Source: Ken Costa
Easter

Scripture:
Luke 24:44-49 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah[a] is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses[b] of these things. 49 And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

At the cross, the decisive event in human history has taken place. It is the pivotal point of the greatest reversal ever known: the place where sin, death, and the powers of this world were defeated, once and for all. There is nothing more central to the Christian life than this. But we can’t stop here. The cross of Jesus doesn’t only eliminate the problems of sin and death, nor does it only answer humanity’s longing for God; it also marks the prophetic fulfilment of the countdown to a brand new community. This is a community that truly knows the power of joy. Not the downcast, grim, killjoy Christian of popular thought; it is the opposite. This is a community empowered like no other then or since to change the world in which we live by being changed ourselves.
All Christians now have a mandate to fulfil and the power to achieve it. And to miss this would be to form an anaemic picture of what was achieved at the cross. Through the cross we enter day one of a new era in history. The inauguration of a new dawn is followed and fulfilled by the resurrection and the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost. Taken together, these three events—the cross, the resurrection, and the giving of the Holy Spirit—initiate and empower our agenda for change in the world.
The prophecy of the Old Testament has been fulfilled and its fulfilment leads to our fulfilment as purposeful human beings, released into the world by God.
We are to be in the world, changing it to be more aligned with the message of the good news of Jesus. But we are not of it. For the cross to be a victory, its power must give us the strength to face the demands and pressures of life’s battles and to understand at a deeper level the nature of those battles. The threefold cross, resurrection, and giving of the Spirit is the engine we need to be released into fulfilled lives of sacrifice, service, love, and purpose—to be agents of change in the world. But first, perhaps this is the moment to ask God to come and bring about the change in you that will enable you to be the change you pray for.
Prayer:
The cross stands above it all. Lord, today, I want to be reoriented. I stand, with all who follow you, at the foot of the towering cross, and I allow its power to reach wide and deep into every corner of my life that I might be oriented away from the self and reach out with power, purpose, love, and grace wherever you may call me, amen.

Source: Ken Costa

Scripture:
John 19:41-42 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

John 20:1 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
The Resurrection of Jesus
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

Joseph voluntarily asked for Jesus’ body. It wasn’t forced upon him; he didn’t draw the short straw. He experienced this burden due to his own volition and choice. Was it that he wanted to honor Jesus, even in His death? To follow Him, even to the point of His finality? I believe that this is such an important and profound point to dwell on. When we sign up to a life of following Jesus, we have to accept that we will experience the glory of the resurrection as well as the burden of the crucifixion. But for all of us, there are Saturdays when all we have is the weight and the burden of taking the body of Christ onto our own frames.

Like Joseph of Arimathea, we carry the dead weight of Christ. In His case, it was literal, but, in our case, we carry the weight within our very beings. We perhaps bear the silence of God at times of stress in our lives and relationships. We long to hear God’s voice and see His light, but His absence feels like a lifeless weight bearing down on our souls in the shadows. Joseph of Arimathea carried the corpse of Christ, and bore the accompanying silence, even though he did not know that Resurrection Sunday was around the corner.

We carry Christ in our hearts, and sometimes the weight of this burden is so substantial that we are left forlorn, downcast, and hopeless. This is the “in-between” Saturday part of our faith. We must acknowledge that faith isn’t just Good Friday and Easter Sunday, faith is the silence of Saturday too. In his book  A Glorious Dark  , Dr. A. Swoboda wrote, “So much is sitting in that tomb with the soon-to-be resurrected Lord. It is so dark. So cold. So scary. The silence is deafening. But there is hope in there.” “Immanuel, God with us” is as much true in the darkness of the tomb as it is when the sun rises and the stone is rolled away. Jesus entered His tomb alone and forlorn, but He didn’t stay there. Jesus welcomes us into the hope that Sunday is coming, that He is coming. And that changes everything.

Prayer:
Lord, on my silent Saturdays, today or whenever they come, I choose not to inch. I choose to say with Mary Magdalene that you are still my Lord. And I trust that after every Saturday comes Sunday, after the crucifixion is resurrection, and after death is life. Come, Lord Jesus, amen.  

Source: Ken Costa

Scripture:
Galatians 2:19-20 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,[a] who loved me and gave himself for me.

The longing for freedom is deeply ingrained in all our lives. I lived the earlier part of my life in a country where freedom was severely curtailed; the prevailing corrupted belief was that racial segregation was the foundation of true freedom, and countless lives were lost to that end each day. When I left South Africa and came to study in England, the contrast was striking. I had come from a tinderbox atmosphere, unrest bubbling under the surface of life, and here was total ease; here was freedom. But was it true freedom? The freedom for which Christ died for us?

The message of the cross is freedom from sin’s penalty the permanent destruction of a relationship with God and, in a typically strange and paradoxical way, it presents us with a free ticket to a new way of living. We don’t have to keep plodding down the same old paths; we’ve been offered a new road, with new views and a glorious new horizon.

Many of us feel trapped by what the Bible calls strongholds, an unusual word to describe patterns of behaviour and cycles of thought that seem to have us in their grip. We find ourselves obsessed by gaining status or possessions or power; or we feel permanently mean-spirited, insecure, and jealous, unable to rejoice at a friend’s success; or we know that we are addicted to pornography or even to work.

Even as Christians, we can continue to live bound up by these things, behaving as though Christianity is not good news. Are you constantly battling with anxiety, worry, lust, anger, a lack of hope, or despondency? Do these patterns of behaviour make you feel as though you have no control over your life? If you answered yes to one or all of these questions, then you need to come back to the reality of that freedom purchased for you at the cross.

The power of the Spirit flows from the cross, frees us from the chains of sin and death, and unlocks our prison door. The power of the Spirit is unleashed with astonishing force through the apparent folly of the cross. The prayer that rises from my heart is this: may you come to know for the first time or in a new way, in surpassing and abundant measure, the freedom that is yours in the powerful love of Jesus Christ crucified.

Prayer:
Lord, thank you that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. As we walk in grace we have not earned, help us to show the power of your love to others that they, too, might be set free. We receive your freedom, and we commit to use it to serve you and serve each other to your glory, by the power of your Spirit, amen.

Source: Ken Costa

Scripture
Luke 23:34-43 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
[34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”][a] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35 And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah[b] of God, his chosen one!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him,[c] “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding[d] him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah?[e] Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into[f] your kingdom.” 43 He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Jesus had been betrayed by one of his own disciples for thirty pieces of silver. He had been arrested, interrogated, and tried with falsified evidence by the Jewish ruling council of his day. Peter, who was his most vocal supporter, had denied him, and Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas had questioned his motives and authenticity. He had been whipped profusely, mocked with profanity, and paraded around as a laughing stock: a fake king with a crown of thorns on his head. Not only that, but he had been forced to carry the very instrument of his own execution on his back. If we imagine ourselves in Jesus’ position, looking down at the crowd whose schemes and strategies had put us there, what would our first words be? Would they be words of mercy and grace?

The words that fell from Jesus’ parched lips were: “Father, forgive them.” Instead of asking God to give his killers their just deserts, Jesus asked him to bestow complete forgiveness on them. Jesus interceded on behalf of the people who were torturing him, and at Golgotha he modeled the words he had shared again and again in his earthly ministry: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). And that’s what he is still doing more than two thousand years later. From the throne room of heaven, Jesus is not accusing us but is standing as our advocate and interceding on our behalf.

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). His last words were a prayer. He could have prayed, “Father, forgive them their sins.” After all, he forgave others their sins. Had he meant, “Forgive them their sins,” though, he would have prayed it. Instead, the connotation seems different, more gentle. Jesus recognized that they were unknowing. At the cross there is the strangest and most beautiful encounter—a once-for-all meeting of human beings at their worst and God at his best. Father, forgive them—they are doing the best they know how. And by placing ourselves within the loving mercy of these words, we are released with the most extraordinary grace. Now is a great moment to ask God to bring to mind anything ugly you’d like to be rid of failures, short-comings, bad attitudes, messed-up relationships—and in repentance and gratitude, ask Jesus to exchange them for his righteousness.

Prayer:
Lord, how can I thank you for what you have done for me on the cross? Thank you that you have exchanged my sins for salvation and my meaninglessness for purpose. Give me a humble heart to receive your forgiveness and a grateful heart to know that I am now—today—clothed in your righteousness, amen. 

Source: Ken Costa

Scripture:
John 19:28-30 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

It is finished!” says Jesus. He says it’s complete. It’s done. It’s not about you being good. It’s about God being good. His love will always surpass our love. We are reassured beyond doubt and for all time. What power is in those three simple words, and the power of “It is finished.”

To me, this is such a relief. As I think about all the competing demands for my time and attention, all my mixed motivations, my dreams and desires, if I heard Jesus say to me, “Make yourself worthy of my sacrifice; earn it,” that would slowly crush me. I would struggle under the weight of it. But if I wake up and spend time in his presence daily and hear him say on the cross, “It is finished,” then that frees me from trying to earn his approval, trying to earn his love, and instead I can respond with thankfulness, because his love is the greatest motivator I can ever imagine.
Or maybe you have come to a point in your life when you feel that it is finished, or even that you are finished. The end of a relationship, the end of a job or a career, the end of a phase or a stage or a season of your life— none of these is the end of you. That part of the process and of your life may be finished. But it doesn’t mean that you are finished.

We must remind ourselves that the cross has already determined the fate of these forces of evil. We may not see it immediately, but ultimately good will triumph. Piece by piece, in myriad individual struggles against difficult circumstances, the right side wins. The final triumph may arrive on the back of the countless small battles fought day-to-day by those who trust in the blood of Jesus Christ, as they work to see Christ’s kingdom come in their own lives and in the lives of people they meet.

Let the words it is finished fill our minds and hearts as we face our battles, and hold tight, for whether in this life or in the next, the dawn of the Resurrection Day will come. It is finished. It’s done. It’s time to go from partly living to fully living. In him. With him. For him. Hold tight. Trust God. Be hopeful.

Prayer:
Lord, thank you that we don’t have to earn it. Thank you that what you did is complete. Thank you for offering us through the cross a bridge to a new life - life in all its fullness. I’m ready for it. Thank you for always being ready for me, amen. 

Source: Ken Costa

Scripture:
Matthew 27:46 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We hear the torment in his cry. Jesus is, for the first time, separated from God. But still he says, “My God.” All of us know times of darkness, though for some of us it’s darker than for others. Abandonment, loneliness, fear, grief, rejection, and pain. And in response at times, only divine silence. Just like Jesus. Perhaps all we can manage, with him, is “My God, my God, my God.” But the same Holy Spirit who armed the loving relationship between Father and Son in the waters of the Jordan River is present in the garden of Gethsemane and even at that moment of agony and abandonment on the cross. However dark things are, we can still say, “Come, Holy Spirit!”  

The curtain was ripped in two. There is now no barrier between us and God. All of us can come into his presence. That’s you. And me. And now. And always. All we need to do is take a step forward.

The forsakenness of Christ has become a promise of God’s eternal presence. He is with us. And so it is that we embrace the mystery, the paradox at the heart of the cross: that in Christ’s experience of being God-forsaken, we know we need never face suffering alone. If you are going through a period of darkness and it feels as if God has abandoned you, don’t let it drive you to despair. God is with you through divorce, he is with you through failure, he is with you through bereavement, through disappointment, through fear and guilt and shame. He is with you through the deepest despair and the most savage betrayal. Let me encourage you with the promises of Scripture: if God is letting you go through the valley and you are in a time of great testing where you feel separated from him, you can be absolutely certain that even this separation cannot ultimately frustrate God’s grand scheme and story.

Jesus promised: “Never will I leave you, nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). Therefore, one thing is without doubt. If you are feeling isolated, alone, and abandoned, there will come a time when God will reveal himself to you again. And when that happens, you will come out more mature in your faith and with a much stronger sense of who God is and how much he cares about you.

Prayer:
Lord, we know that you have suffered for us, you have suffered like us, and you suffer with us. And we know that your time of abandonment was our promise of your presence. And, as we thank you, we pray for an increasing awareness of you with us, Amen.

Source: Ken Costa
Scripture:
1 Corinthians 1:18 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.


When Dietrich Bonhoeffer reflected on the meaning of the cross he concluded: “A king who dies on the cross must be the king of a rather strange kingdom.” After all, everything about Jesus’ life was counter to the kingdom that his contemporaries were expecting and the empire that Rome had established. Perhaps, therefore, it is not so unusual that the nature of his kingdom would be “strange” to modern-day sensibilities? Even easier to reject. Especially a kingdom where the king suffers in apparent foolish weakness.

Brennan Manning said: ‘Jesus entered our world as the music man, but the world was disturbed by his song. . . . ‘ But did the nails silence the music? Could it be that, in those nails, God succeeded in putting into operation his new creation and plan for the world? Could it be that, in those nails, a new kind of music could be heard?

Anyone who looks at the cross as a single screenshot on the monitor of their mind will think God is not loving or powerful but cruel and unfeeling. But when we see the cross as a part of the whole story, we will see it as a shining tile in the divine mosaic that is the story of God.

That this tile reveals to us that God is not waiting for us on the other side of suffering. He understands its significance and meets us in the midst of our suffering. We may never know why God allows suffering, but we know that God allows his heart to break as we suffer. To those who do believe, to those who embrace the foolishness, Jesus opens up a new reality that transforms the poverty of our nature by the riches of his grace. It is in this strange kingdom that we find grace that lays its arm down a wooden beam and never stops reaching out to bring us eternal life.
Our faith and our calling do not rest in human wisdom, but in the power of God. This means we must pray daily for this kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. It is an invitation for us to take up our cross, the apparent foolishness of it and the scorn that may come because of it, and confront the world’s foolish power with the fact there is a different way of wielding power. Defined and characterized by love.

Prayer:
Lord, thank you that there is nowhere and no one beyond the reach of your love. I ask that you would empower me to resist the wisdom of the world and to live for you and for others by the foolishness of the cross. Amen.

Scripture:
Luke 19:28-41 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying,
“Blessed is the king
    who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
    and glory in the highest heaven!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it,

Isaiah 55:6-12 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found,
    call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake their way,
    and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
    and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 For you shall go out in joy,
    and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
    shall burst into song,
    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.



Devotional“Hosanna!” was the word that began the most explosive 7 days in all of eternity. Never would there be a week, nor a word, that would so profoundly impact every life in recorded history.

It was Passover week in Jerusalem and nearly 2.5 million people were crowding the streets of this ancient city. All adult Jewish males were required to come to Jerusalem three times a year with Passover being one of those times. What a week for the presentation of a King!

As Jesus rode through the jammed streets, the mass of humanity threw their cloaks on the way ahead of Him. Fittingly, such was the historical way that a population would welcome their victorious king home from battle.

This exuberant crowd also cut branches from trees along the way and threw them in front of the King on His donkey. They waved the branches high above their heads as they proclaimed, “Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

These people were worshippers! They were declaring, “Everything that we have is Yours, Jesus!”

Are you a worshipper?

When Jesus enters our life, our Jerusalem, we must respond with whole-hearted obedience and genuine praise. We must enter into an experience of worship so dynamic that it causes us to sacrifice our comfort and tradition.

Has the presence of Jesus Christ caused a genuine stir in your life? Have you responded to His triumphant procession with the reckless abandon of absolute worship?

When confronted with the Kingship of Jesus Christ, many of us hold back and refuse to change our style of worship. A genuine experience with the Son of God ought to cause an expression of worship that goes beyond ... way beyond ... the official structure of acceptable worship.

As we prepare our hearts and lives for His death and resurrection, we must first join with the voices of history and declare passionately and sincerely, “Hosanna in the highest!

Source: First5
God Promises His Strength

Scripture: Isaiah 41:10 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
do not fear, for I am with you,
    do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
    I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.

Devotional:
Creator God in his infinite wisdom and love chose to create mankind knowing full well that we would choose our ways over his. We’re made with a terrible capacity to live out of our own strength. As a result, we see in both Scripture and our own lives incredible failures—examples of our collective weakness played out before our very eyes. We see it in the declining morality of society. We see it in the very lives of those around us that just can’t seem to get it together. Weakness seems to be threaded into the very fabric of our world. The world is plagued by the weakness of those who inhabit it.

But, the Bible also contains incredible stories of the victories of God’s people. The list goes on and on: Moses and the Egyptians, David and Goliath, Samson and the Philistines, and the early church spreading the gospel across the world despite insurmountable odds. And along with all the stories of victory, Scripture also contains many stories of failure. So, what made the difference? What separates the stories of success from the stories of failure? The difference is found in the people of God allowing God to be their strength. Success in Scripture came solely when God was made strong in man’s weakness.

Psalm 103:13-14 says, “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” God created us. He knows our weakness. He knows that apart from him we can do nothing. But the beauty of the gospel is that as believers we are no longer apart from him. Through the death of Jesus, we are now one with Christ, wrapped up in his story of redemption. We have been saved from having to do life on our own, in our own strength.

Your heavenly Father says to you today, “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” (Isaiah 41:10). Your God is the same God of David, Samson, Paul, and John. The success that they had was the direct result of their choosing God’s strength over their own. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Paul chose to boast of his weakness because he knew of the steadfast strength of God in his own life. He knew that his success was solely by the strength of his God.
Your heavenly Father promises his strength to you today. Just as he worked to help Paul spread the gospel, just as he helped David slay the giant Goliath, he desires to help you today in whatever lies ahead. Acknowledge your weakness but at the same time, hold fast to the the knowledge of the incredible strength of your heavenly Father. Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “He will not leave you or forsake you.” The strength of God is always with you. All you have to do is choose his ways over your own. Live in light of the revelation of your own weakness and God’s strength, and you will experience the power of the Creator of the universe working directly in your own life.

Source: First5
God Promises His Will

Scripture:
Ephesians 1:9-10 The Message (MSG)
7-10 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

Devotional:
In the life of Jesus, God illustrated not only his nearness to us, but his desire to co-labor with us in his plans of redemption for all peoples, all generations and all of creation. And within God’s desire to partner with us on the earth lies an incredible promise he makes to his people: God promises to share with us the knowledge of his will. An incredible example of God sharing his will with his people is displayed in Ephesians 1:7-12:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

Paul tells us that God, through the death of Jesus, revealed the mystery of his will to his people. Jesus’ death tells us of God’s incredible plan to reconcile everything around us to himself. God’s plan set throughout the ages revealed itself in Jesus’ actions. However, Scripture doesn’t only describe a single time God revealed the mystery of his will. The Bible is clear that God desires for his people to continually know his will.

Romans 12:1-2 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” In the renewing of your mind to God’s truth, you position yourself to continually discern the “good and acceptable and perfect” will of God. How amazing! Not only does God want you to know his will, but he’s given you an incredible tool to do so in the renewing of your mind.

Take time today to seek his will through Scripture, listening to the Holy Spirit and seeking counsel from those who are in tune with God’s heart. Allow him to reveal his will in whatever way he desires. Spend time in his presence letting him reveal the desires of his heart. And align yourself with his unceasing faithfulness as he speaks and leads you throughout your day. May you discern the “good and acceptable and perfect” will of God today as you spend time in guided prayer.

Source: First5
The Faithfullness of God

Scripture: Numbers 23:19 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
19 God is not a human being, that he should lie,
    or a mortal, that he should change his mind.
Has he promised, and will he not do it?
    Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Devotional:
Numbers 23:19 describes a foundational aspect of God’s character, his faithfulness. Scripture says, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” As believers, we need a revelation of God’s faithfulness. Being able to fully trust God is the beginning of living an abundant life. If you don’t fully believe that God is faithful to lead you into the best possible life you could live, then you won’t seek out his will, trust him with your possessions, or be able to fully enjoy his presence.

God’s word promises us in Numbers 23:19 that God is perfectly faithful, steadfast, and true. Philippians 1:6 says, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Romans 8:28 promises, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Your God is wholly faithful to you. No matter what you do, he will be there for you. His faithfulness isn’t dependent upon your works. All he requires is a willing heart to bring about the incredible fruit of the Spirit in your life.

You aren’t meant to live life apart from the knowledge of God’s faithfulness. You aren’t meant to live with the weight of doing life on your own. Man may fail you, but your God will not. Family and friends may not be there when you need them, but your God will always be there for you.
Where do you feel on your own? In what ways do you need a fresh revelation of God’s faithfulness? He promises to be true to you. He promises to see you through any situation you find yourself in. Isaiah 54:10 says, “‘For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,’ says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” Faithfulness is foundational to the very character of God. God’s steadfast love for you is more sure than the very ground you walk on.

So respond to God’s faithfulness today. Let his promises steady the parts of your life that feel unsure. As you step outside today, take time to look at the world around you. Think about the things you’ve put your trust in. And remember, God promises that his faithfulness will outlast anything your eyes can see. May your affections for him be stirred today. May you respond to his faithfulness with your own. And may you experience the love and joy of a Father who loves you perfectly and completely.

Source: First5
Being the Child of God

Scripture
Galatians 4:6-7 The Message (MSG)
4-7 But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

Devotional:
You are the child of God, brought into his family by the power and grace of Jesus’ sacrifice for you. As believers, we hear we are God’s children. But often we don’t live our lives in response to that truth and instead live out of the mindset of an orphan. Children don’t worry when they have a good father. They don’t wonder if they’ll be able to eat, if they’re loved or if they have a place in this world. The unconditional love of a parent lays a foundation for them to have secure peace and joy. Your God desires the same for you. God wants to lay an unshakable foundation for you based solely on his love for you as his child so that when the storms come and waves crash over you, you remain strong in your identity.

First, let’s look at what Scripture says about you, and then take some time to respond to God’s word in faith. John 1:12-13 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Galatians 4:6-7 says, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Finally, 2 Corinthians 6:18 says, “And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” Through adoption into God’s family you are now a co-heir with Christ. Romans 8:17 says that we are God’s children, “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” You were born again into God’s family when you asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior.

So what does it mean to be God’s child? What does it mean to be a co-heir with Christ? It means that all that is God’s is yours. He shares with you his kingdom. You have a Father who gives you amazing gifts. You have a Father who absolutely loves spending time with you. Your heavenly Dad’s love for you knows no bounds. His love is pervasive, powerful, and freely given. You no longer need to worry about whether you have a place in this world. There’s no need to concern yourself with whether you will have clothes or food. You no longer have to live in pursuit of the opinions of those around you. God enjoys you. He has a plan for you. He doesn’t take being your Father lightly. He takes complete ownership of his responsibility. He will strengthen you, teach you, develop you, and give you a life of passion and meaning. To be the child of God is to be loved, liked, and completely cared for.

So how can you live in response to God’s word? How can you get out of the mindset of an orphan? You must have faith that God is who he says he is and believe he will do what he’s promised to do. Romans 10:17 says that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” You have heard the word of the Lord today. You are his child. He promises to provide for you. So have faith! Faith isn’t something you just conjure up. It’s a response to God’s faithfulness. God has and will be faithful to you. Allow his word to stir up faith within you today. Live in response to his promises and allow the peace and joy of being God’s child to lay an unshakable foundation for you today.

Source: First5
Dinner with your Creator

Scripture:
Revelation 3:20-21 The Message (MSG)
20-21 “Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That’s my gift to the conquerors!

Devotional:
Revelation 3:20 reveals amazing insight into the relationship God desires with us, his crown of creation. In it Jesus 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.” Do you know that God wants to be friends with you? Just as a friend would ask you out to a meal, God longs to spend time with you. Every day God is knocking on the door of your heart. If you are willing to open your heart to him and listen, you can spend time with God in ways more boundless and satisfying than you could with any other friend.

Where in your life do you need God’s friendship today? John 15:15 says, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” The story of the gospel is God losing relationship with the crown of his creation, you and me, and through the death of Jesus gaining restored relationship with us. He has been working tirelessly from the very first sin just to be able to call you and me friends again. What you desire from friends around you is completely available to you in God and to even greater depths!

If you need a friend to talk to, God is standing at the door of your heart asking to come in and listen—“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” If you need advice, the Holy Spirit who authored Scripture is waiting to reveal to you the wisdom of God—“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13). If you need to laugh, God longs to bring you unfathomable joy—“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad” (Psalm 126:1-3).

You have a best friend in God. He is not distant. What was true for the psalmist in Psalm 73:23-26 is true for us, “I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Spend time in God’s presence today. Listen to him knocking on the door of your heart and invite him to come in and meet with you. Let his friendship heal the broken places of your heart that need his love. He offers himself freely to you today. He’s gone to unimaginable lengths to be able to simply spend time with you. Lay the table of your heart bare before him, and let his smile restore to you the joy of your salvation.

Source: First5
The Wisdom of God

Scripture: 
James 1:5-8 The Message (MSG)
5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.


Devotional:
Your heavenly Father is perfectly wise. Everything he does is perfect. Every thought and idea he has is filled with complete wisdom. What’s more, through the Holy Spirit you have access to that wisdom. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” Your God loves you so much that he’s just waiting to bestow on you his vast wisdom. He never wants you to suffer from a lack of knowledge. So often, we are taught that God only reveals to us what we absolutely have to know right before we need to know it. But that’s not the truth of Scripture. James 1:5 proves that. Your God gives his wisdom “generously!”

Not only is the wisdom of God given to you generously if you ask, but it also has with it incredible attributes. James 3:17 says, “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” The wisdom of God will do incredible things for your life. With it comes the very nature of God. James 3:17 could just as easily have said that God is “pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” So when you receive the wisdom God bestows upon you, you are receiving many of the attributes of God himself.

The wisdom of God is unlike any other way of thinking you’ll find. 1 Corinthians 3:18-20 says, “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness,’ and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’” Jesus taught us in Matthew 10:39, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” The path he is guiding you to is the way out of the stress that worldly ambition and success will assuredly cause. He’s guiding you to a life of abundant peace. When you forgo the wisdom of this world for his, you will undoubtedly appear more foolish to some. But you will have found a way of living free from the burdens of the world. God’s wisdom leads you to a life truly hidden with Christ, lost in the sea of his love and mercy.

Ask God for his wisdom today. Read his word with the guidance of the Spirit. God is waiting patiently to reveal everything you have the desire to seek out. Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” Ask him for his wisdom today, and live the abundant life God has planned for you.

 Source: First5
The Boundless Grace of God

Scripture: 
Ephesians 1:7-10 The Message (MSG)
7-10 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.


Devotional:
Grace is one of the most astounding and life-transforming aspects of God’s character. From the beginning of time God has chosen to lavish grace upon us instead of wrath. Time and time again, we’ve turned our backs on him. And time and time again he demonstrates the depth of his desire for us through the giving of his boundless grace. In his grace we are afforded a life not only apart from his wrath, but lived in the glory of relationship with our Creator through the redemption of Jesus.

Ephesians 1:7 says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Let’s look at a few of these ideas today and let them stir our affections for God. Allow God to speak through his word to the places of your heart where the grace of God hasn’t been given the opportunity to abound yet.

Paul says that in Jesus we have “redemption through his blood.” Have you thought about the nature of your redemption at length before? Colossians 1:19-22 says, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.” Such is the grace of your heavenly Father that there is not a single thing between you and him. You, who at one time stood apart from God, have been brought into the family of God, redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
Not only have you been redeemed once and for all, but you are forgiven both now and forever. Paul writes that we as believers have “the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Where in your life do you need forgiveness today? What do you feel is separating you from unveiled relationship with your heavenly Father? When you confess your sins, God offers you his forgiveness for anything you have done. “According to the riches of his grace,” which was made perfectly evident in the death of Jesus, you are being offered forgiveness. If God would send his Son to die in order to have restored relationship with you, you better believe he will forgive any trespass that seems to stand in your way now.

God doesn’t operate the way the world does. He doesn’t make you pay the penalty for your own sin. Instead, he offers perfect grace. In story after story in Scripture God turns the systems of the world on their head through the concept of grace. In the story of the prodigal son, the father allowed the son to dishonor him, set aside his rightful punishment, and threw a huge party for his wayward child returned home. He didn’t wait. He didn’t make him work for his redemption. He immediately offered him forgiveness freely in grace. God offers you the same today. Don’t attempt to pay for your own sin by separating yourself from the fullness of relationship with God. Jesus paid the only price necessary by his own death. Live in light of God’s grace. Offer your heart to God freely. Let him work out redemption in every area of your life that you might more fully experience the wonderful relationship you have available to you with God.

Source: First5
God Offers Us His Peace

Matthew 11:28-30 The Message (MSG)
28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Devotional:
Scripture describes a great exchange of our burdens for the peace of God. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” You have a God who loves you so much that he offers to take your burdens off your own shoulders, place them on his, and give you peace in return. Where does your life feel heavy? Where do you feel buried under the burdens of the world? God offers you his peace today if you will take some time to align yourself with him and “yoke” yourself to the teaching of Jesus.

In Matthew 11, Jesus presents us with an image of two animals sharing the burden of work together. The point Jesus is making here is in reference to coming under his teaching. He asks us, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” He isn’t asking us simply to cast our burdens on him, but also to humble ourselves and submit to his teaching. If we are willing to come underneath him as our Teacher, then we no longer carry the burden of figuring out life on our own. And in freedom we are able to live life under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit.

Do you ever feel alone in what you’re doing? Do you ever feel like peace is an unobtainable goal, blocked by layer upon layer of work you need to get through first? God’s plan is different than the world’s plan. The world says you can only have peace when you’ve completed the job, become the best, or gained the approval of man. God tells you to stop working in your own strength, yoke yourself to his teaching, and rid yourself of all the stress and pressure of the world. 1 Peter 5:7 says “[Cast] all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” You have a God who cares about you. Your God is for you. He knows society tells you to work for and care about certain things, but he offers you the refuge of his peace instead.

You serve a God who doesn’t want you to live even one day burdened. Every day, you can wake up and choose to yoke yourself to your heavenly Father and his word. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Align your mind with what he says about you—casting off every opinion other than his. Align your day with the leading of God’s Spirit, and receive the anointing and power he longs to bring into every situation.

God says, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” If you will choose God today over the way you’ve done things in the past, if you will choose to obey his word, then “you will find rest for your souls.” What area of your life needs rest today? In what parts of your heart do you need God’s peace and ease? He’s waiting right now to meet with you, to offer you his yoke. Let him take your burdens, fears, and stress. Our fragile frame wasn’t meant to bear such pressure. Come underneath God’s teaching today, align your thinking with his, and let the cares of the world fall off as you live in light of the teaching of Jesus.

Source: First5
Your Father Gives Good GIfts

Scripture: 
James 1:17-18 The Message (MSG)
16-18 So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

Devotional:
One of my favorite parts of God’s heart is his desire to give us amazing gifts. 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.” Every good gift you receive is because God loves you. His love for you is so great that he looks for every opportunity to give you a gift. He desperately wants you to know that you are loved and valued by him. He so deeply wants you to know that he is not distant from you but, rather, is working in your midst to lead you to abundant joy, peace and life.

Matthew 7:11 says, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” I love how God has chosen to be known to us as a Father. And because God has chosen to reveal himself as a Father, we can more tangibly understand the love of God by looking to good earthly parents. God longs to bless you the way a good Father would. And at the same time he loves you more deeply and powerfully than any earthly parent ever could. Our heavenly Father far outdoes any example an earthly father give us. What gift are you longing for today? Do you long for friendship? Do you need a greater sense of being loved? Do you just need to know that he is with you?

God’s gifts may not look like a present you opened for Christmas last year, but they will be exactly what you need when you need it. If you need a friend, ask God for one! He’s promised you his friendship, and he loves to guide his children into community with others. Do you need to know you’re loved? God so longs for you to know the depth of his love that he sent his only Son to die for you! He’d love to pour his love out on you right now. Do you need to know that God is with you? Just ask for his manifest presence. Ask the Spirit to give you eyes to see all the ways he is working in your life. Ask God to reveal to you the ways he was, is and always will be with you. Do you need financial provision? Ask for the leading of the Holy Spirit in your finances! Ask God to provide for you what you need. Whatever gift you need from God today, his word promises in 1 John 5:15, “if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” Your God hears you today. What’s more, he will respond to you perfectly.

God’s gifts are much more life-giving than anything an earthly parent could give. He gives the gift of a beautiful sunrise because he knows you have a longing to gaze upon beauty. He gives the gift of his presence because he knows you need the peace that only he can bring. He gives you the gift of friendship because he knows you aren’t made to do life alone. He provides your finances because he cares about everything you need and desires to use you to bless others. Spend some time today reflecting on the amazing gifts he has given you. Thank him for his desire to bless you. Worship him because he is good. And open your heart to receive all the gifts your heavenly Father longs to give you today.

Source: First5
Love Wins

Scripture:
Romans 8:37-39 The Message (MSG)
31-39 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Sripture:
                                           They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
                                             We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Devotional:
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.

Source: First5
Love Forgives

Ephesians 4:32 The Message (MSG)
31-32 Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.

Devotional:
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.

Source: First5
Love Encourages

Hebrews 10:23-25 The Message (MSG)
22-25 So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.

Devotional:
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,
He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

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.

Guided Prayer:
1. Take some time to meditate on what the Bible says about encouragement.
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29

Source: First5
Love Makes Time for Others

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.
Scripture: “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.” Luke 8:40-42

Scripture: Luke 8:40-42 The Message (MSG)
His Touch
40-42 On his return, Jesus was welcomed by a crowd. They were all there expecting him. A man came up, Jairus by name. He was president of the meeting place. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his home because his twelve-year-old daughter, his only child, was dying. Jesus went with him, making his way through the pushing, jostling crowd.

Devotional:
The  story in Luke 8:40-42, 49-56 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.

Guided Prayer:
1. Reflect on Jesus’s heart to make time for those in need. Choose to make Jesus your example.
“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.” Luke 8:49-51

2. Who needs you to make time for them? Ask God to bring someone to mind you can love well today.

Source: First5
God Speaks in Solitude

Scripture: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Devotional:
Solitude—a time set apart where the rush, noise, and anxiety of the world fall mute on the ears and heart of a child of God completely lost in the peace and presence of the Creator. Solitude is a time to be with your heavenly Father, free from the distractions the world offers us at seemingly every moment. We are made for consistent time spent in solitude.

C.S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory, “We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.” Most of us have grown accustomed to what truly does amount to being “starved” for solitude. We never fully realize how great our need is to be alone with our Sustainer. Let’s take some time today to recognize our need for solitude and then learn how to best practice solitude on a daily basis.

You can know that you need solitude for one reason—Jesus needed it. All over the New Testament we see examples of Jesus going off on his own to pray. One example, Mark 1:35, tells us that Jesus, “rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark . . . departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” Jesus, who practiced perfect communion with his heavenly Father while here on earth still needed to spend time in solitude. Jesus, who loved parties, loved people, and was God and man simultaneously, needed time alone. If he needed it, you and I can be sure we need it. When God incarnate was up against his hardest task, the Crucifixion, he didn’t just toughen up and get through it. He spent time alone in the Garden of Gethsemane in conversation with his heavenly Father. He needed solitude to accomplish his purpose here on earth and so do you and I.

Solitude is life-giving. It’s necessary to the Christian spiritual life. Richard J. Foster said, “Loneliness is inner emptiness. Solitude is inner fulfillment.” Solitude is one of the most important and life-giving spiritual disciplines. If you want to hear God, you must practice solitude. If you want fortitude in your life, a steadfastness that surpasses your circumstances, you must practice solitude. You are designed for time spent in the quiet, simply being with your heavenly Father.

So how can you best practice solitude? The first step is finding a place where you can spend time with God free from distractions. Find a place where you know you won’t be interrupted. If you live with others, find a time when they will not be around or awake. If you live alone, designate a place and time that you will spend in solitude free from any distractions. Second, give yourself an amount of time to spend with God just being in solitude. It could be ten minutes or an hour. Spend this time free from reading, free from worship or prayer unless solitude leads you to those things. Madeleine L’Engle said, “Deepest communion with God is beyond words, on the other side of silence.” Solitude is a point of deep communion where words aren’t required in light of God’s glorious nearness.  

Take some time today to practice the incredible discipline of solitude. Be patient with yourself. Be patient with God. Fill the emptiness of silence with the satisfaction of God’s presence. Your heavenly Father loves just simply spending time with you, enjoying deep communion with his crown of creation. You are his child. Climb into the comforting and sustaining arms of your heavenly Father today as you enter into a time of solitude.

Guided Prayer:
1. Find a place free from distractions. Ask the Spirit to calm your heart and mind and help you to spend time in deep communion with God.

2. Spend a few minutes simply resting with God in solitude.
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” Mark 1:35
“Deepest communion with God is beyond words, on the other side of silence.” Madeleine L’Engle

Source: First5
God Speaks Through His Creation

Scripture: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”
 Romans 1:20

Devotional:
Nature has an ability to bring me peace in a way nothing else does. Sure I get annoyed by bugs or tired from hiking. But seeing the beauty, creativity, and complexity of what God has made has had a profound effect on my spiritual life. Have you ever just spent some time in God’s creation? Maybe it was hiking, lying on the beach, swimming in an ocean or a lake, fishing, gazing over the grand canyon, driving through the mountains, watching a thunderstorm or just playing in the rain. Take a minute to reflect on that time and what you felt. Looking back, do think you might have felt God’s presence? Did the awe and wonder of nature’s splendor bring you peace, or even lead you to thoughts about God?

The more I’ve come to know God the more there has grown in me an adoration and appreciation for his creation. Romans 1:20 states that God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” Nature is meant to declare to us the “invisible attributes” of God. And Scripture is clear that God is at work in his creation—maintaining and facilitating all that happens in the world. Psalm 147:8-9, 15-18 tells us,

He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry... He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

When you see animals eating, you are witnessing God’s provision in the earth and can, as a result, know that he will provide for you. When you see snow fall, ice form, and springtime come to melt away the cold you can know that God is at work around you and in your life. To miss out on all creation speaks to us is to miss an important part of God’s voice.

You see, while God does an incredible job taking care of a world wrought with the effects of sin, he promises to take care of you even more. Jesus commands us in Matthew 6:26-30,
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Jesus teaches us to look upon creation and listen as it declares to us the nature of God. In fact, he commands us to do so. You can look at the grass of the field and know of God’s unwavering faithfulness for you. You can look at the birds and never wonder if you will get your next meal. Nature declares to us that God has and will provide for us all of our days. Nature tells us not to worry because God is both powerful and near. Nature tells us that God is creative, practical, brilliant, loving, and full of mystery and wonder. Nature tells us that God speaks.

God created the cosmos so that you might have another mysterious yet clear way of hearing his voice. Whether you live in the city or country, look upon God’s creation and listen for his voice. Ask him what he wants you to know as you see all the wonders of his hands. Let the beauty and mystery of all of God’s creation fill you with a deeper longing to know your heavenly Father. Listen to God today and allow your heart to be stirred as you discover his unwavering desire to speak to you through his creation.  

Guided Prayer:
1. Take some time to go out in God’s creation.
2. Now ask God what he wants to tell you through his creation. Let him speak in whatever way he desires. 
"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." Romans 1:20

Scripture: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 16:13

Devotional:
God desires to speak directly to you. As a good Father, he longs to engage with you in continual conversation. So great was his longing for communication that he’s given you the gift of the Holy Spirit. You now have access to the heart of God through the Spirit. You can know his will, hear his voice, and live with the knowledge of his love.

John 16:13 says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” If you are a Christian, the “Spirit of truth” has come. He dwells within you. He longs to tell you how God feels about you. He longs to guide you to the Father’s perfect, hopeful, and pleasing plans (Jeremiah 29:11). His voice is perfect, full of love, and always truthful. He will never guide you into something that isn’t best for you. He will never speak hate or condemnation to you. As John 16:13 promises, he will declare to you what he hears the Father say.
Let the truth that God desires to have real, life-transforming conversations with you sink into your heart for a minute. Think about what it means for your own life to have communication with God. Your Creator longs to help you with your decisions, relationships, work, finances, and identity. God himself wants to talk with you about your life—to fully know you and be known by you.

Just as any good parent loves talking with their children, your heavenly Father loves talking to you, his child. You see, God speaking to you is so little about your ability to hear his voice and so much more about his desire for you to know him. His voice in your life is just another product of grace, God’s unmerited favor for those who believe. Like any conversation, you will only hear him when you are listening. And just like any good conversation, God longs to hear from you as well.

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.” Have faith that God longs to speak to you. Draw near to him in the assurance that he is already filled with love for you. The Holy Spirit longs to have a communicative relationship with you. Let the weight of conversation with God rest on his shoulders, trust in his word and his character, and listen to whatever he would speak to you today.

As you enter into guided prayer, take time to quiet your heart and listen to the voice of the Spirit.
Guided Prayer:

1. Take a moment to quiet your mind and soul. Receive God’s presence and meditate on the important truth that the Spirit speaks.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 16:13

2. Now listen to God. If you have a situation, question or anything you want to ask him, now is the time! God longs for you to tell him what you want help with. If you just want to know how he feels about you, ask him! Again, the weight of God speaking is on him. Trust him and his timing. God does desire to speak to you.

3. Write down whatever God tells you. Rest in the goodness of what he’s spoken.

Source: First5
God Speaks Through His Word

Scripture: “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:3

Devotional:
Deuteronomy 8:3 teaches us that, “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” The word of the Lord when planted in good soil produces abundant, life-giving fruit (Matthew 13:20-22). We have in Scripture a feast that satisfies the deepest places of our hearts no food or drink could ever satiate.

When you open your Bible, you are literally opening the words of God. Scripture is God’s voice available for you in every moment, situation, and predicament you face. You can know God desires to speak to you because you have in your possession his voice through the Bible. God desires to reveal to you his will because he has given you his Spirit to “guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (John 16:13).

When you read Scripture with the help of your teacher, the Holy Spirit, the Bible is no longer just a book written thousands of years ago but a source of life-giving revelation. Read the Bible prayerfully, paying attention to any words, phrases, or ideas that stand out to you. Allow God to apply Scripture directly to your life through his Spirit. And as you read, submit yourself to God’s word with a continual “yes” in your heart. Choose to be a doer of the word that you might be blessed in everything you do (James 1:22-25).

God’s word is only as impactful as you are willing to be obedient. The power of Scripture becomes evident as you daily submit yourself to it. So today as you read God’s word, ask the Spirit to highlight phrases and ideas, submit yourself in obedience to what Scripture says, and be a doer of the word. God is ready to speak to you. He is prepared to sow the seed of his voice wherever it’s welcome. Open your heart to the word of God, and allow it to produce the fruit of joy, peace, and purpose in your life.

Guided Prayer:
1. Ask the Spirit what you should read today. Pay attention to anything you feel like reading or pick from John 17 or Proverbs 3. Meditate on any phrases, words, or ideas that stand out to you. 
“Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:3

2. Submit yourself to the word of God. Allow Scripture to be the foundation for all your thoughts, emotions, and perspectives. Allow God’s word to influence and transform any parts of your life that don’t align with it.