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Lessons

taken from studentdevos.com

6: Fulfilling Your Purpose Takes Grit

and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. – Acts 7:10 (ESV)

Joseph in the Bible went through a lot of difficulties. First, his brothers didn’t understand him. They were jealous of him and treated him badly. Later in his life, Joseph achieved success in Potiphar’s house only to be falsely accused and sent to prison.

In the midst of all those troubles, Joseph didn’t let difficulty stop him from his purpose. He had a dream from God and even in the midst of setback and disappointment, he kept on going forward. 

Today’s Key: Fulfilling Your Purpose Takes Grit

If you’re going to fulfill God’s plan for your life, you can’t be a wimp. In life, there are going to be circumstances and situations that come against you that will cause you to doubt your purpose.

Sometimes people aren’t going to be nice and supportive as you fulfill your purpose. That’s ok. What you’ve got to do is keep on doing the things God has called you to do. Like Joseph, if you keep being faithful and moving forward toward your dream, God will help you bring your dream to pass.

To accomplish the plans God has for your life will require you to stand firm in your purpose.

So today, choose to not give up on your purpose. Sure, circumstances and situations will come that make you doubt your purpose, but if you hold on to what God has called you to do, in time, you will walk out and fulfill the purpose God has for your life!

5: God's Purpose for you is Good 

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)

Sometimes, people aren’t nice to us. They do mean things, let us down, and just don’t get us. Sometimes, after we’ve been let down by people so much, we start to think that God is the same way.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that maybe God doesn’t really love us. Or perhaps, we wonder if He really does have a purpose for our lives. The truth is, God does love you. He does have good things in store for your life.

To God, you matter. It’s completely up to you whether you choose to believe that. You can believe that God will let you down as everyone else in your life has, or you can choose to believe that God is good. He has good things in store for you.

Today’s Take Away – God’s Purpose For You Is Good

God wants good things for you. He has good things in store for your future. You have got to choose to believe that. You’ve got to determine that nothing can or will change God’s love for you.

[Tweet “Nothing can or will change God’s love for you – @studentdevos”]

When you start to believe that, then you believe that God has a good plan and a good purpose for your life. You begin to realize that God has called you to something. As you walk daily in your relationship with God, He will begin to reveal purpose to you.

So today, choose to believe that God loves you and that His purpose for your life is good!

4: Purpose Requires Action

And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. – Hebrews 11:9 (NLT)

Can you imagine what would have happened if Abraham in the Bible had never left his country? What would the story Israel look like if heroes like Abraham hadn’t stepped out in faith and put action to what God was telling them to do?

If you want to do something big for God, it’s going to require you to take action.

You can daydream amazing things. You can get excited about things that you’d like the future to hold for you. In fact, you can even pray about God’s play for your life, but if you don’t take action on those things, you won’t end up doing anything for God.

Today’s Take Away: Purpose Requires Action

All the heroes in the Bible that did great things for God had to do something about the things that were in their heart. They had to give action to the dreams and desires that God gave them.

Noah had to build an ark, Abraham had to move to a new country. Rahab had to put a red cord in her window. All these amazing men and women of God and they all had to do something.

So what about you? What has God put on your heart? What dreams do you want to see accomplished in your life? Think about those things and then determine to do something about them. Choose to take small steps toward them happening in your life. Determine to put action toward finding your purpose.

If you’re not sure where to start, ask God for help. He can show you what to do and where to go. Know that God desires to see you find your purpose!

3: Finding Purpose Takes Faith

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. – Hebrews 11:8 (NLT)

Finding your God-given purpose in life is a process. It may take some time to find your purpose and passion. You will probably make some mistakes and take some wrong turns along the way.

The key is on the journey to not lose faith. It takes faith to follow God’s plan and His leading.

Today’s Take Away – Finding Purpose Takes Faith

In today’s Bible verse, we see that Abraham followed God’s leading for his life. He left his home and went to another land. He didn’t know what to do each step of the way. Abraham made some mistakes too along the way.

However, Abraham kept faith in God. He knew that God would see him through. Abraham followed God in faith, without knowing where he was going.

You might feel the same way sometimes. It might feel like you’re unsure of where you’re going or how God is leading you. The truth is this. God is good: He has your best interests at heart. God is going to lead you on a good path and has good things for you at the end.

[Tweet “God is going to lead you on a good path. He has good things in store for you – @studentdevos”]

It’s just up to you to trust Him and let Him bring good things into your life. Finding your purpose takes faith because it isn’t always easy and doesn’t always make sense. But when you follow God’s plan, you’ll be more fulfilled and find good things along the way.

2: Finding Purpose Takes Patience

The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. – Psalm 37:23 (NLT)

Do you ever wish that God would just show you your future? I wish He’d just show up and tell you that at 18 you should go to college, then at 23 years old, you meet the person you should marry. Then at 25, you find the job that you’re going to love. By 30, you’ve got a great house, 2 kids and you’re successful and fulfilled.

As great as that would be, that’s not the way God leads us. When God leads, He shows us a step at a time. We feel peace about one step, we take it, then He shows us the next step we’re to take.

God leads us and tells us that our steps are ordered by Him. He doesn’t tell us that He will reveal to us the whole journey.

Today’s Take Away – Finding Purpose Takes Patience

That’s really hard sometimes. Most of us would prefer knowing the whole journey. But the interesting thing about this whole thing is that as we begin our journey of purpose, we learn to trust and rely on God.

If we had the whole journey mapped out for us, we wouldn’t really need to lean on God.

Discovering your purpose in life is a process. It’s a journey and it takes time and patience. Sometimes, it’s making mistakes, learning from them and discovering to trust God in a new way. Other times, it’s leaning on God in faith and doing something that feels a bit hard and scary.

Finding your purpose in life doesn’t come all at once. It’s a process. It’s learning to lean on and trust in God and know that when you need to know the next step to take, God will show it to you.

Today’s Truth: When you need to know the next step to take, God will show it to you

September 2023

Note: This is the first devotional in a 5 part series. I will add a new one each week. 

1: Your Identity Isn't Your Purpose

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

Have you ever struggled, wondering what you should do after you finish school for your career? Perhaps you’ve thought about the idea of college, but wonder if that’s really the next step you should take.

Making decisions about your future can seem really scary sometimes. Often it’s easy to give in to fear and be afraid to make a choice at all because you think it might be the wrong one.

To make decisions about college and your career path easier, think about this truth: Your career is not your identity.

Often, we see adults introduce themselves by their name and what they do for a living. “I’m Brayden, and I’m a doctor.” We hear adults talk like this so much, that often, we begin to think that our career is our identity.

Your identity is not tied to your career. And it’s ok to not know yet what career or schooling path you want to take after high school.

Instead, choose to let your identity be found in Jesus. Don’t give in to the thoughts that because you don’t know what to do yet, you’re not ok. Instead, choose to focus on Jesus. Let Him be where you find your identity.

Take time to get to know Jesus and let Him reveal to you what path to take for your life. At the right time, you’ll know the next step to take.

August 27, 2023

It’s that time of year again. If you haven’t already, you’re probably heading back to school. And sometimes that can be a tough time for some of you. While some people really thrive and love school, there are others who have genuine fears about going back to school.

Some might be concerned about academics, and feel pressured to do well. Others might hope to do well at band, choir or a sports team. While others may have concerns about their ability to make friends, find their classes, and all sorts of other things.

Doubts can fill your mind when it comes to starting school. You might feel anxious and upset. If you do, here’s a verse that will help encourage you.

When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer – Psalm 94:19 (NLT)

When you begin to doubt yourself and your ability, take comfort in God. He’s there to give you hope, cheer and what you need to do well this year. Put your trust in Him. See Him come through for you in ways you might have never expected.

Today’s Truth: You can live at peace, even in difficulty.

You can live at peace, even in the middle of difficulty if you choose to put your focus on Him. He cares for you, and will help you through this time in your life.

Pray: God, I thank you that you are with me each and every day this school year. Help me to put my focus on you. I choose to walk in hope and joy in you, knowing that you promise to never leave me. Amen.

June 4, 2023

Rejoice in the Lord always- delight, gladden yourselves in Him: again I say, rejoice! – Philippians 4:4

Have you ever had a really bad day? You know, the one where everything seems to go wrong? Then to top it off, your brother is mean to you, your mom asks you to do extra chores, and you feel like no one gets you.

When you’re having a bad day, one of the hardest things to do is keep rejoicing. However, today’s Bible verse tells us to rejoice always, even if your day is going badly.

What does that look like? A good way to delight or gladden yourself in God would be to remind yourself of things that God has done for you. Has He ever provided something for you? Has He ever helped you when things were tough? Has He comforted you when you didn’t think you could go on? Remind yourself of the good things that God has done in your life.

When you remember what God has done for you, it helps you keep a smile on your face. It doesn’t matter what you’re facing or what you’ve been through, you can make yourself happy by choosing to think about the good things God has done for you. Don’t let your situation or circumstances keep you down. Make the decision today to rejoice in the Lord always!

May 28, 2023

Have you ever done something you wished you could take back? Maybe you made a bad choice and wished you could have a do-over. I know I have a ton of times. How often do we sin and do things we know we should not do? Probably more times than we can count.

If you’re like me, you’ve probably envied someone and tried to get what they had, only to find out that it was empty. Or that you were pursuing the wrong thing. James makes an interesting point in today’s verse. 

You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.  – James 4:2 (NIV)

Often, we do things that aren’t good because we don’t really get God involved in our lives. If we’d reach out and ask God about the things we want and the things that we’re unhappy about, wouldn’t that help us? I think that’s what James is trying to point out.

If we’d just go to God with our desires, and listen to what He has to say, maybe we wouldn’t go out and do the things we know we shouldn’t do.

So today, if you haven’t already, begin to develop your relationship with God. Go to Him. Talk to Him about the hard parts of your day. Let Him know how you’re doing. Ask Him for wisdom and advice. As you do, you’ll realize that your desires line up to His desires the more you know Him. Also, you’ll realize that He wants to help you and give you what you need. So lean on Him, go to Him and let Him fill you rather than doing sinful things.

May 21, 2023

Have you ever wanted to do the right thing, but didn’t? I can remember a time when I knew the right thing to do was to treat a kid at church with kindness. But my desire to be liked by the other kids at my church was greater than how I was making this particular kid feel. So I chose to make others laugh over what I knew was right. I ended up hurting another kid’s feelings rather than doing what was right and treating that kid kindly.

How about you? Have you ever had two desires fighting in you? Maybe you had the desire to do good, but also had your flesh that wanted to do something that was against God and the Bible? If so, you’re not alone. James describes this in today’s verse.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? – James 4:1 (NIV)

We often have conflicting desires. We want to do what’s right and good, but sometimes, the desire for laughs from friends, acceptance or something else seems more important at the time. And while we all fight those two battling desires, part of being mature is knowing how to handle them.

It takes maturity to say no to what feels good, and do what’s right. It takes courage to stand up when someone is being bullied. That maturity comes the more you spend time with God. The more you get in His Prescence, the more you want to please Him and live for Him. As you know God more, what He wants becomes more important than anything else.

So if you struggle with battling desires, consider spending more time in Bible Study, worship and prayer. As you spend time with God, your desire to please Him grows.

May 7, 2023

I bet you’re busy. You’re probably involved in sports or the school play. Add perhaps some chores at home, your homework, and hanging out with friends, and you might even feel a little overwhelmed. If so, you’re not alone. Life can get really busy.

If we’re not careful, we can get so busy in our day to day activities that we exclude God. And more than likely, if you have, it wasn’t a decision you made consciously. I’ll bet you didn’t sit down and think, ‘now, I’m not going to include God in my day today’. No, more than likely, you simply get caught up in all the things that life has and you didn’t take time to talk to God that day.

As Christians, we should be wanting to seek God. And yes, we can use being busy as an excuse, but when something is important to us, we can find the time for it. Even if we’re busy.

Now seek the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. Build the sanctuary of the LORD God so that you can bring the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant and the holy vessels of God into the Temple built to honor the LORD’s name.” – 1 Chronicles 22:19 (NLT)

So if you’ve been guilty of not spending time with God, make the changes necessary in your life today. Challenge yourself to include God in your life each day. It can be as simple as getting up in the morning and asking God for help today. Quickly tell Him how busy you are, but that you want His help not getting stressed out today.

Try to make time each day for Him. Yes, life is busy. Yes, there are distractions now more than ever before, but if we make God our priority, we can find the time for Him each day. Get creative. Ask God for wisdom, ideas and help. Choose today to do what this verse says, and seek God with all your heart!

Today’s Truth: Seek God with all your heart!

April 16, 2023

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. – Colossians 3:16 (NIV)

Each day that you don’t put God’s word in you, you’re trying to live life on your own. That isn’t the way you were created to live. God created you to live in fellowship with Him.

As you already know, life can be difficult. School isn’t easy. There are subjects that don’t make sense to you. At school there are people who aren’t kind and that you don’t agree with. And you have to deal with them each day. So how do you do it?

How do you live your life for Jesus when you’re tired, frustrated, and sometimes don’t understand? You do it by getting closer to Him. Each day, you should be striving to get in His presence. Maybe it’s listening to some worship music and thanking Him for what He’s done. It could be praying or spending time in the Bible. But it’s all about it dwelling richly in you.

It’s foolish for you to think you can live your life in your own strength with all the problems going on. Instead, you should be going to Jesus. In His presence is where you’ll find the answers you need. In Him, you can get the wisdom you need to live your life each day.

Don’t forget to go to Him. Don’t get too busy and too consumed with the problems of life that you try to live life on your own. Instead spend time each day being refreshed in Him.

April 9, 2023

Have you ever thought about your relationship with God? Maybe you thought about what you’d like it to be. Perhaps you wished that it was awesome like one you saw a pastor have and you’ve wondered if something like that was possible for you too.

Let’s take a look at today’s Bible verse:

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. – Psalm 16:11 (NIV)

God’s presence is something that is for you, just like it was for King David. David describes joy in God’s presence. Wow! What an awesome place to be in where you find joy simply by being with God and being in His presence.

You might not experience that each time you open your Bible, and that’s ok. Just know that it’s possible. Having an exciting real relationship with God is possible for you. But it might take a bit of effort on your part. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not difficult to have a relationship with God, but it is difficult sometimes to keep yourself focused on Him.

With all the distractions and things screaming for our attention, finding joy in God’s presence can feel like it might be impossible. Here’s the thing. Determine to make room in your life for God. It might be two minutes a day before you fall asleep at night. Talk to God, thank Him for your day. Then when you wake up in the middle of the night and run to grab a drink, spend a second asking God to show you something you don’t understand. Each time you make room in your life for God, it makes joy in His presence easier.

Getting to know a new friend takes time and effort, and your relationship with God is no different. The more you practice talking to Him, reading the Word and praying, the easier it will become and the more you’ll find joy in His presence.

Today’s Truth: Finding joy in God’s presence isn’t difficult, but it takes effort.

March 19, 2023

We all understand that good diet help us to become physically strong. Most of us wouldn’t consider not eating every day because we feel so weak when we don’t eat and can’t perform very well. And then we understand that if we don’t exercise we just get fat and muscles get flabby.

In the same way- you are more than just a body and a mind. You also have a spirit to feed- and it eats God’s Word. It too needs to be fed daily to be strong. But simply reading God’s Word isn’t enough to be strong either.

You exercise your spirit as you pray and obey the things the Word of God says to do. For example forgiving others who hurt you or loving and praying.

1 Timothy 4:8 in The Message Bible states “Exercise daily in God- no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.”

A disciplined spiritual life feeds on God’s Word then exercises what it hears. The rewards for working out in a gym are a toned body. The rewards of godly living are both in this life and in the life to come. God always rewards when we come to Him. The rewards can be direction or wisdom or peace or joy. When you are spiritually in shape, you will draw people to Jesus. And that is definitely an eternal reward!

But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ – Matthew 4:4

I love food. There are very few reasons that I miss a meal. When I do, I get really grumpy and angry. And, I’d guess that most of us put a high priority on eating. We make sure that we eat several times a day, hit those snacks between classes, and maybe even eat some junk food before bed. Eating is a big part of our lives. If we didn’t eat, we’d be grumpy, lack energy, and just be no fun to be around.

In today’s Bible verse, it compares natural food, or bread to spiritual food. It tells us that we shouldn’t just live to eat, but rather we should live to spend time with God. It shows us that our time with God should be a priority in our lives. Just like we wouldn’t go too long without eating, we shouldn’t go long without spending time with God.

Today’s Truth: Don’t go too long without spending time with God.

If you’ve noticed that it’s been awhile since you spent some time in the Bible, challenge yourself today to take more time to spend with God. You can let the Bible App read it to you while you do your homework, or first thing when you get up in the morning. You could get your copy of the Bible out and read in before bed. Whatever seems to work best for you. The goal is to simply make spending time with God a priority in your life today!

March 5, 2023

Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. – Proverbs 1:7 (NLT)

I bet you didn’t walk into school today thinking, I’m not going to learn anything. You don’t go to school to not learn more about the world around you, that would be pointless.

The interesting thing is that all knowledge, all learning really starts with God at the center. Knowing God is true knowledge. When you know God, the lessons you learn in math make more sense because you realize that the God who created those patterns is logical and orderly.

As you study music in your music class, you realize that the wonderful sounds all stem from a wonderful God who creates beautiful things to enjoy.

When you know God and love Him, it helps you learn and enjoy the world around you more. So if you haven’t before, start your day at school today thankful for a God who created you with the ability to learn. Thank God for the opportunity to learn more about the world He created and determine to grow in His wisdom and knowledge today.

Today’s truth: Knowledge Starts With God at the Center

February 24, 2023

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. – Matthew 5:14 (NIV)

As Christians, we are called to be light. We are to shine Jesus and show Jesus to the world around us. So what does that have to do with our talk the last few days about marriage, family and relationships?

Well, as Christians, we should be living our lives different from the way the world lives. We should be following Jesus in our relationships. That means that our sexuality, our relationships, our marriages should be defined by what God says, not by the culture around us.

As Christians, we should be living for God. We should be embracing who God made us to to be, not what someone else tells you you are. That means that if you don’t know what the Bible has to say about relationships, dating, family, marriage or any subject, you should begin to learn.

Begin to research what the Bible says about these topics. Find out what God says so that you can defend what you believe and be light to the world around you. God has put you here on the earth in this time in history. So stand up, boldly defend what you believe and know that you have been called to be light in the world around you!

• Note: This is the last (dated February 10 on the website) of several devotions on the subject of marriage, family, and relationships. I encourage you to visit the website and read some of the others written on the subject. 

February 5, 2023

You probably know what to do to be healthy. You know that you should exercise, eat good things, and drink lots of water. When you do these things, your body stays healthy. God not only wants your body to be healthy, He also wants your mind and spirit to be healthy as well.

How do you keep your mind healthy? One way you can do that is to begin to have healthy relationships.

When it comes to relationships, God’s goal is that you’re whole. He cares about all of you, your spirit, soul, and your body. See what He says in this verse.

Stay away from every kind of evil. Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. – 1 Thessalonians 5:22-23 (NLT)

God wants you to be healthy in every way, not just in your body. Why? Because He loves you that much. He’s not giving guidelines in your relationships to keep you from having fun or from enjoying something. Instead, it’s to keep your body, spirit, and soul whole.

• Note: This is the first (dated February 1 on the website) of several devotions on the subject of relationships. I encourage you to visit the website and read some of the others written on the subject. 

January 29, 2023

Have you noticed how easy it is to be upset? Maybe something happened to someone you love. Perhaps you’re feeling the stress of school or sports. Before you know it, you’re upset and troubled.

The Bible provides us with a great tip when it comes to stress. It tells us to not let your hearts be troubled. That means you have a choice in every situation whether you’re going to respond in peace or if you’re going to let your heart be troubled.

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. – John 14:1 (NLT)

Every day you have the opportunity to choose. You get to choose whether you’re going to really trust God in every area of your life. If you trust God, then you don’t have to let your heart be troubled. You know that no matter how bad things get around you, God will always see you through.

So today, if you’re faced with something big, don’t allow your heart to be troubled. Instead, look to Jesus. Trust Him to be your peace in the middle of the storm. You’ll be glad you did.

Today’s Truth: Don’t Let Your Heart Be Troubled

January 15, 2023

I remember a time I was listening to Spotify on my phone. Then a really loud person walked into the room. I had to keep turning the volume up on my phone to be able to hear. I didn’t want to hear the loud person, I wanted to finish my Podcast.

In the same way, our world is noisy. Distractions are everywhere. However, if we value God’s voice, we will do whatever it takes to turn up the volume on Him in our lives. His voice played at the loudest volume makes the difference in our lives.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. – Matthew 1:20 (NIV)

Joseph had to do this in his life. He had to hear the angel of the Lord. Joseph could have ignored God speaking. It would have probably been easier. Instead, he decided to value God speaking to him and obey what the angel said.

In the same way, you can decide to do whatever it takes to hear from God. Value what He has to say in your life. Sometimes that means turning off the TV or spending less time on your phone to hear His voice.

God wants to speak to you and tell you things about your future. He wants to help you in small things like where you left your missing History project and in large things like where to go to college. It’s just up to you to learn to listen to His voice. You start to do this by valuing what He has to say. As you spend time in prayer and reading your Bible, you’ll become more sensitive to what He has to say.

So decide to make prayer and Bible reading a priority in your life. As you spend time with God, it turns the volume up on His voice in your life.

Money is an interesting thing. It’s essentially paper or numbers on a computer or phone. Of itself, it isn’t really valuable. However, since we’ve chosen collectively to put value on it, it’s something that’s important to us. It’s so important that we choose to work a job to get more of it. We might even do a dumb dare a friend asks us to do simply to gain money from a dare.

As children of God, we should be putting value on His wisdom, maybe a little like the value we put on money. That’s not to say that God’s wisdom is worthless, but in the same way we’ve chosen to put value on pieces of paper and numbers on a phone, we should put value on God’s wisdom.

We should spend our time learning more from it. We should pursue it in the same way we pursue money. God’s wisdom should be something that we value and spend our time getting.

so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. – 1 Corinthians 2:5 (NIV)

God’s wisdom is important because it sees the end from the beginning. God, the creator of our world, wishes to share His wisdom with us. His wisdom is greater than anything we could come up with on our own.

Today’s Truth: Value God’s Wisdom

It’s up to us to value that wisdom. So today, spend some time reading your Bible. As you get into God’s word, you begin to see His wisdom in action, and it will change your life, if you’ll let God be a part of the decisions you make each day.

December 18, 2022

During Christmas, we can easily begin to get excited about all the stuff we’re getting under the tree. We can make sure that grandma knows exactly what we want so that we get all the right presents. But in all the Holiday concerts, lights, and gift-giving, it’s important not to forget that Christmas is all about Jesus.

Jesus came to the earth so that we could live in freedom from sin.

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. – Romans 6:6 (NLT)

Today, remember that your freedom is found in Jesus. You are no longer bound by sin. That’s true even if you don’t feel free. Your freedom is based in what Jesus did, not in your feelings. So don’t believe the lie that you’re not good enough, or that your sin is too big. In Jesus, you are free from sin – fully and completely.

Spend some time today dwelling on the fact that Jesus is your freedom.

Today’s Truth: Jesus is my freedom.

December 11, 2022

Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. – Matthew 6:20

Today’s Bible verse made me think about Christmas time. How much of our energy is spent this season buying or getting the “right” gift? So much effort goes into our Christmas preparations. Do you ever wonder, why we try so hard to get something that will be outdated or boring before too long?

So much of our energy at Christmas time is spent in the pursuit of things that don’t last.

Today’s Bible verse tells us to not store up treasures on earth. Instead, we should store up treasures in heaven. So rather than living for yourself and what you can get, choose to do something different this Christmas.

If you have a friend who needs help offer it. When you see a need, meet it. If you have extra money, give it to your church to help them reach out to someone else in need. Mostly, just be open to let the light of Jesus shine through open doors all around you.

God wants to do something really exciting through you this Christmas season, if you’ll be willing to do what He asks you to do.

December 4, 2022

The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. – 1 John 3:8 (NIV)

Jesus coming to the world meant good news. Ever since Adam decided to disobey God and sin, humankind had been stuck in sin. Our sin kept us from enjoying eternal life with God.

That’s the reason for Jesus. We couldn’t fulfill the law. There was no way we could ever keep all the commandments and be good enough in our own strength. For that very reason, God sent Jesus to be the solution to the problem that we created.

Most of us would never do something like that for someone else. If someone we knew messed something up really bad, most of the time we would never think of helping to be solution to the mess. But that’s what Jesus did for us. He became the solution to the problem that we had. And it was when we didn’t even deserve it.

That’s how great the love of God is to us. That means that even when you don’t like things about yourself, you have value. It means that in the midst of all the bad things happening to you and around you, you are loved by God.

Today’s Truth: Even When You Don’t Like Yourself, you have value to God.

So remember this Christmas that Jesus became the solution to the problem that we created. He did it willingly because He loves us so much!

November 28, 2022

1The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,  who will prepare your way]— 3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,   make straight paths for him.’” – Mark 1:1-3

Today starts the beginning of the advent season. As a kid, I always thought advent was a little silly. I didn’t really get what it was all about, and why everyone made such a big fuss over it. However, I’ve begun to realize that it’s actually an awesome tradition. It’s a time of the year that we can start thinking about Jesus and what He did for us.

Advent can be powerful if we take some time to think about how we’ve been touched by Jesus. I can’t count the ways that Jesus has helped my life. He set me free from low self-esteem. Jesus has helped me with fear, sickness, been a constant source of encouragement through trouble.

Today’s verse talks about the good news of Jesus the Messiah. Jesus is good news. He’s good news for all of us.

I’m sure if you sit and think, you’ll realize that Jesus has done a lot for you too. Challenge yourself to think of all the ways His sacrifice has helped make your life better. There’s so much to thank Him about this holiday season.

So don’t let the advent season become dull and stale in your life. Instead, put some thought into Jesus and what He’s meant to your life. Choose to prepare your heart for Jesus, this advent season.

November 20, 2022

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. – Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)

If you’ve known about God already for some time, you might read this Bible verse and think, why would I need to find God? Even if you’ve had a great relationship with God, there is always much more that we can experience and learn about Him. He wants us to experience Him in a deeper way and know about His ways so that we can experience more of His love and goodness in our lives.

In order to really find God, this verse is saying that we must seek Him with all of our hearts. We can’t casually try to seek God a little here and there and expect to really find Him. We must dive in and seek Him with everything we have in order to really find Him and get to know Him.

This type of seeking doesn’t happen on a Sunday at church. This doesn’t even happen if you only open a Bible once a week. This happens when you lay aside other things and place all your focus on finding Him that you truly get a breakthrough.

It’s not that God is holding out on us and is only willing to reveal Himself to us if He sees we are seeking enough. This Bible verse is simply saying that our hearts were never designed to be able to focus on several things at once. We must choose to place our focus on one thing and that one thing alone to really get results.

Today, decide that you’re going to daily take time to seek the Lord. This verse assures us that when we do, we will find Him. You’ll never regret taking your time and focusing on the Lord.

November 13, 2022

Because you are precious in my eyes,  

and honored, and I love you, 

I give men in return for you, 

peoples in exchange for your life. – Isaiah 43:4 (ESV)

I remember at youth group there was one student who was always loud. You could always hear her voice above all the others. And the youth leaders always listened to her because her voice was the one they heard in the crowd. You probably know someone like that too at your school or youth group. People that have a loud voice get heard above all the noise.

In life, it doesn’t matter all that much whether you have a loud or quiet voice. What does matter is what voice you choose to listen to each day.

It’s easy to listen to lies. Perhaps you feel like you’re too fat, or too skinny. Maybe you’re not the best at math and so you think that you’re not smart. And if you’re careful, you start to listen to those thoughts that tell you you’re not worth that much. The more you listen to them, the more you believe them. Before you know it, you begin to doubt your worth. You wonder if you really are important and if anyone really cares about you.

But here is the truth. You’re important to God. And He is the one who gives you the truth about your worth. So when the voices in your head, or even the voices of others tell you you’re not important, don’t listen. Listen to God. Hear what He speaks over you.

Decide to make God’s voice the loudest voice in your life. Listen to Him in the noise of the crowd. He is the one who says you’re important, you have value, and that your future is good. Choose to listen to Him and ignore the voices in your head that tell you you’re unimportant.

Today’s Truth: God’s Voice Should Be The Loudest in Your Life

Memory Verse:

What's your favorite scripture?  Share it with me to add to this list of scriptures to remember. If it's one of your favorites, it might encourage someone else, too.