we’ll look at the concept of simplicity itself and what it means to have a solitary pursuit. As you fix your eyes on Jesus today, may you find that the weight of the world falls away. And may you choose the path of simplicity and love going forward living out in joy and peace.
“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
Colossians 3:14 ESV
God’s command to love affords us a life of simplicity that can only be found in his kingdom come to earth. Colossians 3:14 says, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Christianity is a simple religion. Jesus said that all of God’s commandments can be summed up with one word: love. Galatians 5:14 says, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” How is it then that our spirituality often feels so complex and difficult? How is that we have a hard time experiencing the simplicity our faith affords us?
Complexity in Christianity finds its root in the attempt to live for both the world and God. Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Loving God and people is simple. There is only one right choice before us in all that we do. Complexity enters into our lives as soon as we try and juggle living for the world and living for God. There is a fence between this world and God’s kingdom too high to straddle. It is impossible to put one foot in God’s kingdom while keeping a foot in the world.
God longs for you and me to make our first action every day to serve and love him alone. He longs to guide us into the incredible, abundant life that comes from seeking his kingdom above all else. 1 John 2:15-17 tells us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” You cannot have both love for the world and love for your heavenly Father. This world is at enmity with God (James 4:4). It is set against him and his ways. But you and I have been given a choice by the powerful sacrifice of Jesus. We’ve been given a real, available option to serve and love the eternal, Almighty God.
It’s time for the bride of Christ to end its affair with the world. It’s time for us to let God love us and in response live for him alone. It’s time for us to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). Choose today the simplicity of love. Serve God alone. And discover a life far greater than anything you could experience outside of living for God above all else.
1. Meditate on the impossibility of loving God and the world. Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to seek God first today in all that you do.
2. How have you been in friendship with the world? In what ways are you trying to serve two masters?
3. Confess any sin of pursuing the world to God and receive his forgiveness and love. God has total grace for us in our sin. All he wants is to guide us to a life more filled with his presence, love, and purpose. Don’t wallow in your sin. Receive God’s gift of forgiveness and choose to live differently.
It’s incredibly important as believers to acknowledge both our sin and the powerful transformation through God’s love that’s available to us. So often we allow our past sins and present failures to define us. In reality, we’re given an opportunity every day to receive God’s transformation and healing that we might live more like Jesus. Lamentations 3:23 tells us that his mercies are new every morning. If you will receive the mercies available to you today, you can choose to live your life differently. Have faith in the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within you to help you. Ask him to show you the root of your sin that you might receive healing and transformation. May you discover today a wonderful life rooted in the simplicity of love.
Extended Reading: James 4 or watch The Bible Project’s video on James.
May you discover today a wonderful life rooted in the simplicity of love.
]]>5/16/2026 | A Foundation of Love
As we explore love-based obedience today, may your heart be open to the goodness of your loving Father.
God is the perfect parent. He is unlike anyone we’ve ever known, and his love is unlike anything we’ve experienced before. Imagine knowing your parent loved you perfectly, and that their intentions and motives behind giving you direction was literally perfectly loving? That’s how God is with us. His wisdom and direction is something we can trust implicitly because we can trust his heart toward us, and that truth makes obedience a joy. As we explore love-based obedience today, may your heart be open to the goodness of your loving Father.
John 14:21 ESV
For much of my life I feared the thought of obedience, especially to the almighty, all-knowing, and all-powerful Creator of the universe. I couldn’t seem to find a way to consistently choose him over myself. I couldn’t seem to be able to live for his affections over those of the world. As hard as I would try in various seasons, I just couldn’t be obedient.
What I didn’t realize about God’s command to be obedient was the process by which I could grow in obedience. God will take our obedience however he can get it because he wants us to enjoy the incredible fruits of his perfect will, but his desire is always to love us to a place that our obedience would be a natural overflow of our love for him. He longs for us to live a lifestyle of love-based obedience.
John 14:15 says very simply, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Jesus’ words here are a promise. If we truly love him, we will keep his commandments. If we truly have love in our hearts, we can’t help but be obedient to him. I long to grow to the place where I am so in love with Jesus that I long to choose him in every situation. I long to be a servant so in love with my King that I would die for him or anyone else he asked me to.
The love of God is so real, so powerful, and so transformational that it can mold and shape us into people who no longer live for this temporal world but seek first an everlasting, invisible kingdom. If we will simply be people who let God love us in every moment, we will naturally be people who are obedient to God’s perfect will for us.
Romans 6:17-18 says, “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” Through the powerful sacrifice of Jesus, you have been transformed into a person who has gained freedom from the law of sin. You are now enslaved to a lifestyle of right living whereby you obey your King out of devotion to him.
Take time in guided prayer today to receive the transformational love of your heavenly Father. Allow his love to lay a foundation on which you pursue wholehearted obedience. May you be filled with affection for your King today as you receive the wealth of unconditional love he has for you.
1. Open your heart to God to allow him to come in and love you. Ask him to guide you into a powerful encounter with his love today. Ask him to make you aware of his nearness and heart for you.
“And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19
2. Meditate on verses about obedience. Ask the Holy Spirit to transform you into a person who obeys God’s commands out of love for him.
3. Commit yourself to obey God’s commands out of trust and affection for him. Choose to serve him and those he’s placed in your life. Ask him to fill you with a desire to do his will that your obedience wouldn’t take debate but rather be a seamless action flowing from the love he’s placed within you.
Imagine how blessed our lives would be if we lived in total obedience to the will of God. Imagine the impact we would leave on this world. Imagine the wealth of heavenly reward we would have for all eternity. How wonderful is the heart of our heavenly Father that he would love us into a place of obedience to him, and then reward us and others for it! Our obedience is solely based on accepting his grace, and yet he loves to bless us through it. Praise be to our loving heavenly Father for the incredible life he’s given us at such a great cost. May we love him in all we do.
Extended Reading: John 14-15 or watch The Bible Project’s video on John 13-21.
Praise be to our loving heavenly Father for the incredible life he’s given us at such a great cost. May we love him in all we do.
]]>5/15/2026 | A Foundation of Love
May you walk in joy today as you lean into this love-based reality a bit more.
Most of the time our emotional happiness is based on our life’s circumstances. As we continue our week on the simplicity of love, today we’ll be taking a look at the joy that comes from living a love-based life. Once we know that God’s love is for us always, unconditionally—no matter what, our hope is secure and joy is ours for the taking. May you walk in joy today as you lean into this love-based reality a bit more.
Philippians 4:4 ESV
In God we have access to the fullness of joy. In Psalm 16:11 David says to God, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” God has set out for us all a path to the fullness of joy found only in his presence, and that path is marked by love. We can have joy in and out of every season because God never stops loving us.
When we base our lives on the love of God rather than the thoughts, perspectives, and pursuits of the world, we position ourselves to live filled with the joy that comes solely through relationship with the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” We have been ransomed from the ways of this world and brought into the kingdom of our heavenly Father. And in this kingdom we discover a wealth of joy found in the Spirit of God dwelling with us.
The Holy Spirit longs to make us a joyful people. He longs to lead us away from that which will steal our joy and guide us to green pastures and still waters. But a choice remains constantly before us. Will we choose the stress, burdens, and insecurities of this world or will we follow God into a more abundant life of his joy-filled presence? We have a very real enemy tempting us every day to choose a world that will never fulfill us. While we may not be his any longer, he will do whatever he can to rob us of the abundant life afforded us by the powerful sacrifice of Jesus. But 1 John 4:4 tells us, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
The Holy Spirit dwelling within us is perfectly capable of guiding us away from the temptations of the enemy and toward the joy that can only be found in living for God’s kingdom. If we will choose today to be loved by God and love him in return, we will undoubtedly be filled with joy. Joy is a consistent symptom of seeking first the kingdom of God because his kingdom is marked by joy.
Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” I pray that your life will be marked by rejoicing today. I pray that you will so encounter the love of God that you are filled with joy in all you do. Choose today to base your life on the unconditional love of your heavenly Father. Choose to love him and others in all you do in response to the wealth of affections he has for you. Experience his love today and be filled with inexpressible joy.
Take time in guided prayer to encounter God’s presence, commit your day to the wholehearted pursuit of love, and receive the joy available to you in God’s kingdom.
1. Ask God to make you aware of his nearness. Receive his presence into your heart and rest in the joy and that comes with it.
2. Commit yourself to pursuing love today in all you do. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you love God and people with your thoughts, actions, emotions and words.
3. Receive the joy of the Holy Spirit. Ask him to bear the fruit of joy in your heart, work and relationships. Ask him to transform you into a person marked by joy.
Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” This life is too short to live for anything but the kingdom of God. All other kingdoms fall away. Anything we build up that is of this world will return to dust just like us. Make the choice to live for a greater purpose than worldly acceptance and discover the wellspring of joy available to you in the kingdom of your loving heavenly Father.
Extended Reading: Listen to When You Feel Alone, a part of our Christian Prayers for Mental Health series.
Matthew 6 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Matthew 1-13.
Make the choice to live for a greater purpose than worldly acceptance and discover the wellspring of joy available to you in the kingdom of your loving heavenly Father.
]]>5/14/2026 | A Foundation of Love
May we take a step back today, examine our own hearts’ pursuits, and rest in the reality of how simple God’s love really is.
It has been and always will be easy for people, especially religious people, to become focused on the wrong things in life. I constantly find myself making things more difficult or convoluted than they really are. The reality of this life with God is that all he asks of us is love. As we continue this week on the simplicity of love, today we’ll explore God’s heart on the subject. What does God require of us? What does he ask of us? May we take a step back today, examine our own hearts’ pursuits, and rest in the reality of how simple God’s love really is.
“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV
One of the most life-giving, transformational truths of the gospel is that of everything we have to offer God, of everything in this life we have to give, he most desires our love. To love God is all-encompassing. Colossians 3:14 says, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” To love God is to pursue a life of wholehearted devotion to a King who is wholeheartedly devoted to us. To love God is to place ourselves in this never-ending, blessed cycle of giving and receiving limitless love.
The simple truth that God simply wants our love frees us from frivolous pursuits. It frees us from systems and practices that are rooted in “should” rather than true desire. God will take us however he can get us. He’ll take us if all we have to give is a belief that we should serve him or be with him. But he never desires to keep us in that place. He longs to love each of us to such a level that we would live and serve him out of a place of full devotion as the natural response to his overwhelming affections for us.
1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” Allow 1 John 4:16 to create an image in your mind for a second. Picture what it would be like to truly abide in God and have him abide in you. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a vision of what that would be like. What would everyday life look like if you were to truly abide in God and have him abiding in you?
So great is God’s love for us that he makes himself available for us to abide in him. So great are his affections for us that we could have him abiding in us. If we will pursue love above all else, we will discover a wellspring of simplicity and life rooted in wholehearted devotion to the God of love.
Cast off all other pursuits today in light of God’s call to love. Cast off the striving and tireless work of doing life rooted in the “should” and let God love you to a place of love-based obedience. Find rest today in the truth that God is simply after your heart. Open up to him and receive his vast affections. 1 Corinthians 16:14 says, “Let all that you do be done in love.” May you abide in the heart of your heavenly Father and allow him to come in and meet with you that all you do today might be done in love.
1. Meditate on the call of God to love. Allow Scripture to fill you with a wholehearted desire to love God in all you do.
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with a fresh revelation of God’s love for you. Receive the love of God and allow it to cast out all fear and reservation.
3. Respond to the affections of God with your own. Tell God how you feel in his presence. Thank him for all that he’s done for you. Enter into the cycle of giving and receiving affection.
“We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
This cycle of giving and receiving affection is really just a picture of what it is to worship. As we allow God to love us, our natural response will be to love him in return because we are created for worship. As we receive his love we will naturally love him and others. For a long time I pictured worship as this time where I had to drum up affection for God that I honestly didn’t feel. God never asks us to fake it. He never wants worship that isn’t truly from our hearts. He knows we need his love to love him in return. If you find yourself emptied of affection for him and others today, take time to simply let him love you so that you can live wholeheartedly today.
Extended Reading: 1 Corinthians 13 or watch The Bible Project’s video on 1 Corinthians.
If you find yourself emptied of affection for him and others today, take time to simply let him love you so that you can live wholeheartedly today.
]]>5/13/2026 | A Foundation of Love
May your heart be even a little more free today after a fresh encounter with the Father’s love.
There is nothing in the world more freeing than being loved as you are. Today we’ll be exploring how God’s love has set us free as we continue in our week of the simplicity of love. Having God’s love and affection from the start before giving him anything in return frees us from the burdens and weight of having to earn his love and strive for his affections. Today God wants us to step out in and fully live experiencing that freedom as beloved children. May your heart be even a little more free today after a fresh encounter with the Father’s love.
Romans 8:1-3 ESV
What does it look like to be totally free in Christ Jesus? What does it look like to live in the world, but be free from the constraints, demands, burdens, and stresses of living for the world? Scripture proclaims to us a life more abundant, purposeful, and free than what I am now experiencing. The Holy Spirit quietly but clearly beckons me to choose him throughout my day that I might know what it is to live in constant communion with him. God clearly has a plan for us far greater than anything we have yet experienced. And he longs for today to be a day marked by the freedom of life that only comes through a transformational encounter with his presence, truth, and love.
God’s love has set us free from everything that would entangle us to this world. His love sets us free emotionally, spiritually, and practically. His love broke the chains of sin and depravity as Jesus breathed his last breath on the cross. His love broke through to earth as he tore the veil from top to bottom signifying the availability of his presence for all. His love broke through in each of our lives as we said yes to crowning him King and accepted his free gift of eternal relationship with him. And his love breaks through every morning as surely as the sun rises, declaring to us the availability of a day filled with his nearness and love.
Scripture says in Romans 7:4, “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.” And in Galatians 5:22-23, Scripture says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” God longs for our lives to be marked by the presence of the Holy Spirit. He longs for us to bear his fruit that we might enjoy all that restored relationship with him affords us.
Romans 8:1-3 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.” God’s love has set us free from “the law of sin and death” that we might live by the law of “the Spirit of life.” His love has made a way for us to be fully known and fully loved. But the choice is still ours today. Will we submit ourselves to this new law marked by the fruit of his presence, or will we choose to resubmit ourselves to the law of this world as if the death of Christ was for nothing? Choose abundant life today by opening your heart and experiencing the nearness of the Holy Spirit.
1. Meditate on the freedom of life available to you through Christ. Allow Scripture to stir up your faith and desire to live differently today.
“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.” 1 Peter 2:16
2. Where have you been choosing the law of the world over the law of freedom? Where have you been living for the things of the world instead of choosing life in the Spirit of God?
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you submit yourself fully to “the law of the Spirit of life.” Ask him to reveal his nearness that you might know his love today. Take time to rest in his presence and bear the fruit of communing with him.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17
What would it be like to live free from condemnation as Romans 8:1 tells us? What would it be like to live free from the burden of man’s opinion that we could simply enjoy how God feels about us? May the Lord help you today to experience the life that comes only by choosing freedom. May he guide you into a lifestyle of continual encounters with his love. May your days be marked by the fruit of knowing him personally. And may you exhibit to the world how wonderful it is to know and experience restored relationship with the Lord of all.
Extended Reading: Galatians 5 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Galatians.
May your days be marked by the fruit of knowing him personally. And may you exhibit to the world how wonderful it is to know and experience restored relationship with the Lord of all.
]]>5/12/2026 | A Foundation of Love
God’s love has come in and given us meaning, beauty, redemption, and purpose. It is through God loving us that we become sons and daughters; we become saints.
As we explore the simplicity of love this week, today we’ll look at how God’s love has redeemed us. There is an amazing Brennan Manning quote that says, “In loving me, you made me lovable.” And that is basically the concept we’ll be unpacking today. God’s love has come in and given us meaning, beauty, redemption, and purpose. It is through God loving us that we become sons and daughters; we become saints. I hope today you’ll open your heart up to this life-changing love, and never be the same again.
“For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.”
Psalm 130:7 ESV
The eternal redemption afforded to us by the powerful sacrifice of Jesus is a wonderful, life-giving demonstration of God’s unconditional, unchanging love. I’ve gone through much of my life feeling condemned. I look at my thoughts, actions, reactions, and failures and apply my condemning perspective to my perception of my heavenly Father. But in reality, he has so faithfully demonstrated his overwhelming love to me through the securing of my redemption. In reality, he truly loves me just as I am even with all my failures and faults.
Colossians 1:19-22 says,
God sees you and me as “holy and blameless.” Through his love we have been totally redeemed: set right before the God whose perspectives and beliefs are true above all else. When he says we are redeemed, that truth is now meant to be at the foundation of all we think, believe, and do.
Psalm 130:7 says, “O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.” You and I are redeemed apart from anything we do. We are made holy apart from any inherent ability or worthiness we possess. God’s passionate desire for restored relationship with us caused him to secure what you and I could never attain on our own: the eternal redemption of all who believe in Jesus Christ.
So what does it mean for you to be redeemed? What effect does redemption have on your day today? 1 Peter 1:14-15 says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” Live your life today in light of the redemption secured for you by Jesus. Allow the Holy Spirit to do a mighty work and help you live differently today than you did yesterday. Your past failures and weaknesses do not define you. Your present misconceptions and sins can be forgiven, healed, and transformed this instant. Jesus made a clear path for you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received (Ephesians 4:1). All that is required of you is to believe, trust, open your heart to God, and live today in the constant communion God desires with you. May your day today be filled with the life-giving transformation and freedom that comes from living in light of your present redemption.
1. Meditate on the redemption secured for you by the powerful sacrifice of Jesus.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Ephesians 1:7
Allow the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice to move your heart to trust and peace before God.
2. Where have sins, lies, past failures, or wounds been causing you to live apart from your redemption? Where has your life looked more like the world and less like heaven? Confess those sins and your need of God’s forgiveness, transformation, and presence.
3. Receive God’s forgiveness. Spend time opening your heart and receiving his presence.
“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14
Our heavenly Father is wholly patient with us as we learn to live out this incredible gift of redemption. He is perfectly kind and forgiving when we come to him and confess our sin. And he has a perfect plan every day for our transformation, healing, and freedom if we will simply make space in our lives to spend time with him and receive all he has to give. May we as the body of Christ learn what it is to live in light of the glorious inheritance of redemption, freedom, and abundant life secured for us by the precious blood of Jesus.
Extended Reading: 1 Peter 1 or watch The Bible Project’s video on 1 Peter.
May we as the body of Christ learn what it is to live in light of the glorious inheritance of redemption, freedom, and abundant life secured for us by the precious blood of Jesus.
]]>5/11/2026 | A Foundation of Love
Love is to be at the foundation of all we do, all we are, and all we hold on to.
1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” The greatest of all aspects of the Christian life is love. Love is to be at the foundation of all we do, all we are, and all we hold on to. If we focus on love and allow the Holy Spirit to strip everything else away, what will be left is a life of blessed simplicity rooted in face-to-face relationship with our heavenly Father. As we spend time this week looking at the simplicity of love, I pray that all the weighty, frivolous things of the world that rob you of an abundant life fall away in light of the glorious goodness of God’s unconditional and wholly available love for you.
1 John 4:19 ESV
The fact that we are pursued by the Creator of the universe is an unfathomable truth perfectly illustrating the amazing love our heavenly Father has for us. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Those of us who have believed in and accepted the free gift of salvation have been lifted out of the world’s foundation of works-based living and ushered into a new standard of grace. By grace alone we have wonderful, restored relationship with the God who passionately pursues us in every season of life. And by grace alone our lives are now based on the unconditional love of our good Father.
1 John 4:8 says, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” All that God does is love because it is his very nature. Every word of Scripture was authored because he loves us. Every good thing we have in life is only available to us because he loves us. The fact that you and I have air in our lungs is a miraculous demonstration of God’s overwhelming faithfulness. The fact that we can enter into such a depth of relationship with a perfect, holy God reveals his heart to pursue us.
Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” This passage in Revelation is God’s word to the lukewarm church in Laodicea. God doesn’t just knock on the doors of hearts already filled with passion for him. He doesn’t just knock on the doors of the lost. He knocks on the doors of the hearts that are in desperate need of inner revival through his tangible, powerful love. He knocks on the doors of the hearts whose flame has been squelched by the cares and stresses of this world that he might come and reignite passionate communion between our spirit and the Holy Spirit.
The God of heaven and earth is passionately pursuing you right now. No matter how close you are to him, he is knocking on the door of your heart, asking to come in and meet with you once again. He’s not knocking just to fix you. He’s not knocking just to make you do something for him. He simply wants to meet with you. He simply wants to love you.
How you respond to the passionate pursuit of God is totally up to you. There is grace for you today to seek the face of your heavenly Father. There is grace to open up your heart and accept the wonderful gift of encountering God’s presence. There is grace to know and experience the depths of God’s love for you. The question before you is simply this: will you choose today to let God love you?
1. Meditate on the heart of your heavenly Father to pursue you in love.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:3
2. Open up your heart to your loving Father. Ask him to reveal his nearness and love. Ask him to reveal his presence that you might spend time truly meeting with him today.
“But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29
3. Take time to simply let God love you. Open up the places of your heart that are broken, wounded, and cause you pain. Confess any sins that are holding you back from walking in the fullness of relationship available to you. Don’t move on from God’s presence until you feel he has done the work he desires to do today.
Taking time to sit in the presence of God and simply receive his love is foundational to every other aspect of Christianity. All of eternity is simply about being with our Creator. It’s all about allowing God to love us and giving him our hearts in return. May Ephesians 3:14-19 stir your heart to truly seek a revelatory knowledge of God’s love for you.
Extended Reading:
Listen to When Your Mind Won’t Slow Down, a part of our Christian Prayers for Mental Health series. John 15 or watch The Bible Project’s video on John 13-21.
Taking time to sit in the presence of God and simply receive his love is foundational to every other aspect of Christianity. All of eternity is simply about being with our Creator. It’s all about allowing God to love us and giving him our hearts in return.
]]>5/10/2026 | The Father Heart of God
Let’s allow God to reshape our notion of him and free our hearts up to enjoy just how good God really is. He is better than anyone we’ve ever known, and it’s my hope today we can see that with clear eyes.
God loves to exceed our expectations and break our boxes. Today’s topic does just that. As we end our week, today we’re exploring God’s attributes that make him a fun, joyful Father. Let’s allow God to reshape our notion of him and free our hearts up to enjoy just how good God really is. He is better than anyone we’ve ever known, and it’s my hope today we can see that with clear eyes.
Psalm 30:11-12 ESV
There is a terrible misconception in the church today that our Father is not a fun God. For most Christians, what they know of God comes through worship services rather than direct encounters with the living God. As the body of Christ, we have not cultivated a culture of restored relationship well. But regardless of faults in the church today, God longs to give you a revelation of how incredibly fun it is to have him as your Father. He longs to guide you into a lifestyle of abundant joy as you grow in your relationship with him.
While God’s fun may look different than the world’s, every form of fun apart from his is a cheap imitation. We see countless examples in Scripture of God’s children experiencing a depth of joy unattainable apart from God. David writes in Psalm 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The fullness of fun is found with God because he alone guides us to the path of true life. He alone frees us, heals us, loves us, rejoices over us, has grace for us, and longs to fully satisfy our desires. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” God longs to lead you to the fullness of life today. He longs to guide you to the riches of his love that you might experience how fun it is to be truly loved by your Creator, Sustainer, and Lord.
Our Father loves parties. He loves to celebrate and have fun with his children. Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 says, “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy.” Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine to keep a wedding feast going (John 2:1-11). The Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 is the story Jesus told of an earthly father and son and a parallel to our relationship with the heavenly Father. When the prodigal son returns home, the father tells his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:22-24). While the older son was out in the field, he heard everyone celebrating with music and dancing. He couldn’t help but go see what was going on. And Revelation 19 foretells the great marriage supper of the Lamb where we will celebrate our total and complete union with God, the party to end all parties.
Psalm 30:11-12 says, “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” Your heavenly Father longs to lead you to the fullness of fun today. He longs to clothe you with gladness and turn your mourning into dancing. The God you serve is the inventor of fun. He loves to celebrate with his children. He longs to fill your days with that which will satisfy the deepest longings of your heart, including your need for fun. May you encounter the fun heart of your heavenly Father today as you enter into guided prayer.
1. Meditate on God’s desire to give you a fun life. Allow Scripture to reorient your understanding of what it’s like to live life with your heavenly Father.
2. Where do you need more fun in your life? Where do you need God to clothe you with gladness? Where do you need to experience the abundant life Jesus died to give you?
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to have the fullness of fun today. What is he providing for you that you might experience all the joy and celebration available to you? What is keeping you from living a more fun life? He wants to free you today. Spend timing resting in his presence and allow him to do a work in your heart today.
Sometimes we hold to an idea that advancing the kingdom and having fun don’t go together. We leave parties and fun to others as we are too busy with more important matters. But why would a nonbeliever want to get to know a boring God? Why would they want to spend time with a group of boring people? As children of God, we have the greatest source of joy available. We should be the happiest, most fun, and most loving people the lost will ever encounter. It’s in our joy, love, and fun that we will best advance the kingdom. It’s living the abundant life God longs to give us that will encourage others to want to know the God we serve. May you advance the kingdom of your heavenly Father by living today with the fullness of fun.
Extended Reading: Luke 15 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Luke 10-24.
May you advance the kingdom of your heavenly Father by living today with the fullness of fun.
]]>5/9/2026 | The Father Heart of God
As we dig deeper today, may our hearts be open to God’s loving perspective on correction for our good.
Discipline can be a tricky subject. Many of us have not seen discipline done well, and no one really loves being disciplined or having something they’ve done wrong pointed out. But something we must keep in mind with our heavenly Father is that he loves perfectly, so discipline must be a part of his perfect love. As we wrap up our week of looking at who God is, this is a crucial topic we have to look at to engage with all the ways God loves us. As we dig deeper today, may our hearts be open to God’s loving perspective on correction for our good.
Hebrews 12:6 ESV
Our world despises discipline. We view correction as an attempt to keep us from doing what we really want rather than an act of love to guide us toward a more abundant life. If we are ever going to live the incredible life God longs to give us, we need renewal in the area of discipline. We must allow God to correct and shape us as the potter molds the clay so that we can live the life to which we have been called.
Our heavenly Father never disciplines out of anger or frustration, but only out of love. Hebrews 12:7-14 says,
God longs to establish a foundation of discipline in your relationship with him because he loves you. It’s our pride and lack of revelation that keeps us from allowing God to correct us. If we truly knew the abundant life available to us on the other side of discipline, we would run to the forming hands of our God rather than hiding from them. If we had revelation on the incredible plans God longs to equip us for, we would yearn for the loving correction of our Father rather than withholding the broken places in our hearts from him.
Your heavenly Father has greater plans than you could ever ask or imagine in store if you will allow him to mold and shape you through discipline. He longs to correct every area of your heart that isn’t bearing the fruit of the Spirit or producing abundant life. He longs to provide discipline for your sin so that you can live in the freedom of righteousness.
Open your heart to his loving discipline today. Allow him to mold and fashion you into the likeness of Jesus. Spend time allowing his love to wash you clean and free you from the bonds of sin. May you have a powerful encounter with the loving discipline of your heavenly Father as you enter into guided prayer.
1. Meditate on God’s desire to encourage you. Allow Scripture to fill you with the truth about the life God intends for you.
“A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.” Proverbs 13:1
2. Where do you need to be disciplined today? What part of your life does not line up with God’s plans for you? Where does God need to prune you so that you might bear more fruit of the Spirit?
3. Spend time allowing God to love and correct you. Ask him to prune and teach you. Ask him to guide you into a lifestyle of greater confession, repentance, forgiveness, and healing.
Sometimes the best instruments of correction are fellow believers. Ask the Lord if there is anyone you need to confess your sin to. James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” Ask for wisdom from the men and women in your life who are experiencing freedom and abundance in an area in which you have need. May you experience the entire abundant life available to you through the loving discipline of your heavenly Father and the fellow believers he has placed in your midst.
Extended Reading: Hebrews 12 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Hebrews.
Ask for wisdom from the men and women in your life who are experiencing freedom and abundance in an area in which you have need.
]]>5/8/2026 | The Father Heart of God
There is nothing like an encouraging word from the Father when we’re feeling low and discouraged.
As we continue our week on God being our Father, we look today at how God encourages us. There is nothing like an encouraging word from the Father when we’re feeling low and discouraged. Sometimes life can be daunting, and our good Father knows just what to say when we need to hear it most. If you’re feeling discouraged today, I pray the Lord speaks courage to your weary heart and strengthens your weary bones to keep running the race set before you.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Romans 8:31 ESV
Our God is the great encourager. He takes the weak and makes them strong. He takes the hopeless and transforms them into beacons of eternal salvation. He takes the broken and heals them with his love. And he takes the doubting and fills them with powerful encouragement from on high.
Our heavenly Father longs to give you confidence today. He longs to encourage you to accomplish the incredible calling for which you were created. As we look today at a powerful story of God’s encouragement, may your heart be filled with a longing and passion to seek out the entirety of God’s perfect plans for you. Judges 6:12-18 says,
God calls Gideon a mighty man of valor prior to any mighty actions Gideon had done. He commands Gideon to go out in the might to which he was called and accomplish the very work for which he was created. And when Gideon responds by asking God for a sign, God obliges him and remains with grace and mercy.
God is calling you to a life of eternal significance. He’s calling you to a life that matters. There is no weak tool in the hands of God. And there is no small calling in his perfect plans. You were created to live a life that changes the world. You were created for a destiny that draws the lost back into the fold of our heavenly Father. But in order to accomplish the life to which you were called you will need courage. You will need time spent in God’s presence being filled with his encouragement.
God is calling you a mighty man or woman of valor. He is speaking strength over you. He is near to you, ready and able to empower you. Take time in guided prayer to hear the voice of your heavenly Father. Allow his Spirit to speak to your spirit. Allow him to encourage you in his love. And follow his voice in faith that you might be used in greater ways than you could ever imagine.
1. Meditate on God’s desire to encourage you. Allow Scripture to fill you with the truth about the life God intends for you.
2. Where do you need courage to pursue the life to which God has called you? What is God calling you to today that seems impossible? What has God spoken over you in the past that fear has crippled you from pursuing?
3. Allow God to fill you with courage. Open your heart to him and ask him to empower you and fill you with his love. Rest in his nearness. Allow Scripture to fill you with faith to pursue to the fullest whatever God asks you to do.
“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Psalm 27:14
Don’t settle for a life of mediocrity today. God has a plan and purpose for everything you do. He longs to turn your relationships, job, finances, and passions into good works of eternal significance. His calling will satisfy your heart like nothing else. And the empowerment of his Spirit for his plans will transform you into a passionate, effective, and loving man or woman of valor. May you pursue wholeheartedly the life to which you have been called by your loving heavenly Father.
Extended Reading: Listen to When Anxiety Feels Overwhelming, a part of our Christian Prayers for Mental Health series.
Judges 6 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Judges.
May you pursue wholeheartedly the life to which you have been called by your loving heavenly Father.
]]>5/7/2026 | The Father Heart of God
As we learn of God’s intentions to meet our every need, open your heart today to trust in this God who’s our Provider.
In the kingdom of God, we find a culture different from that of our world. We are often taught to be self-made, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, and that it’s the survival of the fittest. God’s kingdom turns these principles on their head. We are encouraged to wait, trust, and receive from our God who supplies for our every need. Does your life mimic one of trust and waiting? One of open hands and thankfulness? Today as we move forward in our week of God being our Father we’ll look at his provisional nature. As we learn of God’s intentions to meet our every need, open your heart today to trust in this God who’s our Provider.
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19 ESV
In Matthew 6:25-33 Jesus says,
Your heavenly Father is the Great Provider for all the earth. He gives rain when the earth needs refreshment. He calls the sun from its hiding when the earth needs warmth. He gives to the animals their food, the flowers their beauty, the birds their shelter, and you and me everything we need.
We worship a God who is both loving and powerful. He is both omnipotent and omnipresent. He is both good and able. If he were not, we would be forced to fend for ourselves, striving for that which he has promised to provide. If he were only good, we would not be assured of the provision his power provides. And if he were only able, we would fear for a lack of his desire to provide. But God is our heavenly Father who both knows what we need and longs to provide for us in exceeding measures. He is our Creator and Sustainer, Lord of all and Lord in all.
So why do you fear for your needs? Why do you stress over the foundational cares of this life while your heavenly Father is seated on his throne? The truth is that until we experience for ourselves both the goodness and power of our heavenly Father, the truth of his provision will only ever feel like a heady, theological principle. Until we experience firsthand the character and provision of our God, fear will remain.
1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” God longs to perfect you in his love today. He longs to guide you into an encounter with his goodness and power. He longs to establish a foundation of his faithfulness by which you can live in faith. May you have a transformative encounter with the Holy Spirit today that frees you from fear and striving as you enter into guided prayer.
1. Meditate on God’s promises of provision. Allow Scripture to renew your mind and transform the way you act, think and feel.
“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
2. Where do you have fear in regards to provision? Where are you striving for what God has already promised to provide? Where does God want to bring peace into your life today?
3. Take time to allow God to reveal his goodness and power. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into an encounter with all that God is. Allow Scripture to speak to your circumstances so that you might live today in line with God’s promises.
No matter how old we get, God will still be our Father. We never have to go through a season apart from his perfect provision. We never have to step outside of his leadership and love. He will always be our Good Shepherd. He will always be our Sustainer. And he will always be our heavenly Father who provides. Never doubt the goodness and power of your God. Rest in his promises. And continue to grow in your knowledge of who he is by resting in his presence. May you experience today the abundant provision of your loving, heavenly Father.
Extended Reading: Philippians 4 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Philippians.
Never doubt the goodness and power of your God. Rest in his promises. And continue to grow in your knowledge of who he is by resting in his presence.
]]>5/6/2026 | The Father Heart of God
The beautiful thing about our heavenly Father is that he is present in our lives, and we are never alone.
Many of us deal with a fear of abandonment, rejection, or loneliness, and often for good reason. The beautiful thing about our heavenly Father is that he is present in our lives, and we are never alone. As we continue our week looking at the ways God is good to us, open your heart today to the very tangible presence of your Father, even now in your midst. Allow truth to permeate the broken places and make you confident and whole in God’s ever-present love.
Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV
If there’s one truth that has the power to guide you into the fullness of life available to you in Christ, it’s that God is present. Psalm 139:7-10 says,
No matter where you go, no matter what you do, God is with you. And he isn’t just with you in an abstract sense, he is available for you to tangibly and powerfully experience. Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” In the presence of the Lord there is fullness of comfort. Throughout every season of your life, he is there ready to empower you, encourage you, strengthen you, and love you. He longs to meet you where you’re at and provide all the guidance, love, comfort, and fatherly encouragement you need.
You see, when God meets with us he both satisfies our emotions and transforms us. He heals our hearts and empowers us to live the life he has planned for us. As our Father, he not only comforts us when we need him, but guides and helps us through the various seasons of life. God is present not only to love you emotionally, but practically as well.
Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” As a father teaches his son or daughter how to walk by upholding them, your God longs to uphold you through whatever decision, trial, season, or pain you are presently experiencing. He is not a distant God who just gives his children rules and tells them to go through life on their own. He is not a far-off Creator who leaves his creation to its own devices. He is working presently in our midst to shepherd us toward the fullness of life Jesus died to give us. There is no more present, loving, or powerful father than our God. There is no greater helper than the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. And there is no greater life than one lived in constant communion with our Creator.
Whatever season you find yourself in today, press into the heart of your heavenly Father. As you enter into guided prayer, allow God to fill you, satisfy you, comfort you, and love you. Allow him to shepherd you, empower you, uphold you, and encourage you. Experience the nearness of your heavenly Father and walk today in constant communion with your God who is present.
1. Meditate on the fact that God is present. Allow Scripture to fill you with the faith to encounter your heavenly Father today.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
2. Where do you need God to be present in your life? Where do you need his encouragement, love, guidance, and empowerment?
3. Ask God to make his presence known to you. Ask him to fill you with his love and nearness. Rest in his presence and allow him to love you and speak to you.
A vital part of Christian spirituality is making time to simply fellowship with God. Resting in the presence of the Lord puts all of life in perspective. It places God at a higher value than whatever else we could spend our time pursuing. It empowers us to live peacefully and purposefully. And it lays a foundation of God’s love on which we can live out the calling given to us by our heavenly Father. Take time throughout your day to receive God’s presence. Allow him to flood wherever you are with his love and encouragement. May your day be transformed by the nearness of God.
Extended Reading: Psalm 139 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Psalms.
Take time throughout your day to receive God’s presence. Allow him to flood wherever you are with his love and encouragement. May your day be transformed by the nearness of God.
]]>5/5/2026 | The Father Heart of God
Today allow God to reorient the way you understand him and his heart towards you. He is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, unlike anyone we’ve ever known.
In our fallen state, patience isn’t something we find very often in ourselves or others. I don’t know if I know one person who has perfectly displayed patience for me, myself included. What’s incredible about our Father in heaven is that he is an endless well of patience. He has patience in abundance, and it never runs out for us. Today allow God to reorient the way you understand him and his heart towards you. He is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, unlike anyone we’ve ever known.
2 Peter 3:9 ESV
There is no virtue more calming than patience. A peaceful lifestyle begins with patience. When birthed by a heavenly perspective, patience can transform even the most stressful places of one’s heart into calm streams of joy and abundant life.
Our heavenly Father perfectly models a patient heart. 2 Peter 3:8-9 says, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” God’s perspective and overwhelming love for us fill his heart with incredible patience.
Think for a second about all the atrocities, perversions, sin, and depravity God witnesses on a continual basis. He watches in pain as humanity kills, steals, lies, and cheats. He watches as those he most cares for throw away his perfect plans for cheap imitations that only cause heartache and pain. But God in his patient mercy waits to return and bring about the complete restoration of creation that all might reach repentance. God is patient because he is love.
God is not only patient in regard to the second coming of Jesus. He is wholly patient with you in regards to your sanctification and relationship with him and others. He beckons you moment by moment, whispering to your heart about the great plans he has for your life. He waits patiently as he transforms you into a reflection of Jesus by filling you with his abundant love. He knows your frame. He knows the wounds the world has caused. And he is patient with you.
Take time this morning to slow down and take a deep breath. Carve out some space in the busyness of your life and rest in response to God’s patience. God isn’t in a rush with his plans for you. He isn’t in a rush to fix you. He simply longs for you to take some time and be with him. He wants to overwhelm you with his patient love that you might live free from the burdens and cares of this rushed, stressed world.
Psalm 103:8 says, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” May you encounter the patient, merciful, gracious, peaceful, and loving presence of your heavenly Father as you enter into guided prayer.
1. Meditate on the patient heart of your heavenly Father. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a revelation of how patient God is with you as you mull over his words.
2. Where do you need an increase of patience today? What burden or care doesn’t line up with the heavenly perspective of patience?
3. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you be patient like your heavenly Father. Ask him to give you a heavenly perspective about your life so that you can cast off stress and burden. Pursue patience and passion for all God has given you.
Oftentimes we believe patience and passion can’t be connected. We see examples of those who achieved so much seemingly out of a lack of patience and believe that we need to be as rushed and stressed as they were in order to have a meaningful life. That is not the case with God. God’s timing is perfect. His will can be known. If you will trust the patient heart of your heavenly Father and live as he directs, you will achieve the purpose for which you have been called. Seek the face of your heavenly Father today for wisdom and direction. Pursue passion with patience. And discover the wealth of joy and peace that comes from having patience for yourself and others as your heavenly Father does.
Extended Reading: Psalm 103 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Psalms.
Seek the face of your heavenly Father today for wisdom and direction. Pursue passion with patience. And discover the wealth of joy and peace that comes from having patience for yourself and others as your heavenly Father does.
]]>5/4/2026 | The Father Heart of God
As we spend time looking at the father heart of God, may a fresh revelation of his love for you guide you into greater depths of relationship with your heavenly Father.
There is no better father than Creator God. He formed us and knows us. He provides for us, loves us unconditionally, and longs for a real, life-giving relationship with us. He runs out to meet us in our sin, clothes us with a new identity, and restores to us the abundant life he has always planned for us. As we spend time looking at the father’s heart, may a fresh revelation of his love for you guide you into greater depths of relationship with your heavenly Father.
1 John 4:18 ESV
In Brennan Manning’s book, Abba’s Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging, he writes,
But we cannot assume that [God] feels about us the way we feel about ourselves—unless we love ourselves compassionately, intensely, and freely. In human form Jesus revealed to us what God is like. He exposed our projections for the idolatry that they are and gave us the way to become free of them. It takes a profound conversion to accept that God is relentlessly tender and compassionate toward us just as we are—not in spite of our sins and faults (that would not be total acceptance), but with them. Though God does not condone or sanction evil, He does not withhold his love because there is evil in us.
May we experience the freedom that comes with a true revelation of God’s unceasing love for us.
God loves you with an unconditional love. To know God is to know love in its truest form, because he is love. Love isn’t just something he gives. It isn’t just something that he feels. It is who he is. God’s love for you is limitless and has the power to set you free from every wound, thought, sin, and broken relationship that causes you to live anything less than a joyful and content life.
Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Really take a minute today and allow the truth of God’s word to settle into your heart. While you were still a sinner, Christ gave his life that you might live. God demonstrated the depth of his love for you by sending Jesus to die while you were still a slave to sin. At your lowest point, God loved you with an everlasting love. There is no need to cleanse or fix yourself before you run into the arms of God. There is no need to fake happiness or holiness with your heavenly Father. God loved you prior to clothing you with Christ. He will love you in the midst of every mistake you make, and he will love you whether or not you ever love him back. His wrath was satisfied with the death of Jesus so that you could come to him just as you are and simply experience his love.
Titus 3:4-5 says, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Take time in guided prayer to allow the Holy Spirit to wash you with regeneration and renewal. Allow God to cast out any fear or reservation that is keeping you from experiencing the fullness of his love. Allow him to establish a new foundation of grace on which you live with unshakable joy and security in the affections of your heavenly Father.
1. Meditate on the depth of God’s love for you. Allow the truth of his grace and mercy to settle in and change your perspectives.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
2. What keeps you from experiencing God’s love? What thought or wound holds you back from spending more time with your heavenly Father?
3. Allow God’s love to renew within you a longing to spend more time with him. Rest in his presence. Receive a fresh revelation of his goodness. Spend time with your heavenly Father just letting him love you.
It’s vital that as believers we are constantly checking the status of our mental and emotional health. A single lie planted in our mind has the power to steer us away from experiencing the fullness of God’s love. If you are having a hard time pursuing relationship with God, take some time to find out why. If you can’t seem to find joy, take time to do a mental and emotional inventory. May you experience freedom from whatever thought, belief, past or present event, worry, or doubt that is keeping you from the abundant life Jesus came to give you.
Extended Reading: Listen to A Guided Prayer for Negative Self Talk, a part of our Christian Prayers for Mental Health series.
Romans 5 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Romans 5-16.
May you experience freedom from whatever thought, belief, past or present event, worry, or doubt that is keeping you from the abundant life Jesus came to give you.
]]>5/3/2026 | God the Giver
Open your heart today in light of God’s love. Let go of anything holding you back from abundant life, and step forward with Jesus into fearless living.
In today’s devotional, we wrap up our week on God giving good gifts by looking at how God is the giver of courage. Fear is something that plagues us all in this life. But our Father’s way is better. The Lord wants to cast out all fear with his perfect love and empower you to live boldly, full of courage and confidence. Open your heart today in light of God’s love. Let go of anything holding you back from abundant life, and step forward with Jesus into fearless living.
“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
Psalm 27:14 ESV
Your portion as a child of the Most High God is a life filled with bravery and courage. The Lord desires to take what brings you fear and force it out with an infilling of courage rooted in the truth of his word for you. Open your heart and mind today to receive healing and transformation in the areas of fear, insecurity, and doubt. Allow God to come in and do a mighty work that frees you to live with joy, security, and courage.
In God we have a constant source of courage. Isaiah 43:2-3 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” Your heavenly Father is always with you. He will never leave nor forsake you. And in every situation, trial, and problem, he has a perfect plan to guide you into a lifestyle of strength, courage, and peace.
1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” God’s love has the power to drive out every source of insecurity and fear that plagues you. His loving presence fills every crevasse of our hearts, satiating and healing all our longings and wounds. His Spirit speaks truth where lies and wrong perspectives have led us away from life as sons and daughters of the King. And his word remains a constant reminder of the power and freedom available to those who trust in their God over their own feelings of weakness and insecurity.
Romans 8:15 says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!'” The death of Christ brought you a new Spirit. And it’s in that Spirit that we are now filled with new identity, new purpose, and new perspective. When you find yourself in a situation that would normally fill you with fear, call upon the power of the Spirit and ask him to fill you with fresh vision, strength, and courage. Renew your mind to the truth that you are no longer a citizen of this world and are not subject to the emotions, fears, doubts, and insecurities that come with it. You are now a child of the omnipotent, omnipresent, and fully loving Creator of all.
David wrote in Psalm 34:4, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.” May you seek the face of your heavenly Father today, press into the heart of God for all the healing and deliverance he longs to give you, and find yourself freed from the fears and insecurities that have held you back for far too long.
1. Meditate on your new portion as a child of God. Renew your mind to the truth of the courage and security available to you in Christ.
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7
2. Reflect on your life. What situations fill you with insecurity and fear? What person, past wound, or lie has left you crippled or afraid? Where do you need the courage and bravery of God today?
3. Rest in the presence of God, and allow his love to cast out fear and fill you with courage and truth.
May you have fresh vision for the abundant courage available to you in God. May you pursue wholeheartedly the transformation God longs to work in you. Don’t be content with less than God desires for you. Instead, passionately seek out the life Christ died to give you. Find courage, hope, and fulfillment today in the nearness and love of your heavenly Father.
Extended Reading: 1 John 4 or watch The Bible Project’s video on 1-3 John.
Find courage, hope, and fulfillment today in the nearness and love of your heavenly Father.
]]>5/2/2026 | God the Giver
May you experience the embrace of the Father today as you draw near.
In today’s First15, we’re going to explore and experience the ways God gives us strength. There is not much better than becoming aware of our weakness and being met by God’s strength and grace in the midst of it. God fills in all the places we lack, and he wants to hold you up and strengthen you today in your weakness. We can release the need to appear strong because we have a very strong God on our behalf. May you experience the embrace of the Father today as you draw near.
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73:26 ESV
The story of God’s people is one of God’s strength covering our weakness. Our heavenly Father takes our problems, sins, fears, and feebleness and uses them as opportunities to demonstrate the overwhelming power of his love. He takes those the world deems to be the weakest and uses them to accomplish incredible, powerful works. Isaiah 40:28-31 says:
Our God knows our frame. He knows that our bodies have come from dust and will one day return to their original form. He knows that without his help we accomplish nothing. But Paul’s declaration in Philippians 4:13 is just as true for you and me as it was for him: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” We can do all things through the anointing and power of our heavenly Father. We can tackle any obstacle that stands in our way because our God is perfectly strong in our weakness.
Where do you need the strength of God today? Where do you feel weak, powerless, or weary? Where do you need to run but only feel exhausted? Your lot is not to go through life living solely by your own power. You’ve been given a new identity as a son or daughter of the Most High God who desperately wants to clothe you with strength and teach you how to use the authority given to you by Jesus.
In God you can defeat the powers of sin and darkness that have held you back. In God you can accomplish the tasks set before you with joy, energy, and strength. And in God you can love and be loved to such a capacity that your very attitude, outlook, and emotions transform into reflections of your heavenly Father’s.
Spend time in prayer receiving the strength that comes from God alone. Allow him to fill you with fresh vision and align your perspective with his.
1. Meditate on God’s desire to fill you with strength.
2. Where do you need God’s strength today? Where do you feel weakest? Where do you need his power and anointing?
3. Ask God to fill you with the power of the Holy Spirit. Ask him to make his strength known to you. Allow your perspective and outlook to shift in light of God’s power and love.
“It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.” 2 Samuel 22:33-34, NIV
We are never meant to do life on our own. We are designed to be in connection to the strength of our heavenly Father in every situation, relationship, job, and trial. God longs to fill us with strength to accomplish the good work laid before us. He longs to make us strong in him. Don’t go throughout your day in your own strength. Instead, seek out the hand of your heavenly Father and allow him to help you today.
Extended Reading: Psalm 73 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Psalms.
Don’t go throughout your day in your own strength. Instead, seek out the hand of your heavenly Father and allow him to help you today.
]]>5/1/2026 | God the Giver
He has a plan for each of our lives, and he desires to partner with us to watch it unfold. May you find rest today in the direction God brings.
As we near the end of our week on God giving us good, heavenly gifts, we’re going to take time today to discover and reflect on the ways God gives us direction. Sometimes life can be confusing, and it is difficult to know which decisions to make. Thankfully, we have a Father who has sent his Spirit to speak and lead us through life’s winding paths. He has a plan for each of our lives, and he desires to partner with us to watch it unfold. May you find rest today in the direction God brings.
“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way.”
Psalm 37:23 ESV
Isaiah 48:17-18 offers a hopeful yet heart-wrenching promise of God. Scripture says, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” What would it be like to experience peace like a river? What would it feel like to float on a continual stream of rest and contentment? How would past circumstances have turned out differently if only we would have listened to the commandments of God? Isaiah makes it clear that a lifestyle of peace and righteousness is readily available to us if we will simply follow the Lord our God “who leads [us] in the way [we] should go.” Let’s open our hearts and minds to the Spirit of the living God today and ask him to mold and shape us into followers of his direction.
Psalm 32:8-9 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.” The Lord is faithful to give direction. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” God’s word illuminates the ways in which we should go physically, emotionally, and mentally. His word is designed to influence the ways we think, feel, and act. If we will choose to follow the direction offered to us in Scripture, we will discover a wellspring of peace and righteousness that completely drenches every part of our hearts with passion and purpose.
Scripture is also clear that God continues to speak to us and offer us direction straight from his voice. John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” All throughout the New Testament we see God’s people living and working by the direct word of the Lord. The Holy Spirit loves to speak to us and give us knowledge of his plans for us. Our job is to keep our ears open to him and to respond anytime he offers us direction. He longs to lead us daily into the incredible plans he has for us. He longs to direct us into abundant peace, joy, and purpose. As his sheep we must acknowledge the leadership of our Shepherd and trust in his guidance.
What situation lies before you today in which you need the direction of your all-knowing, loving heavenly Father? Where do you need peace and righteousness today? Where do you need your path illuminated? Dive into the word and God’s heart under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and search out his commandment for your life. Tune your ears to the frequency of God’s Spirit and listen to whatever he would say to you. May you discover the direction you need today as you pray.
1. Meditate on God’s desire and ability to offer you direction through his word and voice.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
2. Where do you need God’s direction today? Where do you need the peace that comes from knowing God’s will and desire for you?
3. Ask the Spirit to direct you right now, and dive into what God’s word says about your circumstances. Trust that God will speak to you perfectly because he loves you. He will make his will known to you if you ask him.
God never desires to send you out into this world on your own. He longs to establish you as a good follower of his direction. He longs to teach you how to live your life under the guidance of the Spirit and the word. Spend time receiving fresh revelation on what it looks like to follow your heavenly Father and receive his will. Ask him to guide you throughout your day today and teach you how to be a good follower.
Extended Reading: Psalm 32 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Psalms.
Ask him to guide you throughout your day today and teach you how to be a good follower.
]]>4/30/2026 | God the Giver
As you fix your eyes on Jesus and trust him, I pray you experience rich contentment today in God’s love and provision.
In today’s First15, we’re going to explore the way God gives us contentment in the midst of every season and place he plants us. May you walk in immense satisfaction today as you open your heart and mind to the Lord’s presence and truth. As you fix your eyes on Jesus and trust him, I pray you experience rich contentment today in God’s love and provision.
“The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied.”
Proverbs 19:23 ESV
In Philippians 4, Paul describes what he calls “the secret” to contentment. Scripture says, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13).
Similarly Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” Imagine a life of total contentment regardless of your possessions or status. Imagine the peace, joy, and strength you would find in this kind of freedom Paul experienced from the ways of the world. The question before you today is this: what is keeping you from living your life consistently and completely content?
Scripture is clear that true contentment transcends circumstances. True contentment is found apart from abundant provision. God longs to draw you into a lifestyle of situational transcendence. He longs to provide contentment for you on every level, but it will take surrendering your system of values and pursuits to experience the satisfaction of God’s perfect perspective. Contentment comes solely through a lifestyle of surrender.
The truth is, we consistently believe a lie that the world can offer us true contentment. We believe that the next purchase, friend, job, or hobby will satisfy foundational needs that can only find their fulfillment in God. We reach out to the world for help as if the world wasn’t in immense need already.
Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If your value lies in possessions and status, they will own you rather you owning them. If you search after the opinion of man above God’s, your contentment will come and go with the fleeting whims of those around you. But if you place your treasure with your heavenly Father, your heart will find its home in the loving arms of God.
If you will find the courage to surrender possessions, family, friends, jobs, and status today, you will find wonderful strength and contentment that transcends this world and finds its source in God alone. Spend time in prayer cutting your emotional ties to the world and placing your hope and trust in your heavenly Father alone.
1. Meditate on God’s desire to bring you contentment that transcends your circumstances.
“The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied.” Proverbs 19:23
2. Where have you been finding your contentment? What have you been seeking after to satisfy your emotional needs? Where have you placed your treasure?
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
3. Repent of any area in which you have been pursuing the ways of the world, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you value what he values. Ask him how he feels about your possessions and to give you the courage to give away or sell anything that is keeping you from reaching contentment. All that God would lead you to do is perfect and absolutely for your best interest.
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
When it comes down to it, what’s more valuable than contentment, peace, joy, fulfillment, and love? What possession, friend, job, or status is of greater value than what God has to offer us? The world seeks contentment from avenues which only ever lead to greater need. God has placed before you the avenue of surrender and promised an unconditional and limitless supply of contentment if you will simply take his hand and trust and follow him. May you gain the perfect perspective of your heavenly Father today and pursue the contentment that comes from him alone.
Extended Reading: Matthew 6 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Matthew 1-13.
May you gain the perfect perspective of your heavenly Father today and pursue the contentment that comes from him alone.
]]>4/29/2026 | God the Giver
We all need peace in this chaotic world, and thankfully God has an abundance of it, which he wants to lavish on his children.
As we continue our series on God the Giver of Gifts, we’re going to take time today to look at the peace God is faithful to give. We all need peace in this chaotic world, and thankfully God has an abundance of it, which he wants to lavish on his children. Open your heart today, be still, and take in the peace of heaven.
“Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints.”
Psalm 85:8 ESV
Peace is a commodity that can only be found with time spent seeking the face of God. The world can’t offer us peace because it has nothing in which to place its hope, trust, and security. Kingdoms come and go. Leaders move in and out of power. What societies value changes like the passing of the tides. Our only constant is God. He has been, is, and forever will be the Creator, Sustainer, and Lord of all. All authority has been given to him. He governs the change of seasons. He thwarts the plans of our enemy. And he longs to offer total and sustained peace to all who place their hope and trust in him.
Isaiah 26:3 says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Our God has peace in store for us in every situation if we will choose to keep our mind stayed on him and trust him. The world says that peace can only come when you’ve worked your fingers to the bone and have finally attained all you want. You can only have peace when you have enough money, friends, the right job, or the right spouse. You can only have peace if friends, family, and bosses like you. God’s way is to draw you into himself and offer you peace in the midst of your circumstances. He doesn’t want you to wait until everything gets worked out before you can have rest—he’s offering you rest right now.
Psalm 23 says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul . . . . You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (Psalm 23:1-3, 5). God longs to prepare a table for you in the midst of whatever trouble surrounds you. He is calling you to keep your mind stayed on him no matter what lies before you. And he is asking you to seek his face and find your rest in him rather than toiling and striving for circumstantial peace.
Romans 8:6 says, “To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” It’s by the Spirit alone that you will find life and peace. Stop looking for your fulfillment in the things of the world. Stop asking the world to offer you what it never had to begin with. Look toward your heavenly Father for the peace that surpasses all understanding. May you be filled with rest and peace today as you spend time in prayer seeking the face of God.
1. Meditate on the truth that God is your sole source of peace and rest. Allow God’s word to mold and shape your perspective.
“To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:6
2. Where have you been running to for peace? Have you had much peace and rest in your life lately? Acknowledging your past pursuits will help you make present changes.
3. Seek the peace that comes from placing your hope and trust in God alone. Ask the Spirit to fill you with peace in the midst of your circumstances. Let your requests be known to God, and receive the peace that comes from casting your burdens on the loving and capable shoulders of your heavenly Father.
You will be robbed of peace as soon as you turn your trust away from God and begin to live in your own strength. The only source of consistent peace is keeping your mind stayed on God. You can trust in the reality of God’s desire and ability to help you. You can wait on him if he tells you to wait. You can move when he tells you to move. Offer your understanding, actions, and emotions to him, and allow him to be Lord over them all today.
Extended Reading: Psalm 23 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Psalms.
The only source of consistent peace is keeping your mind stayed on God.
]]>4/28/2026 | God the Giver
May that truth bring you immense peace and comfort as you experience his presence.
Today as we continue to explore ways God is a wonderful, giving Father, we’re going to focus on the delivering power of God to set the captive free and rescue his people. Wherever you find yourself today, know that God is a safe rescue and the deliverer of our souls. He loves you mightily and is working on your behalf at all times. May that truth bring you immense peace and comfort as you experience his presence.
“You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.”
Psalm 32:7 ESV
Our God, who delivered Daniel from the clutches of ferocious lions, David from countless pursuers, Israel from the entire nation of Egypt, and Lazarus from four days of death, promises to deliver us from whatever schemes the world has set against us. 2 Samuel 22:2-4 says, “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 and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”
When we call upon the Lord our God, he works in mighty, mysterious, and perfect ways. God is perfectly able to do any and every work it takes to deliver us. Whether you need deliverance from sin, affliction, lies, or sickness, God has the power and desire to deliver you. He is both mighty and loving. He is both mysterious and real. He is both servant and King. And he sees your need and longs to meet you exactly where you are.
What enemy comes against you today? What stress, circumstance, sickness, or sin seems to have entangled you? The Lord says to you, “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” (Psalm 91:14-16). Hold fast to the hand of your heavenly Father. Don’t just put your head down and muscle through whatever circumstance is before you. Instead, call on your Great Deliverer, place your hand in his, and allow him to guide you, equip you, and empower you for whatever stands in your way.
God loves to take the very circumstance that seemed insurmountable and use it to reveal to you the reality of his power and love. He loves to take the walls of Jericho that seem to stand between you and your dreams and cast down the enemy that you couldn’t defeat on your own.
Psalm 32:7 says, “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” God is surrounding you with his shouts today. The question is, will you have the patience and faith to pause, open your ears, listen, and follow wherever he leads you?
Spend time in prayer allowing God to deliver you, protect you, comfort you, guide you, and give you peace.
1. Meditate on God’s desire and ability to deliver you from whatever lies before you today.
2. Reflect on your own life. Where do you need deliverance today? Ask the Spirit to give you revelation about an area from which he wants to deliver you.
3. Spend time in God’s presence opening your ears to hear all that he would speak to you. Ask God to deliver you. Pray boldly that your heavenly Father would come through for you in mighty and miraculous ways.
Keep your eyes open today to take notice of all the different ways God answers your prayer. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” God will deliver you because he loves you, and his nature does not change. If he delivered Lazarus, the Israelites, David, and Daniel, he will deliver you. Have confidence in the love and power of your heavenly Father today.
Extended Reading: Psalm 34 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Psalms.
Have confidence in the love and power of your heavenly Father today.
]]>4/27/2026 | God the Giver
Everything he gives us satisfies, transforms, and leads us to abundant life.
Our heavenly Father is the giver of every good gift. This week in the First15 devotional we’re going to explore the different gifts only God can give. His mercies are vast, powerful, and real. His love has the ability to completely overwhelm and satisfy every one of our needs. Everything he gives us satisfies, transforms, and leads us to abundant life. As we spend this week stirring up our affections toward God, allow your heart to become soft and open. Allow his loving character to draw you close and provide life to every dry and weary place in your soul.
Isaiah 66:13 ESV
Isaiah 66:13 says, “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you.” Your heavenly Father is the God of comfort. When the world takes its toll on you, he longs to wrap you in his loving embrace and bring you comfort to cover all your pain. In the face of trials and tribulations, he desires to provide you comfort in the fact that he works all things for your good. And when everything seems bent against you, he longs to sing comfort over you as he fills you with the joy and foundation of his presence.
Jeremiah 31:13-14 says, “‘Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,’ declares the Lord.” God is in the business of turning what your enemies meant for evil into the very source of your joy. He loves to transform what was once your greatest sorrow into a reason for gladness. He longs to lead you to a life of abundance and satisfaction when the world around you seems to be dry, weary, and depleted.
God is calling out to you, “Come to me . . . and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He is beckoning you to open your heart to him and receive the comfort only he can provide. Sometimes opening our hearts to him can be difficult. To have our wounds be truly comforted and healed requires allowing him to come and speak to the vulnerable and sore places of our hearts. We all have wounds deep down that we have worked tirelessly to keep hidden from others and even ourselves. We all have areas of our lives that seem to hurt too greatly to bring up again, even if the very act of bringing them to the surface will be our source of healing.
When God beckons you to open up the hurt places in your life to him, know that he will only ever speak love, mercy, and forgiveness. And know that after he gets done comforting you, the area that used to be a harmful wound will be a continual source of joy, gladness, and abundant life.
Open your heart to your heavenly Father today as you pray. Allow the Spirit to guide you to wounds that need to be comforted and healed. Allow him to wrap you up in his loving presence and guide you into the abundant life he intends for you.
1. Meditate on God’s desire and ability to comfort your every hurt. Reflect on his promise to provide you rest where you are weary.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
2. Ask the Spirit to guide you to areas of your heart that need to be comforted and healed. What past or present afflictions have wounded you? What’s at the source of your mourning, sorrow, or pain? What does God long to heal today?
3. Ask God to show you how he feels about the person, situation, or belief that wounded you. Ask him to show you where he was through it all. Spend time in his presence, allowing him to speak and provide comfort and healing. Spend as long as it takes for your hurt to be comforted.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” As you receive healing and comfort, God will use you to provide healing and comfort to others. God loves to use those who were broken and now healed to guide others to the place of comfort. Look for those suffering from an area in which God has healed you and comfort them with the comfort you have been shown by your heavenly Father.
Extended Reading: Jeremiah 31 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Jeremiah.
Look for those suffering from an area in which God has healed you and comfort them with the comfort you have been shown by your heavenly Father.
]]>4/26/2026 | God's Character
May the weights and cares of the world fall off of your shoulders today as you set out to seek the heart of your good and loving Father.
In today’s First15, we’re going to respond to God’s open invitation to seek his face. God desires to meet with you just as you are. So great was his desire for real, restored relationship with you, that he would send his only Son. May the weights and cares of the world fall off of your shoulders today as you set out to seek the heart of your good and loving Father.
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah 29:13 ESV
There is a misconception in Christianity that we cannot tangibly encounter our heavenly Father. Often we’re taught that we are too broken, dirty, or sinful to experience God. We’re told that experiencing God is only for some people, or only for some nations and cultures. Or maybe as a result of a lack of experiencing God in the past we believe that we are made without something that allows us to encounter God. Maybe we believe that encountering God is for other people, but not for us. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We encounter God because he desires to be encountered, not because we possess some special ability. We encounter God because he longs for us to know him, not because we are more holy than someone else. You see, encountering God is entirely based on his grace and love for us.
In Jeremiah 29:13 God promises us, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” All that is required of us to experience God is time and energy set aside to seek him. Let that truth settle into your heart for a moment. Allow your beliefs about encountering God to be renewed by his word. You can undoubtedly experience the living, active, and most high God right now because he desires for you to. He longs for you to experience him. His greatest desire is for his children to walk in the fullness of relationship available to them. He gets excited about the idea of tangibly revealing himself to you. He is filled with joy at the idea that you would experience all the love he has in his heart for you.
Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus did what no one else could. He made a way for us to tangibly experience our heavenly Father. Nothing can separate us from the love of our heavenly Father because Jesus has restored us completely into the fold of God. The curtain of the holy of holies was torn in two. The manifest presence of God was released by the sacrifice of Jesus for all the children of God to experience.
What do you feel is in the way of you experiencing your heavenly Father today? What past experience or present thoughts are keeping you from seeking God with all your heart? May Hebrews 10:19-22 guide you into a powerful encounter with your loving heavenly Father who desires for you to experience him today:
1. Meditate on God’s desire for you to encounter him. Take a few moments to reflect on the passionate pursuit of God as revealed in Acts 17 where Paul writes,
2. Reflect on your own life. What do you believe stands between you and experiencing your heavenly Father? What sin do you believe has separated you from him? What belief has kept you from seeking God? What lie have you believed?
3. Allow Scripture to stir your confidence to seek the face of God. Believe Scripture over past experiences or beliefs in response to the truth that God desires for you to seek him! Take a moment to simply rest in the presence of your God who loves to be near to you.
Hebrews 10:19-22 says:
The enemy’s greatest desire for those of us already saved is to keep us from walking in the fullness of what God intends for his children. Satan can’t keep us from eternal life with God, but he can keep us from experiencing the abundant life available to us here. He knows God’s greatest desire is for relationship with us, so he will stop at nothing to keep God from having his desires satisfied. May your life be one marked by the fullness of what’s available to you in Christ. May you be a child of God who consistently and fully experiences the love of your heavenly Father.
Extended Reading: Acts 17:22-34 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Acts 13-28.
May your life be one marked by the fullness of what’s available to you in Christ. May you be a child of God who consistently and fully experiences the love of your heavenly Father.
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