Daily Devotion - October 1, 2025

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. (Rom. 4:4-5)

I heard an old tale about a man who died and faced the Angel Gabriel at heaven’s gates. Gabriel told him, “In order to get inside you need 100 points, so tell me all the good things you’ve done.”  

Assured of his qualifications, the man excitedly recounted his accomplishments: He never cheated on his wife, he attended church, he supported missionaries, and he helped the needy. “Fantastic,” Gabriel responded. “You have five points!”

Upon hearing this, the man cried aloud in desperation, “What? At this rate, the only way I’ll get into heaven is by the grace of God!” 

Then Gabriel welcomed him inside. 

The man had discovered that we can’t stand before God because of anything but belief in Him who justifies the ungodly! 

Our faith in the grace provided through Christ is our great and sure hope. To all who confess their need of him, the King of Heaven says, “Come in.”

Prayer: Lord, I look forward to the day I’ll be with you in the joys of heaven. Thank you that my qualification is not by anything I have done, but solely through faith in the grace you have provided! I have no hope of heaven but for Jesus. Please help me live the thanksgiving He deserves.

Daily Devotion - September 30, 2025

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ. (Phil. 3:8-9)

When God looks at us, he does not value us based on our talents and accomplishments. Since our best works are tainted by our human imperfections and pride, any thought that God’s love would be based on our deserving will always be countered by God’s infinite holiness. 

For this reason, the Apostle Paul counts as rubbish whatever good works he had once counted to his credit for God’s acceptance. Paul now has faith that God looks at him through the lens of what Jesus perfectly accomplished on the cross – not through the lens of human performance. 

An old example reminds us that when you look at something white through a red lens, it looks red. But, when you look at something red through a red lens, it looks white. 

Similarly, when we try to hold up our works as pure to God, he observes them through the lens of the cross as bloodstained. But when we confess that our sins required the blood of Jesus, God looks at our scarlet stains through the lens of the blood of Christ, and they look as white as the wool of a lamb. 

The example is ancient, but we need the truth every day and eternally. When we trust that Jesus’ blood covers our sins, then we need not count on our rubbish to provide for our redemption. Trust that, though your sins be as scarlet, Christ’s blood will make them white as snow. His grace will cover you. 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for covering my sin with Christ’s blood. May your lens of grace be the source of my hope and the lens through which I learn to see others’ need, too!

Daily Devotion - September 29, 2025

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. (2 Cor. 12:9)

Years ago, at my graduation from seminary, God revealed his grace in a way that initially frightened me. As I looked down the line of friends graduating into ministry, I had a shocking realization. Every one of my friends had been through a major life challenge while in seminary. I, too, had suffered deep heartache. 

In that moment, I thought to myself, “Someone has tried to stop us from living for Christ.”

I have continued to witness the opposition of Satan to my friends and to me in every life stage and every place of ministry. His relentless attacks have revealed our weaknesses time and again. 

But they have revealed something else: the strength of God in and beyond our weakness. Those that have humbly sought God’s aid, honor, and forgiveness have been powerfully used to accomplish what no one could have done in his own strength.

God has poured his goodness through our weaknesses to show that the surpassing greatness of his power is all of grace. Through Christ’s mercy rather than our merits marriages have been healed, churches built, leaders restored, and souls saved for heaven forever. 

None of us can take credit for these spiritual transformations. All we can say is, “Praise God.” Our weaknesses have made his power evident to us, if to no one else. The grace we have received makes our certainty of the gospel all the more sure. Our weaknesses prove his strength. 

Prayer: Lord, pour mercy through humility, making the power of your grace more evident by the confession of my weakness that you have overcome – and blessed!

Daily Devotion - September 26, 2025

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)

Our human instinct is to believe we have to become a better person for God to accept us – that we have to achieve a certain level of holiness before we can have a relationship with God. 

Common experience teaches, “Measure up! You have to hit the mark before you get my heart. Achievement before acceptance!” The gospel of Jesus Christ is gloriously and graciously different! 

God shows his love for us in that Jesus sacrificed himself for us before we measured up, hit the mark, or achieved anything – while we were still sinners! Jesus invites us to come to him even though he knows everything about us – the good and the bad.  He knows our sin, and loves us still. 

To come to him, as he desires, we resist the instinct that says, “He won’t accept me until I get good enough.” That would deny how good he is, and would keep us from ever coming. 

Instead, we believe that he really wants us to come to him acknowledging our sin rather that trumpeting our achievements – in meekness confessing we have missed the mark. 

We don’t need to wait until some future day of better resolve. We can run to the rescue that is ours today, as we trust the Savior of sinners to love us before we become saints – to embrace the messed up before we have cleaned up. 

Prayer: God, I can hardly believe that you love and accept me despite my sins. So, help me to believe. I come to you now, confessing that I don’t deserve to come but that Jesus gave himself for me while I was still a sinner. Forgive me and help me live and love as you desire to honor Jesus’ grace for me.

Daily Devotion - September 25, 2025

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. (1 Pet. 3:1-2)

After becoming a Christian, “Heather” had faithfully committed to living for her Lord despite the indifference of her husband, “James.” As a hardened police captain, he wanted nothing to do with her faith and often mocked it. Still, she honored and loved him for more than thirty years.

I once asked her what kept her living sacrificially for her husband when his gruffness and mockery were so painful. She simply said when she became a Christian, she fell in love with Jesus. That love made her want what Jesus wanted for her husband.

Being subject to a spouse as the Bible requires is never mousy meekness that demeans a woman. The Bible’s intends courageous, faithful, wise, and persistent living for heaven’s purposes. Such living refuses to cling to bitterness or selfishness, but yields and wields every gift and resource that God provides the sake of another’s soul. 

Such “yielding and wielding” are living the gospel message with respectful and pure conduct, even when human reasoning and rewards seem far off. 

When thirty years of acting like “Billy goat gruff” did not drive his wife away from her faith or from him, James turned to her God. He had seen the worst of the world in his profession and wanted the realities of another world he had seen in his faithful wife. 

Prayer: Father, please enable me to live a respectful and pure life in front of my spouse and others, so that they can see the changes Jesus has made in me and be drawn to him.

Daily Devotion - September 24, 2025

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)

Our human instinct is to believe we have to become a better person for God to accept us – that we have to achieve a certain level of holiness before we can have a relationship with God. 

Common experience teaches, “Measure up! You have to hit the mark before you get my heart. Achievement before acceptance!” The gospel of Jesus Christ is gloriously and graciously different! 

God shows his love for us in that Jesus sacrificed himself for us before we measured up, hit the mark, or achieved anything – while we were still sinners! Jesus invites us to come to him even though he knows everything about us – the good and the bad.  He knows our sin, and loves us still. 

To come to him, as he desires, we resist the instinct that says, “He won’t accept me until I get good enough.” That would deny how good he is, and would keep us from ever coming. 

Instead, we believe that he really wants us to come to him acknowledging our sin rather that trumpeting our achievements – in meekness confessing we have missed the mark. 

We don’t need to wait until some future day of better resolve. We can run to the rescue that is ours today, as we trust the Savior of sinners to love us before we become saints – to embrace the messed up before we have cleaned up. 

Prayer: God, I can hardly believe that you love and accept me despite my sins. So, help me to believe. I come to you now, confessing that I don’t deserve to come but that Jesus gave himself for me while I was still a sinner. Forgive me and help me live and love as you desire to honor Jesus’ grace for me.

Daily Devotion - September 24, 2025

I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. (Psalm 66:17-19)

If we want our prayers to be answered, we must be concerned to do God’s will, because God will never contradict his purposes. The psalmist writes, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” 

God does not answer prayers that undermine what’s best for our souls. If we ask God to make our lives pleasant while pursuing sin, his granting of our request would only damage our souls.

God does not turn a deaf ear to sinners’ prayers, rather he listens with sovereign sensitivity to the priorities and affections behind our requests. He is not punishing our sin by his silence but guiding our hearts to his by depriving us of our own selfishness. 

Out of his fatherly care, God’s Word and Sprit convict our hearts of sin, reveal self-deception, and renew our appreciation for fellowship with him. If we are paying attention to the way God responds to our prayers, we will understand the misery of selfishness, the goodness of God, and the privilege of praying to One who only listens to prayers that will shower his grace upon us.

Prayer: Father, make the desires of my heart you own. Help me not to ask you to bless or ignore my sin, but to lead my heart in your paths by how you respond to my prayers.

Daily Devotion - September 23, 2025

I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.” (Dan. 9:4-5)

Flipping through a family photo album, a rebellious son called his mother to him, and pointed in sadness to a picture of himself as a small child. “Mom, in this picture I can see such hope in your eyes as you look at me. But I have dashed all your hopes. I know that’s why you can no longer love me.” 

The wayward son had so often protested his innocence or minimized his guilt that his mother doubted her son could ever turn from his destructive paths. And it was true, his selfish rebellion had hardened her heart. But, when he confessed his guilt, her hardness towards her child broke. She embraced him with the hope and the heart that was depicted in the photo taken so long ago. 

Once again, she offered her love and help to her difficult child. She had not been moved by his defense of his behavior, but by his confession of his desperation.  

The Bible tells us this is also what moves God’s heart on our behalf. His embrace is most evident not when we trumpet our goodness, but when we call out in desperation for his forgiveness. Our Heavenly Father’s love and help are always available for those who confess their need of his grace!

Prayer: Father, I know that I have sinned against you in my words and actions. I ask you now for forgiveness and help not because of my deserving but out of my desperation. Nothing I can do will make up for my sin. I trust Jesus will.

Daily Devotion - September 22, 2025

Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves. (1 Pet. 3:4-5)

How strange – and significant – that the impulsive, quick-tempered, and pushy Apostle Peter would advise seeking to win a spouse to faith in Christ by “a gentle and quiet spirit.” 

The apostle’s words remind us that God bestowed great dignity, value, and spiritual power on women who reflect the heart of their Savior. The world teaches that those who exert the most pressure from the highest position have the most influence. The gospel teaches that hearts are most influenced by us when Christ’s character is most evident in us. 

Peter addresses women whose husbands are not believers. Such wives may think that verbal pressuring, emotional manipulation, or reasoned demands are best to convince a man to change – for his own good. The apostle, who had been such a hothead, instead urges holiness with trust in God. 

Peter knew that showing Christ to others is far more effective than shoving Jesus on them. The more we try to leverage change, the less our spouses feel loved. The more we treat a spouse with respect – providing a gentle word, a non-combative spirit, and a beauty of heart – the more the Jesus in us is attractive.  

A woman who would win her husband to Jesus is wiser in seeking to display her Savior than to control her husband. Show Jesus and let the Spirit sway the man.

Prayer: Lord, help me to show my Savior and be willing to have your Spirit sway my loved one. Work through my humility and holiness to reach my spouse.

Daily Devotion - September 19, 2025

In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:2-3)

When my youngest daughter went off to college, she was determined to be brave. So, she did nothing but smile and chatter as we took her clothes and boxes to her dorm. Even as we were getting into the car to drive away, her face showed only sunshine. 

When I went to give her a final hug, I first held her at arm’s length and looked her in the eye. I told her what my father had told me many years ago, “No matter what happens here, you are my precious child, and nothing will change that. Our home is always your home.”

That did it. The smile vanished, her face flushed, and she hugged me hard, crying and saying, “Oh, Daddy, that’s not fair!” To which I replied, “Of course, it’s not ‘fair.’ It’s grace!”

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for making me your child by the work of Christ – and for the promise that my performance will never lessen your love. I will always have a place in your heart and heaven prepared by Christ for me.

Daily Devotion - September 19, 2025

Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. (Heb. 12:1-2)

When I saw my son’s energy wane during his cross-country meets, I’d shout encouragement from the crowd to revive his resolve and keep his focus on the goal. I could have voiced threats or showed my frustration, but I knew such things would eventually sap his strength – even if they might momentarily spur him on.

God, who is a better father than I am, ensures that his grace-filled encouragement rings powerfully, lovingly, and continually through the witnesses that testify to his grace throughout Scripture. There the heroes are spurred on by his faithfulness and supported by his mercy, even when they falter.

As we press toward the goal that God has laid out for us, the Bible’s cloud of witnesses surrounds us and supports us so that we constantly gain confidence of God’s grace for our race. 

The course may be steep and long, but his witnesses keep us strong with this encouragement: “He is with you, as he has been with us. He will never leave or forsake you. So, run hard and run strong.”

Prayer: My Father, thank you giving me a cloud of witnesses as I run the race of the Christian life. May their assurance of your abiding care give me strength and endurance to finish the course you have set for me.

Daily Devotion - September 18, 2025

So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. (1 Thess. 2:7-8)

What does it mean to “do life” with God’s people?  The Apostle Paul explained when he wrote to the church in Thessalonica. He reminded them that he was ready to share not only the gospel but himself. 

When we “do life” with people, we seek to know them in deeper ways, to pray for needs, to forgive flaws, to share understanding of God’s Word, and to support in times of pain and joy. We weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. 

By sharing our lives as well as our words we help others sense the difference the Gospel has made in our hearts, and we grow in grace by seeing the same in them – especially in the sensitive situations in one another’s lives. When we become dear to one another, we are recognizing and honoring how precious each is to God. 

We put our youngest daughter to bed every night with the words, “You are precious to us.” As she got older, she thought she didn’t need to be treated as a child so she waved off the phrase one night – until we left her room. Then, she called us back in tears. “You didn’t say it,” she cried. 

So, we said it again, and say it to this day, knowing that it is as important to share our hearts as to share our words in order to share God’s heart for all his loved ones. 

Prayer: Lord, help me to share the gospel not only in the words I say, but also in the life I share with those around me.

Daily Devotion - September 18, 2025

Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Rom. 15:4)

As Christians, we lean on God’s promise that he will work all things together for our ultimate good (Rom. 8:28). But how do we know that promise is real, and how does it reach deep into our hearts, banishing all fear and doubt?  

The Apostle Paul reminds us that everything that is in the Bible is painting a picture of God’s purpose through time, trials, and triumphs that culminates in the saving work of Jesus.

When we see how comprehensive is God’s plan, how resolute his love, and how eternal his purpose, then we are encouraged through present trials and enabled to endure them. God is working all for good; he’s proven it over and over – especially at the cross.

Scripture’s grand design helps rescue us from debilitating worry and anxiety, as we face the troubles of a fallen world. Since nothing on earth can separate us from his eternal love, we persevere in God’s grace until his purposes for us and our world are fulfilled!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I am so thankful that my life both now and forever is in your hands. Help that wonderful truth to banish my fears and doubts, and to build the encouragement and endurance needed for every trial!

Daily Devotion - September 17, 2025

My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. (Psalm 71:15-17)

Some time ago, Jim Orders, a senior board member of our school for pastors, was diagnosed with a deadly cancer. When I visited him, he smiled and spoke with a trust in God’s plan that had matured over a lifetime of faith. He said, “I always wondered how the Father would take me home. Now I know.”

In his final days, Jim had a final task he strove to complete. He wrote the history of his family and business as a way of celebrating the grace he had experienced. He longed to leave a legacy of faith for those he loved, so they might also have deep confidence in Jesus no matter what life brought.

This is always the desire of faithful parents, pastors, friends, and neighbors. Our joy increases as we see others share it. Our confidence in God grows as we witness others grow in faith. Our sense of purpose deepens as we see God deepen our faith in new generations of believers. 

Your joy also will increase as your witness spreads. You don’t need to wait until you are dying to experience such joy. The One who rose from the dead will walk with you and work through you as you tell loved ones his wondrous deeds. So, tell!

Prayer: Lord, help me to remember all the wonderful things you have done in my life. Then, please give me opportunities and a loving heart to share my joy with those who need you.

Daily Devotion - September 16, 2025

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:17-18)

We live in a spiritually deceptive world that constantly seeks to trap us in paths and patterns that keep us away from the blessings God intends.  So, God in his grace came to set us free from dead ends, to awaken us to a better life and a truer reality, where lasting love and significance are assured. 

Already we have the glorious blessing of our sin being covered by God’s grace, granting us his holiness. But that is not our final glory. As the Holy Spirit indwells our hearts, he also uses God’s Word to transform us more and more into Christ’s likeness. 

The affections, priorities, and ambitions of Jesus, our Savior, increasingly become ours. We live more for the Father, delighting more in his love. Our hearts beat in rhythm with his, and his joys become ours. 

There is wondrous glory in the life of every newborn child, but there is greater glory when that life is lived selflessly, heroically, and in full expression of God’s gifts. So the glory of our new birth is transformed into even greater glory as the Spirit matures us into Christ’s likeness. 

We are never loved more by God than when we are born again, but his love becomes even more glorious as we mature by yielding to his Spirit.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the glory of my new birth. Now groom me for greater glory by making my heart sensitive and submissive to Word of the Holy Spirit.

Daily Devotion - September 15, 2025

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble. (Dan. 4:37)

As a pastor, I wrestle with trying to convince people of how sure is God’s promise of grace to those who ask for forgiveness. Some have been helped by simply considering the life of Nebuchadnezzar. He was the murderous, arrogant, and idolatrous king of Babylon who enslaved God’s people. Yet, God claimed his heart.

As long as the king paraded his greatness, looking down on everyone else, he was a pathetic mess before God. But, once he looked up to God, confessing his lowliness of heart and mind, the Lord restored him.

You may wonder if God could or should forgive someone like you. But, if God would restore a person as awful as Nebuchadnezzar, then he can restore you. 

Nothing can stand between us and the grace of God. Once we confess our utter need of him, his ultimate love for us is sure. His gracious provision for the lowly is deep and wide. When we confess that our sin has brought us low, God’s lifts our hearts and restores our purpose!

Prayer: Father, I confess to you that I am weak, sinful, and lowly. Thank you for your mercy for the messes that I have made, and for lifting the load of sin from me as I look to you.

Daily Devotion - September 12, 2025

We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Eph. 2:10 NLT)

While at a local fair, I received a call from my son. He told me he had gone to share the gospel in Ferguson, Missouri, where racial injustice had just resulted in a man’s death. My impulse was to say, “What are you thinking? Get out of there.” But my son spoke before I could voice my objection, saying, “I will not let hatred stop me from showing Christ to my neighbor.”

My son knows he’s a product of our family’s genetics, nurture, and environment, but he also believes that he has been created by God for Christ’s purposes. My child is God’s workmanship, a product of divine intention and craft, designed in eternity for God’s eternal purposes. 

Such a perspective makes me gasp to consider the responsibility I have in raising God’s child, and it makes me bow to God’s purposes for him. Of course, I am not the first parent to question whether it’s good for me if my child serves Christ on the mission filed, in charitable endeavors, or on the streets of Ferguson – or Bangladesh, or Afghanistan. Still, I need to remember Christ has dibs on his life.

I’m not talking about being cavalier or irresponsible about life choices; I am affirming that God loves my children more than I do. He fulfills their hearts’ desires by engaging them in his designs. I want my children to be happy. So does Jesus. That’s why he calls them to fulfill their creation purpose. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to remember that I and my loved ones are your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that you prepared long in advance for us.

Daily Devotion - September 11, 2025

For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17)

Where are you on the grace-and-truth spectrum?  Some people are all about God’s grace and ignore the truth of the Bible. Others major on the truth of God’s expectations and have little patience for strugglers. Yet, the Scriptures tell us that grace and truth can’t be separated. 

The Apostle John writes that grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

So, being under the gospel of grace does not make obedience to God’s truth optional. When God removes good works as a condition for his acceptance, he does not remove righteousness as a requirement for living. That’s because the truth of Scripture reveals laws for life that glorify God while guarding his people from harm.

God warns us not to use his unconditional love as an excuse for selfish indulgence. That’s not because he is an eternal killjoy who doesn’t want us to have any fun. To the contrary, he wants us to have the delights of life his grace designed.

Grace revealed the law designed by his love to guide us, and grace releases us from the guilt of failing its standards. But grace would not be grace if it freed us from sin’s guilt and sent us into sin’s harm. 

By Moses’ law we learn the guidance of God and the guilt of our sin. By Christ’s grace we are loved beyond our sin, but never allowed to deny the truth of God’s law or sin’s consequence.  

Prayer: Heavenly Father, may both the grace and truth of Jesus Christ be seen in my life as I seek to serve you today.

Daily Devotion - September 10, 2025

Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matt. 20:26-28)

When Columbia Bible College President Robertson McQuilkin told people of his decision to resign so he could care for his Alzheimer-stricken wife, he was startled by the responses he received.

It was a mystery to him why people reacted with overwhelming appreciation. His own oncologist explained: It is not rare for women to give themselves for suffering husbands; but few men do the same for their wives.

The reason McQuilkin’s decision made him a spiritual leader for people across the world is that his actions reflected the very heart of the gospel. His goal was to serve, rather than be served. 

McQuilkin willingly made himself a “slave” to the needs of a loved one, and in doing so freed himself from the grip of self-interests to promote the wellbeing of another and the witness of his Savior. 

We lead most clearly and most effectively when we follow Christ in the selflessness he modeled for us.

Prayer: Lord, help me to follow your example each day by a willingness to serve others for their wellbeing, for your witness, and for my own growth in understanding your grace.

Daily Devotion - September 9, 2025

Stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved — and that by God. (Phil. 1:27-28 NIV)

In the book of Philippians, the Apostle Paul shares his deep affection for the believers in Philippi. They must wonder what good is his love for them, or theirs for him, as he languishes in prison. 

Paul answers by assuring them that they further his witness as they stand firm against opposition without fear of those who oppose them. The absence of fear does not remove the dangers but testifies to faith in a greater God. In this way the far-separated Philippians join Paul in his witness of God’s care.

How comforting to know that the Spirit uses our unity as believers to transcend time, geography, and circumstances – releasing us from the physical limitations of life for spiritual testimony. In God’s plan, Paul ministers across nations and ages from an ancient prison cell, and we join in his ministry when we do not fear opposition to our witness.

Our fearlessness shows confidences in God’s eternal care to people across town and across generations. In this way the solidarity of believers in Christ makes Jesus known to the world!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to live beyond fear so that I may join with fellow believers in sharing Christ’s message by my evident confidence in your eternal care.