Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: MATTHEW 12:36; ROMANS 14:10-14; COLOSSIANS 1:21-23 In the State of Michigan’s law, there is something called an FOIA request. FOIA stands for Freedom of Information Act and is pronounced “foy-ahh.” People submit an FOIA request to government entities for public records. These request forms can be submitted for many things—documents, videos, emails, letters, etc. If the recipient has those records, they must surrender them—unless there are circumstances that legally prohibit that information from being shared. FOIA requests exist to hold the government accountable to the people. If someone is skeptical of government dealings, this law allows them to investigate. And, again, if the public official has the desired document, they must give it. It sounds like a great idea, right? Of course! Especially if you’re the one submitting the request. But what if you’re the one receiving the request? What if you’re the one who has to give up documents? When you consider your own correspondence with people, how would you feel about everyone finding out what you’ve said? Chances are, you probably won’t get FOIA-ed, but we will all have to stand before God and give an account for ourselves. The Bible talks about this. Of course, God doesn’t need an FOIA request to know who you are and what you’ve done. As Hebrews 4:13 says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” But the good news is, God also knows that we can’t be perfect. We all do, think, and say things we’re not proud of. Things we’d likely be embarrassed about if anyone else could see them. We all sin—we go our own way, against God and His Word—many times a day. But when we put our faith in Jesus, He absolves us of all these things. Because God loves us, Jesus lived the perfect life, and He took the penalty our sins deserved. He was willing to die for us so that, when we stand before God, we will be holy and blameless. An FOIA of our hearts on judgement day would reveal nothing but Jesus’s sacrifice and our gratitude. • Natty Maelle • Sometimes we believe the lie that we can fix our own sin. Have you ever tried to will yourself to be a“better person” and then felt even further from God? When we put our trust in Jesus, He declares we are forever forgiven. And as we continue to rely on Him through faith, His Holy Spirit helps us become more and more like Jesus. For more about this good news, see our "Know Jesus" page. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. Colossians 1:22 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 119:105; PROVERBS 7:1-3; ROMANS 12:2; COLOSSIANS 3:14-17 If you have a locker, is it easier to look up the locker combination every time, or to memorize the combination? You could just keep the locker combo saved on your phone or written on a piece of paper, but then you’d have to search for it every time you needed to open your locker. And if you ever lost the combo, then you’d really be in a predicament! It’s a lot easier to memorize it so you always have it in your mind. Memorizing locker combinations is similar to memorizing Bible verses. Sure, we can just look up any Bible verse we need to know. But it’s hard to look up a verse if we don’t know the words. And memorizing Scripture isn’t just about having a verse ready when we need it. It’s about treasuring God’s Word and putting it in our hearts (Psalm 119:11). The Bible is precious because it tells us who Jesus is and what He’s done to save us. In it, God reveals His tender and powerful love for us, and He invites us into ever deeper relationship with Him. When we spend time committing God’s words to memory, we carry the truth and promises of Jesus with us, and they begin to affect our decisions and the way we live. Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” In order for this to happen, we need to know what the Word says. As we spend time reading and listening to the Bible and memorizing different verses and passages, the Holy Spirit works in us to help us take God’s truth and promises to heart, and He transforms us from the inside out. • A. W. Smith • What are some of your favorite Bible verses? How have these affected the way you live your life? • The Bible is a collection of books that were written over hundreds of years by people living in a variety of historical-cultural contexts, and it’s comprised of lots of different genres—like historical narratives, parables, poetry, letters, wisdom literature, apocalyptic literature, and more. So, when we memorize verses or passages from the Bible, why is it important to know the genre, historical-cultural context, and literary context of those verses? Who are trusted Christians in your life who can help you dig into God’s Word and understand it more deeply? Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. Colossians 3:16 (WEB)

READ: GENESIS 24:1-28, 58-59; JAMES 1:5-8 In Genesis 24, we find a beautiful story of God leading and guiding a man who is called Abraham’s “servant, the elder of his household who managed all he owned” (verse 2). This servant, who is kind of like Abraham’s steward, is sent back to Abraham’s land to find a wife for Abraham’s son, Isaac. The servant arrives in the land and stops to rest at a well with his camels. He prays to God, saying “I am standing here at the spring where the daughters of the men of the town are coming out to draw water. Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also’—let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac’” (verse 13-14). One of the significant parts of this story is that even while the servant is still praying, Rebekah arrives at the well. Before the servant even finishes his prayer, God provides. When Rebekah gives the servant and his camels a drink from the well, the servant knows that God has answered his prayer and that this is the woman for Isaac. Later in the chapter, the servant says, “I knelt low, worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who guided me on the right way” (Genesis 24:48). Rebekah learns all this and agrees to marry Isaac. Just as God led Abraham’s servant on the right way, God also leads us on the right way when we ask Him. He loves us, and He wants to provide guidance for us. Because of Jesus’s sinless sacrifice, we have the freedom and ability to come to God with all our requests. And once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, His Holy Spirit lives in us. So whenever we feel uncertain about what to do, we can ask God for guidance, and we can trust that He will lead us on the right way. Then we can thank Him through worship, just as Abraham’s servant did. • Elizabeth Cooper • God gives us guidance through His Word (the Bible), His Holy Spirit, and His people (the church). We can learn about God’s character, His good ways, and the kind of life He calls us to live through His Word. We can learn to discern His guidance through the Holy Spirit living in us. And we can hear His wisdom from trusted Christians He has placed in our lives—people who love Jesus and whose lives reflect the kind of wisdom described in James 3:17-18. Can you think of any ways you’ve received guidance from God’s Word, His Spirit, or His people? Consider taking a moment to thank God for His guidance in your life. I will instruct you and show you the way to go; with my eye on you, I will give counsel. Psalm 32:8 (CSB)

READ: MATTHEW 6:25-34; LUKE 22:39-54; 1 PETER 5:6-7 I worry. I get stressed out. I spend hours or even days in dread. And then I regret it. I remember one year, I was at a fireworks show and there was a nagging worry on my mind. Instead of being able to fully enjoy the beauty of the fireworks and the fun going on around me, I was stuck in my head with the worry. Things ended up turning out alright. There was no reason for my loss of peace. But regardless of how things turn out, my worries are never worth it. They never make things better. Worrying only takes away the minutes, hours, and days of peace I could have had. All the time, I wish I could go back and tell myself to spend less time worrying. I wish I could change the moments when I was the most stressed and allow myself to soak things up and enjoy what was going on around me instead. In Matthew 6:34, Jesus says, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” We can’t do any good by worrying and overthinking. But God takes care of all our needs, and we can trust in Him. It’s freeing to realize I can spend less time worrying when I give it all to Him. • Bethany Acker • What kinds of things make you feel worried? In times of worry, we can always turn to Jesus. Instead of holding onto all our worries, we can give them over to Him. Instead of looking for all the ways things could go wrong, we can look to Jesus and remember how trustworthy He is. He loves us. He knows firsthand what it’s like to experience worry and anxiety. And He offers His peace to everyone who puts their trust in Him. Through His death and resurrection, He made the way to save us from sin and death, so now nothing can ever separate us from His love. • Sometimes, we may need help from people or medicine when our worries and anxiety are just too much, and that’s okay. Those are some of the ways Jesus offers His help. If you’re struggling with anxiety or you can’t seem to stop worrying, who is a trusted adult you could talk to? If you need someone to talk to, you can request a free conversation with Focus on the Family’s Counseling Department by calling 1-855-771-HELP (4357) weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Mountain Time). Please be prepared to leave your contact information for a counselor to return a call to you as soon as possible. In Canada, book your appointment by calling 1-800-661-9800 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) and ask to speak with the care associate. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)

READ: ROMANS 8:18-39; HEBREWS 13:1-21 There is pouring rain outside my window as I type. November in Michigan—you never know what weather you’ll get. On November 1st, I was bundled in winter gear, trudging through the woods in around eight inches of snow. The trees were heavy with sparkling beauty. November 6th, I was walking the shores of Lake Michigan, picking up seashells as the sun warmed my bare shoulders. As I watched the waves roll and foam, I considered the unpredictability of Michigan weather and how God is the polar opposite. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” In a world that is ever-changing, from the latest fad to our individual lives, it’s so comforting to know that Jesus is unchanging. What kinds of changes are you currently going through? Perhaps your family is moving, or a new friendship is beginning, or you’re grieving the loss of a loved one. Maybe your parents decided to homeschool you, or you’re battling some physical ailment, or you lost your job. In every season of our lives, we all face changes—some are welcome, some are difficult, and sometimes we don’t even know how to classify the changes. But once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we can be confident that He will work out everything for His glory and our ultimate good (Romans 8:28). Through everything we face, Jesus is with us, and we have the opportunity to become more like Him (verse 29). We can wait patiently with hope because we know that God is for us, and no evidence of that is greater than Him sending His own Son to die for us (verse 25, 31-32). No change will be able to separate us from His love (verse 35-39). So no matter the changes we face, good or bad, we can cling to the promise that God “does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). We can ask Him to fill our hearts with reminders of the times He’s been faithful through changes in the past. Because even in the midst of change, God says, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). • Savannah Coleman • How do you feel about change? Do you embrace change, or do you tend to shy away from it? Why do you think that is? • Can you think of a time you experienced God’s faithfulness during a time of change? Consider taking a moment to thank Him for this. “I the Lord do not change.” Malachi 3:6 (NIV)

READ: MATTHEW 5:43-47; LUKE 6:27-36; ROMANS 5:6-11; 12:14-21 It’s no secret that people can be grumpy, rude, and downright mean. Every day there’s that family member who’s being noisy, that driver who cut you off in the parking lot, that person in your life who always has something negative to say, or all of the above. Bottom line: there’s always going to be somebody who makes it seem impossible to love our enemies. There might even be times when you think, “I can’t. I just cannot bring myself to love this person. I know what God’s Word says, and I know that He created this person and wants me to love them like He does, but it’s just so hard!” If you’ve had that thought, you’re not alone. We all struggle with loving our enemies. This is a broken world full of broken people, and sin is something that breaks God’s heart and should break our hearts too. And the truth is, it is impossible for us to love our enemies. It’s impossible for us to do it on our own. But nothing is too hard for God. Nothing is impossible for Him. Not even loving that person who’s been getting on your nerves, or the person who straight up hurt you. When people crucified Jesus, mocked Him, and nailed Him to a cross, He said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). I don’t know about you, but I think that kind of grace sounds impossible. It’s easy to forget we’re no different from the people who put Jesus on the cross. And we’re no different from the people we find difficult to love. We’ve all sinned, and our sin hurts others and breaks God’s heart. Yet, He loves us so much that He was willing to go to that cross. He died for us, and then He rose again so we could be forgiven. If anyone can help us be loving and gracious to those who are not being loving or gracious to us, it’s Jesus. When we were still His enemies, Jesus sacrificed His very life for us. And once we know Jesus, His Spirit empowers us to love others like He loves us. Isn’t it great that we don’t have to do this on our own? If we let Him work through us, He will help us love our enemies. Even when it seems impossible, nothing is impossible for Him. • Elizabeth Blanton • Whenever we talk about loving difficult people, we have to remember that “those kinds of people”are us. We all get on each other’s nerves, and we all sin. How might God be inviting you to love difficult people in your life? (If you’ve experienced a deep hurt, who are trusted adults in your life you can talk to about what healthy boundaries might look like?) Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God. 1 John 4:7 (CSB)

READ: MATTHEW 23; ROMANS 12:1-2; JAMES 1:19-27 Every few weeks (or months—ahem), I have the disturbing realization that I haven’t cleaned inside the sink. I’m not talking about the basin where you wash your hands, I’m talking about under the surface. Have you ever pulled out the sink plug and looked inside? Unless the people in your home are way better at cleaning unseen areas than I am, it’s bound to look gross. While I was vigorously scrubbing the nasty sink plug, a verse from the book of James came to mind: “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you” (1:21). James urges us not to merely listen to God’s Word but to do what it says (verse 22). It can be easy to forget to tend to the filth and nasty habits that reside in our hearts, especially when no one else may know about or see them. David knew he was prone to forgetting. He even asked God to search his heart and bring to light any offensive things in him (Psalm 139:23-24). Like bringing the gross sink plug into the light revealed its need to be cleaned, as we read God’s Word and open our hearts to Him, He will reveal the dark, ugly places in our hearts that need to change. Ultimately, the whole Bible is “written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). Without Jesus, we are helpless to cleanse ourselves from sin. Yet He loves us, and He died on the cross and rose from the grave so that all who trust in Him can be forgiven and set free from sin. As Christians, we can know that all our sins have been forgiven—past, present, and future. And we now have the Holy Spirit living in us, transforming us to become more and more like Jesus. He will continually reveal things in us that He wants to change. So, instead of turning away from the nasty stuff and just forgetting about it, we can allow His Word to seep into all the dark and broken places and change us. • Savannah Coleman • As you read today’s Bible passages, consider taking some time to ask Jesus to reveal anything in your life that needs to change. You can confess any sins that come to mind, resting in His love and forgiveness, and you can ask for guidance in how to move forward. In addition to talking to Jesus, who are trusted Christians in your life you can be honest with about your struggles? Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)

READ: ISAIAH 62:5; 65:17; REVELATION 19:6-9; 21:1-5 Come, let’s run, laugh in God’s sun, ride on the wind, let the joy begin! Come, let’s bring a praise offering, a new melody, join the harmony! Come, let’s play, in unending day, the night has gone, we dance in the dawn! Come, let’s dance, it’s a royal romance, the feast has begun, for the bride has come! Sing, sing! Sing a new song! High and low, Loud and long! Praise, praise! Praise To the Lamb! Forever is here! We are new again! The Scriptures that inspired today’s poem are all about the ultimate wedding party: the never-ending feast that begins when we, the bride (all who put our trust in Jesus), are joined forever to Christ, our bridegroom (Isaiah 62:5; John 3:28-30; Revelation 19:7). All this happens as Jesus returns to earth and the new creation dawns—accompanied by joyful offerings of praise and celebration. By portraying the homecoming of believers as a joyful feast, I think God displays His grace in a truly radical way. Here’s what I mean: if it were up to me, at the end of time I’d picture us “pardoned sinners” solemnly filing in, bowing down to God like prisoners released from our just punishment…but no! We, the forgiven, are ushered into the greatest homecoming party ever—complete with music, feasting, dancing, and best of all: the light of God’s very presence (Revelation 22:5). Let the joy begin! • G. Kam Congleton • As you read today’s Scriptures, what thoughts cross your mind? What hopes arise in your heart? “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” Revelation 19:7 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 103:8-12; EPHESIANS 1:4-5; 2:1-10; 1 JOHN 1:9 Picture this: You and a friend are standing side by side. You each have an easel in front of you, and you’re working carefully on your own paintings. Then you take a step back, proudly declaring, “I think this is the best painting I’ve done yet.” Your friend admires your work, motioning with their brush to one of their favorite spots. But their hand slips, and they accidentally smear paint on your canvas! In dismay they apologize and offer to help fix the smudge, but the more the two of you try to dab and wipe at the blemish, the worse it looks. “Can you ever forgive me?” your friend asks, near tears, holding the ruined painting. “I am so sorry!” While you’re understandably disappointed, you try to comfort your friend. “Don’t worry about it. It’s okay. I’ll do it over. It will be a masterpiece next time—you’ll see.” But you can tell your friend isn’t convinced. You try to reassure them, but they seem to feel even worse about the painting than you do. When we hurt someone—whether intentionally or accidentally—it can be difficult to accept that the person we hurt has forgiven us. And on the other hand, when we forgive someone who has hurt us, we want them to believe us when we say they’re forgiven. Similarly, when God says we’re forgiven, He wants us to believe Him too. But sometimes we don’t. We might confess the same thing to Jesus several times, thinking we need to earn His forgiveness by begging and pleading. But Jesus died and rose again so all our sins could be erased—past, present, and future. God’s love for us is unshakable, and He always forgives us. Do you believe Jesus when He says He forgives you? If you trust Him as your Savior, you can have full confidence that when He says He forgives all your sins, He means it. When we lie, hate, say something cruel, or do something that seems even worse, we can confess it all to Him. In His Word He assures us that, through Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, all our sins have been forgiven and erased. • A. W. Smith • When do you struggle to believe that Jesus has forgiven you? Do you know any Bible verses you could memorize to help you take this wonderful truth to heart? Who are some trusted Christians in your life who can help remind you of Jesus’s sure forgiveness? “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” Isaiah 43:25 (NLT)

READ: ISAIAH 1:15-18; 57:15-21; EPHESIANS 2:1-13; 5:25-27 Some people have called the book of Isaiah the Gospel of the Old Testament. At first glance though, you might wonder why. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John start off the New Testament by recounting Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection on earth. But Isaiah starts out with a vision God gave him that points out the sins of the Israelites and pleads with them to return to the Lord. God offers redemption and forgiveness to His people if they would only turn back to Him. Roughly half of the book is like this, then the tone switches and chapter forty begins with the words “‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God” (Isaiah 40:1). The prophecies and visions in the first part of the book were for Israel when they had turned their back on God and gone after idols. Then the nations of Assyria and Babylon swept down upon Israel and hauled the people off in chains. In the latter half of Isaiah, God sends comfort to His people while they’re in captivity, promising not only that they would one day return to their own land, but that a new heaven and a new earth was being made. Throughout Isaiah, God gives many promises about the forgiveness of sins and the Messiah He would send to save them. The Israelites didn’t have to wallow in their sins. They could come to God and be washed from their sins. In a way, we’re like the Israelites in the book of Isaiah. We’re in the same situation, but now the Messiah, Jesus, has come! We don’t need to continue in our sins and stay covered in guilt and shame. When we put our trust in Jesus, believing in His death and resurrection, we can be free from those chains and return to God. He loves us with an unending love, and He promises to comfort us and give us peace in His presence. Jesus is waiting to wash away our sins so we can be made new. Then we’ll hear God speaking comfort to us as the gospel does its work in us. • Morgan Mitchell • Have you ever felt burdened by sin? Have you ever experienced God’s grace and forgiveness comforting you? What was that like? (If you want to dig deeper, read Psalm 32.) • In what ways are you in need of forgiveness and comfort today? Consider spending some time with Jesus in prayer, confessing any sins that come to mind and resting in His love and grace. Remember, if you’ve put your trust in Jesus, all your sins have been forgiven—past, present, and future. He loves you, and He wants to help you walk in freedom. (Find out more on our "Know Jesus" page.) “I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” Isaiah 44:22 (NLT)

READ: ROMANS 6:1-4, 12-14, 20-23; 7:15-25 Nova Anadosha, Warrior of Light, drew her sword and held it ready as the enemy assassin approached. The wide hood of a jet-black cloak concealed the assassin’s face, but Nova could hear a malicious grin in the words spoken to her. “Come on,” the raspy voice said. “Give up. Give in. You know you want to.” Nova responded with her own grin and gripped her sword tighter. “I don’t think so.” The assassin suddenly lurched at her, sword whipping through the air, but Nova easily dodged its dark blade. “You’ve given in to me before,” the voice said. Nova sighed and gave her blade a quick swing through the air, just to feel the weight of it. “Yet here we are again.” The assassin came at her once more, but Nova was ready. She sidestepped the sword aimed for her heart and twirled around quickly, then brought the hilt of her sword down hard on the assailant’s shoulder. The enemy’s sword clattered to the ground, and after Nova dealt a few more blows, the assassin was down on hands and knees. With the tip of her blade, Nova removed the hood from the assassin’s head. Her own face glared back at her. Nova stared into the assassin’s filmy eyes. “You’re not who I am anymore. You’re dead.” The ashen face of the assassin twisted in anger. “Liar!” Nova shook her head. “You’re the liar. You can’t defeat me. You died the day I was born—the day the Light shined on me. I’m in the Light now, and you have no power over me.” She sheathed her sword. “I just need to hold on to that truth as I wait for the day when you’ll be banished forever. Then I’ll never have to deal with you again.” Nova turned and walked away, ignoring the assassin’s angry rasps behind her. It wasn’t over yet. She knew the assassin would be back to fight another day. And she would be ready. • Courtney Lasater • The book of Romans tells us that, though Christians have been saved from sin by Jesus and given new life, we still have a sinful nature living within us. Even though Jesus has freed us from sin’s power, our sinful nature will still urge us to do things that go against who we now are in Jesus—and sometimes we will give in. That’s why we must fight against this nature, remembering that through Jesus we always have the power to turn away from sin. Today’s allegorical story addresses this struggle. In what ways have you struggled against your own sinful nature? • It’s important to remember that, once we know Jesus, our old sinful nature is not who we are anymore. Finding our identity in Jesus is both an act of resistance to temptation and an act of hope in His forgiveness. Because even when we give in to our sinful nature and do wrong, Jesus offers us forgiveness (1 John 1:9). He has already paid the penalty our sins deserve by dying in our place and rising from the grave. And one day, He will give us new bodies that will be free from the sinful nature we have now (Philippians 3:20-21). How can these promises give us hope when we’re struggling with sin? • Often, our struggles with sin are hidden from those around us. But Jesus calls us to be in relationship with fellow Christians so we can help each other (Galatians 6:1-2). Who are trusted Christians in your life you can be open and honest with about your struggles? How could you be intentional about encouraging each other, praying for each other, and reminding each other of your new identity in Jesus and of His unending love, power, and forgiveness? • If you want to dig deeper, read Romans 6–8; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21;Ephesians 2:1-10; 4:22-32; Hebrews 4:14-16; James 1:12-18; 1 John 2:1-2. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. Ephesians 5:8 (NIV)

READ: GENESIS 32:1-12; 1 SAMUEL 30:1-6; HEBREWS 4:14-16 When you are afraid or in distress, where do you go? What do you do? Genesis 32 tells the story of Jacob preparing to see his brother Esau. These twins had a bad past—Jacob cheated Esau and then ran away. Years later, when Jacob heard Esau was on his way to meet him with four hundred men, the passage tells us Jacob was “in great fear and distress” (Genesis 32:7). He was afraid Esau was going to attack him because of their bad past. So what did Jacob do? He prayed! When Jacob was afraid, he went to God. Later in the Bible, in 1 Samuel 30, we hear about David’s people being attacked while David was away, and many women and children were taken captive. Verse 4 says, “David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.” Then David “was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him,” but verse 6 tells us “David found strength in the LORD his God.” Like Jacob, David went to God when he was distressed. David found his strength in the Lord. The Lord was with David always, as He is with us. Like Jacob and David, when we are afraid or in distress, whether it be stress about homework, fear of the future, or fear for a sick loved one, we can pray to God. He loves us, and He always wants to help us. Remember, Jesus Himself went to the Father in prayer when He was distressed. On the night before He went to the cross, Jesus was in anguish, and the Father heard His cries and lovingly sent an angel to strengthen Him (Luke 22:39-44). Because of Jesus’s sinless sacrifice, we can have a restored, close relationship with God. If we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we can know that God has given us the Holy Spirit to equip us and strengthen us. So we can pray to Him whenever we’re worried or afraid. We can strengthen ourselves in God by spending time with Him through prayer or reading Scripture, and we can thank Him for being the God who hears. • Elizabeth Cooper • What do you tend to do when you’re stressed out or afraid? Consider taking some time now to talk to God about any fears that come to mind. We can take comfort in knowing He always hears us, and He always cares about us. And when Jesus returns, we will never be distressed again. • Can you think of a time you went to God when you were afraid and He protected or strengthened you? What was that like? I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4 (NIV)

READ: EXODUS 20:1-20; ISAIAH 53:5-12; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 Are you ever confused or discouraged when you read the Old Testament and see the Ten Commandments or all the long lists of laws God gave His people? It seems impossible to follow every single one of those rules. And as humans in a fallen world, it is. God did not give the Israelites all these commandments because He thought they would follow them perfectly. He knew beforehand they would fall short. So why did He give them the law? God wanted to show us we can never measure up to His perfection. We’ve all sinned, and we could never earn His forgiveness. And because God loves us, He wants us to realize our desperate need for a Savior. We need Jesus! Everything in the Bible points to Jesus, including the Old Testament laws (Romans 3:23-26). So flash forward to the New Testament, when God the Father sends God the Son, Jesus, to earth to do what we could never do. Jesus becomes a human and lives a perfect life, embodying all of God’s good ways. Because Jesus is sinless, He is able to give up His own life as an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of all people in all time. When Jesus died on the cross, He took all our sin upon Himself (1 Peter 2:24). And then He rose again, defeating the power of sin and giving eternal life to all who trust in Him as their Savior. So, whenever we read the law, let’s remember it shows us how much we need a Savior. We can’t do it on our own. And because of Jesus, we don’t have to! God saves us through faith in Jesus, not through any works or good deeds we do. Praise God! • Elizabeth Cooper • Have you ever tried to please God by doing good things and trying to do everything right? How could it be freeing to know that we’re not perfect, but Jesus has already done everything that was needed to save us? • The law points to our need for Jesus. We don’t need to do anything or clean ourselves up before coming to God. Because of Jesus’s death and resurrection, we can come to God just as we are. If you want to know more about what it means to trust in Jesus, see our "Know Jesus" page. • Once we know Jesus, God the Holy Spirit lives inside us. The Holy Spirit works to transform us to become more and more like Jesus, helping us turn away from sin and walk in God’s good ways instead. What might it look like to obey God, not out of fear, but out of love and gratitude? For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

READ: GALATIANS 6:8-10 I spend a lot of time at home, and sometimes that makes me feel like I’m not touching as many lives as I should. But as I thought about it more, I realized there are lots of things I do while I am at home to look out for others and be there for my fellow believers. Like me, you might feel like you’re not doing enough, but there are small things you can do in your everyday life to make a difference. When we put our trust in Jesus, believing in His life, death, and resurrection, His love transforms us, and He calls us to share that love with others. It’s easy to think we’re only called to minister to those who don’t know God, but that’s not true. Jesus calls us to look out for our fellow believers too. So when we’re home and we serve someone we live with, whether they’re a believer or not, we are serving God. When we surprise them by doing something special for them, we’re following what Paul says in Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.” We may think we need to be doing big things in order to serve God or live the way He wants us to. But the truth is, there are many things we can do that aren’t necessarily going to be noticed by everyone but can still touch lives just the same. Getting someone their favorite snack, helping with their chores, or just being a listening ear are all everyday ways to serve the people God has placed in our everyday lives. We can show the love of Jesus to the people around us, whether we spend a lot of time out and about or we spend most of our time at home, whether we go to school or are homeschooled, whether or not we have a job we go to. As long as we’re looking to God for direction and relying on Him to help us live how He calls us to, the small things we do out of obedience to Him can change lives. • Emily Acker • Can you think of a time somebody did a small, everyday thing that made you feel loved? What was that like? What have you been able to do recently that showed others God’s love? • Sometimes, it’s hard to think of ways to serve the people around us. Have you asked God how He wants you to serve? Consider spending some time in prayer, asking Jesus to show you how you could show His love to the people around you. For 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. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

READ: 1 PETER 2:9-12 Blessed That is what I am today Each day of my life Thanks to You Thankful You take care of me today Each day of my life My journey is with You Happy To never be alone Each day of my life Your gentle hand leads Humbled You call me Your child Each day of my life You love me as Your own • Bethany Acker • Which of the stanzas in today’s poem sticks out to you the most today? Why? • Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, God calls us to ponder the wonderful truths of who we are in Jesus and the blessings He has given us. As we take time to remember God’s goodness, we often find it feels easier to trust Him. If you want to dig deeper, read Psalm 23; John 1:12-13; Ephesians 1:3-11; 1 John 3:1. Do you have any other favorite verses or passages that reveal God’s presence, blessings, care, guidance, love, etc.? You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)

READ: PSALM 142; ISAIAH 53:3-6 Imagine this: You walk into the room, and everyone reacts. Some point. Some stare. Some laugh. Apparently gossip spreads quickly, and so do videos. You look around and don’t see a single kind face or one person you could possibly sit with. You turn and run. Have you ever felt completely alone? Have you felt like everyone was against you and you didn’t have anyone on your side? It’s hard to face rejection, to feel alone, or to be scared about what’s happening in your life. And it can be especially hard when difficult things are going on and you feel like you have absolutely no one you can turn to. But the good news is, we can always turn to God. No matter what’s happened, no matter what we’ve done, God is always with us. Just look at Psalm 142. David shares how he feels completely alone. He mentions that no one is concerned about him. He feels friendless and unprotected. So David cries out to God from a place of despair and realizes that he is not as alone as he feels. God is with him. That same God is with us. In every tough situation and every fear. Being alone isn’t fun, and facing life alone can be scary, but even when it feels like the people around us have all turned their backs on us, Jesus is there. We can trust that He is with us. We can ask Him to send people to support us. When we feel overwhelmed and like we have no one else to lean on, we can always lean on Him. • Emily Acker • Can you think of a time you felt alone? Do you feel alone right now? Consider taking some time to follow David’s example and pour out your heart to God, telling Him all about whatever you’ve been going through. God hears you, and He wants to be your refuge (Psalm 142:5). • Because God wants so much to be with us, Jesus came and lived among us. Jesus can truly empathize with all our struggles; He knows what it’s like to be hurt and rejected (Isaiah 53:3). When He was arrested and unjustly accused, His closest friends all ran away and abandoned Him (Matthew 26:56). But Jesus was willing to go through all the rejection and suffering and humiliation of the cross because of His love for us. Though we have all rejected Jesus and turned our backs on Him, His love for us has never changed. Because Jesus died for us and then rose from the grave, everyone who trusts in Him is brought near to God. (Find out more our "Know Jesus" page.) Romans 15:7 says, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you.” How has Jesus accepted and welcomed us? How could you welcome lonely people in your own life? “Surely I [Jesus] am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20 (NIV)

READ: GENESIS 37:1-36; 45:1-15; 50:15-21 Do you wish parts of your life were different? Perhaps a broken relationship, a shattered home, a selfish decision, or a misguided choice. Pieces that seem too jagged and broken to fit together into anything remotely beautiful. Ever since sin entered our world, we all have brokenness in our lives. But God can work through our stories—just as He did through Joseph’s. In Genesis 37, we see how Joseph’s own brothers sold him into slavery. They were filled with jealousy because of their father’s wrongful favoritism of Joseph, and their anger was stirred up by Joseph’s sinful pride. One day they attacked him, throwing him into a pit and then sending him to faraway Egypt. Joseph was forced to leave behind his home and his father, Jacob, who grieved for the son he thought had been killed. Joseph’s life in Egypt was hard. Yet “the LORD was with him and…gave him success in everything he did” (Genesis 39:3). Joseph was eventually put in charge of his Egyptian master’s entire household, but then he was wrongfully accused of a crime he didn’t commit and thrown into prison. However, through the hand of the Lord, he went from the dungeon to being second-in-command over all of Egypt. God worked through Joseph to save the people of Egypt and surrounding lands from a devastating famine. When his brothers came to Egypt, desperate for food for themselves and their families, Joseph recognized them and was filled with emotion. After testing them, he revealed his true identity to his brothers and they were tearfully reunited. Though Joseph’s life was full of pain and heartache, God used the mistakes and sins of Joseph and his family to bring about His own good purposes (Genesis 50:20). Israel was saved from starvation. And generations later, God fulfilled His promise to bring a Savior, Jesus Christ, through their family. God can take the most broken parts of our lives and make them beautiful. • Julia Faith Steward • Though it’s easy for us to focus on how our situations look in the present, God sees the bigger picture. He is working all things together for good. How could this truth give us hope? • Joseph and his family were real people with real emotions. Joseph felt the pain that resulted from being betrayed by his brothers, who were supposed to love and protect him. When they were reunited, he sobbed so loudly that all of Pharaoh’s household heard him. How could it be encouraging to know that the people in the Bible dealt with brokenness and pain just like us? And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV)

READ: EXODUS 4:10-12; LUKE 12:11-12; EPHESIANS 6:19-20 Have you ever gotten stage fright? Getting up and speaking in front of a group of people can be nerve-racking! The truth is, lots of people struggle with stage fright, including celebrities who perform all the time. When we have to get up in front of people, a helpful piece of advice is not to worry so much about what others will think of us. Instead, we can shift our focus away from ourselves and concentrate on helping our audience learn something new. Much like stage fright, we can get nervous about talking to someone about Jesus. We might feel that Jesus wants us to speak about Him to someone, but we get nervous and wonder what to say and what the person will think of us. But instead of focusing on ourselves, we can shift our focus onto Jesus and the person we’re talking to. God wants to help us follow His leading and help that person know more about who He is. As we remember that He’s always with us, helping us every step of the way, we can face our fears and speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Remember, people throughout the Bible needed God’s help to speak. In the book of Exodus, when God told Moses to confront Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, Moses asked God to send someone else, saying, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent…because my mouth and my tongue are sluggish” (Exodus 4:10). But God promised to teach Moses what to say. Jesus gives us a similar promise in Luke 12:11-12, saying the Holy Spirit will teach us what to say. Whenever we get nervous, we can always ask for help, both from God and from fellow Christians. For example, Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus, “Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it [the gospel] as I should” (Ephesians 6:19-20). Even though Paul had taught crowds of people about the gospel many times, he still asked for prayer, knowing that he needed God to work through him. In the same way, we can trust God to help us find the right words when He calls us to speak. Then we can leave the results up to Him. • A. W. Smith • Whenever we’re nervous to speak in front of a group, we can talk to God about it. He cares, and He wants to help us. And when we get nervous when we have an opportunity to tell one of our friends about Jesus, He’ll help us with that too. Have you ever talked to someone about Jesus? What was that like? • If we know Jesus, He is always with us through the Holy Spirit. How can remembering this truth encourage us when we feel too nervous to speak? (Matthew 10:19; Mark 13:11) “Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:12 (CSB)

READ: ROMANS 5:6-11; EPHESIANS 2:1-10; 1 JOHN 4:19 The Emperor sent a proclamation to the kingdom of Mercutia. He announced that he would be granting the Ultimate Gift to a select few people of the kingdom. Adelaide, a young seamstress, read this proclamation and was overjoyed. The Gift from the Emperor… that could change everything! However, Adelaide knew she would have to distinguish herself in order to be worthy of the Gift. I will become the wealthiest in the land, Adelaide thought. Then I’ll be worthy. So she worked diligently, toiling day and night on the dresses of duchesses. She mended and sewed until her fingers bled and her eyes ached. After one year, she gathered all her wealth and journeyed to the Emperor to ask for the Gift. But when she arrived, she saw nobles dripping with jewels and knew she would never be the wealthiest of all. Surely, she was not worthy. I will become the strongest in the land, Adelaide thought. Then I’ll be worthy. So she joined the Emperor’s army and trained as a knight. After one year, Adelaide had gained glory and strength, and she journeyed to the Emperor to receive the Gift. But when she arrived, she saw the strongest generals, and she knew she would never be the strongest in the land. If I cannot be the wealthiest or the strongest, then I will be the smartest, Adelaide thought. Then, I will finally be worthy. So she became a student of the most respected scholars. She studied great tomes, memorized epic poems, and learned deep philosophy. After one year, she journeyed to the Emperor one last time to see if she could finally receive the Gift. But when she arrived, she listened to the Emperor speak. His immense wisdom was so beyond hers that she knew she would never be worthy of the Gift. Dejected, Adelaide returned home. “My work will never be enough,” she whispered to herself, weeping quietly. But when she saw what was waiting for her inside, her heart filled with joy. Given freely by the Emperor was the Gift, ready to be opened. • Emily McDonough • Have you ever felt like you had to do certain things to be worthy? The truth is, we could never do enough to earn God’s favor or His love. But God loved us first, before we could even do anything good, and only Jesus’s sinless sacrifice on the cross was enough to provide forgiveness for our sins and the gift of eternal life. Find out more about this good news on our "Know Jesus" page. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (CSB)

READ: PSALMS 36:7; 42:8; HOSEA 2:14-23; EPHESIANS 3:17-19 Have you ever seen a couple that’s obviously in love? They’re always together or trying to be together. They’ll crack jokes, help each other with tasks, and compliment each other’s appearance or talents. Even when they’re not together they text or call, doing everything they can to connect. If things are serious, they might buy each other flowers and other gifts. In short, they do everything they can to tell each other, “You’re special. I love you. You mean the world to me.” God is the same way with us. While He loves us with an ultimate love that surpasses any romantic relationship, He uses many of the same ways romantic couples use to tell us He loves us. He places blessings in our lives. He is always there with a listening ear whenever we want to talk to Him, and He’s always trying to communicate with us. He is faithful to us, and He encourages us as we go through life. We might be tempted to think God’s love is a passive love, or even a forced love that only comes from some kind of obligation. But it’s the opposite. It’s a love that pursues us, never gives up on us, and chooses us no matter what we do or don’t do. This love moved Jesus to die on the cross and make the way for us to be saved and live with Him forever. It gives us countless fresh starts. It provides a way to escape temptation, and it also provides forgiveness. In other words, every act of God is motivated by love, even when it doesn’t seem like it. In every moment of our lives, He is trying to show His love for us (Jeremiah 31:3). • Morgan Mitchell • Have you ever thought about the way God loves us as similar to the way a romantic couple loves each other? Throughout the Bible, God often compares Himself to a groom or husband, and He calls His people His bride or wife. For example, Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” How is the relationship God wants to have with us similar to the relationship between aloving husband and wife? How is it different? • In what ways has God shown you His love recently? Can you recall a time you felt God’s love in a personal way? If nothing comes to mind, you can ask God to reveal His love to you anytime. And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 1 John 4:16 (CSB)

READ: MARK 11:1-11; JOHN 12:12-16 Do you ever have one of those moments when something from the Bible sticks out to you, and it’s just what you need to hear? The other day, I had that kind of moment while I was reading Mark 11. As Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, crowds of people wave palm branches and shout “Hosanna!” Jesus is fulfilling a prophecy from Zechariah 9:9 that says, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” That Jesus is riding a donkey is obviously very important. But what struck me was how Jesus gets the donkey. When He’s getting close to Jerusalem, He sends two of His disciples and says, “Go to the village ahead of you…you will find a colt tied there…Untie it and bring it here” (Mark 11:1-2). If I’d been one of those disciples, and if I’d known that Jesus was going to need a donkey when we got to Jerusalem, I would’ve wanted to plan a bit farther ahead. I would’ve brought a donkey with us, or sent someone ahead several days before to find a donkey we could borrow or buy, or maybe do both just so we’d have a backup plan if one of the donkeys got sick or injured or lost. After all, if it was so important to have a donkey, we should be extra prepared! But that’s not what Jesus does. He knows there will be a donkey ready at just the time He needs it. And there is. The disciples didn’t need to plan ahead and make arrangements—God was taking care of all the details, and they just needed to do what Jesus told them to do, when He told them to do it. In my own life, I often find myself thinking several steps ahead. And when I realize there’s something I’m going to need later, but I don’t have it now, it’s easy for me to get stressed. While it’s good to plan ahead sometimes, lately I’ve felt like God has been inviting me to let go of the worries I’ve been carrying (Matthew 11:28-30). To trust Him to provide what I’m going to need, when I’m going to need it (Matthew 6:25-34; Philippians 4:12-13). It’s okay if I don’t feel completely prepared right now. My job is just to follow the King, one step at a time. After all, He loves me so much that He was willing to go to Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, and face the cross for me. And He is so powerful that nothing could keep Him in the grave. When I remember that, it gets easier to trust Him with all the details of my life. • Hannah Howe • What kinds of future needs do you tend to worry about? Consider taking some time to talk to Jesus about these, asking for His guidance and help, and resting in His care for you. “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there.” Mark 11:2 (NIV)

READ: MATTHEW 17:1-8; LUKE 9:28-36; 1 JOHN 3:2 What is Jesus like in all of His glory? The Bible tells us Jesus is both fully God and fully human—but while he was here on earth He looked like everybody else (Isaiah 53:2; John 1:9-14). He was a man walking among us, and His glory as God the Son was hidden from view. At least, most of the time! The event we call the transfiguration gave three of Jesus’s disciples a glimpse of the true glory of our Savior. Matthew 17 tells us that Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him and climbed a high mountain. There they witnessed a transformation in Jesus’s appearance— He was transfigured. “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light” (verse 2). This remarkable transformation allowed the disciples a brief glimpse into Jesus’s glory as the Son of God—holy, brilliant, and awesome. They also witnessed an exchange between Jesus and two famous leaders of the Old Testament: Moses and Elijah. Luke’s account of the event tells us that Moses and Elijah spoke with Jesus about his departure, “which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). The disciples didn’t yet realize Jesus’s glory was going to be revealed by His death and resurrection, and they were understandably distracted by Moses and Elijah, but God the Father Himself reminded them that Jesus was His beloved Son, who pleased Him entirely. He said, “Listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground, terrified, but Jesus came and touched them, and when they looked up they saw only Jesus. Years after witnessing this event, John wrote that we, too, will someday be resurrected with glorious bodies! What will that be like? We don’t know yet, but we do know that “when Christ appears…we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is” (1 John 3:2). What a great day that will be! • Laura N. Sweet • Why do you think Jesus’s glory was hidden from view most of the time He was here on earth? Why do you think God chose to reveal a glimpse of Jesus’s glory at the transfiguration? • Do you ever think about how wonderful it will be to have a glorified, resurrected body some day when Jesus returns? All the effects of sin, pain, and suffering will be gone! Consider taking some time to marvel at this promise to believers and thank our loving God. Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” Matthew 17:7 (NLT)

READ: ROMANS 14:10-13; GALATIANS 6:1-2 What’s your favorite “instant” food? Ramen noodles? Mac ‘n’ cheese? Taquitos? These precooked foods are tasty and convenient. Especially when we’re hungry and in a hurry, having something on hand that will only take a minute or two to prepare can be really nice. It’s easy to get the idea that everything should be instant though. Sometimes we expect spiritual maturity to be like that, but it isn’t. Spiritual maturity—or growing to be more like Jesus—takes time. It’s more like making a fancy gourmet meal than warming up some taquitos. The process can’t be rushed. But it’s worth the time and effort. That means we have to be patient—both with ourselves and with each other. As we seek to follow Jesus in every area of our lives, we’re going to struggle with sin, and we’re going to see our friends struggle with sin. It’s our job to patiently encourage each other toward spiritual maturity, not expect each other to be instantly perfect. When we notice a sin in a Christian friend’s life, we can lovingly remind them of how God calls us to live, but it’s important to remember that we all have sins we struggle with. Thankfully, as we grow in our relationship with Jesus, He teaches us to turn away from sin and obey Him. Now, let’s be clear. When we trust Jesus as our Savior, we are immediately saved— but we aren’t instantly mature. And we can’t expect instant maturity from our friends either. Instead, we can pray for each other and learn to be patient as we grow together and learn more about Jesus and how He calls us to live. •A. W. Smith • Consider takinga moment to reflect on your own walk with Jesus. What are some areas where you’ve seen Him bring about spiritual maturity in your life? Praise God for that! What are some areas where more growth is needed? You can ask Jesus to lovingly guide you forward in these areas. In addition to talking to Jesus, who are trusted Christians in your life who can walk with you as you pursue growth, such as friends, pastors, parents, and youth leaders? • The Holy Spirit is the one who works inside Christians, transforming us to become more and more like Jesus in our thoughts, words,and actions. For example, one of the fruits of the Spirit is patience. What’s the difference between trying to make ourselves grow in maturity, versus pressing into relationship with God and yielding to His Spirit, trusting Him to help us grow? (If you want to dig deeper, read 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 1:6; 2:13.) We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak. Romans 15:1 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 143; LAMENTATIONS 3:22-26 Anxiety often gets to me at night. I don’t know what the morning is going to bring. There’s a heaviness that comes over me as it draws closer and closer to the time I go to bed. I try to reach out in that time and cling to God, but sometimes I struggle to do that. Night can be especially hard to deal with when we have family members who are struggling or when someone we love is in the hospital. We may feel like we need to stay awake to wait and see if we get any news from them, but we also know that we need to get rest. When I read Psalm 143:8, David’s words felt like something I could have written myself. It’s a prayer I’ve prayed before and will continue to pray: David says, “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” As we lay down to sleep, we can ask to see God’s love in the morning. We can ask Him to show Himself when we get up the next day. And we can ask Him to look out for the people we love. When we wonder what the morning might bring, we can trust that God will be there, and He will direct our steps (Psalm 32:8; Matthew 28:20). Sometimes I struggle to reach out to God. But even in times of anxiety and heaviness, I know that God will take care of me. He is in control, and He is trustworthy. So I can let go of my fears and let the next day come—with all of its worries—and know that I will be okay because He loves me. • Emily Acker • Jesus invites us to come to Him with all our heavy anxieties and find rest (Matthew 11:28-30). Because He loves us, Jesus died and rose again so we could live with Him forever. When He returns He will make all things new, free from every kind of trouble. In the meantime, we may still feel anxious, but we can know that we are held securely in His love. Consider taking a moment to talk to Jesus, telling Him about whatever is on your mind and ask for His help. • If you’re having difficulty sleeping, or if you find yourself feeling afraid, stressed, or worried alot of the time, who is a trusted adult you could talk to, such as a parent, pastor, or counselor? If you need someone to talk to, you can request a free conversation with Focus on the Family’s Counseling Department by calling 1-855-771-HELP (4357) weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Mountain Time). Please be prepared to leave your contact information for a counselor to return a call to you as soon as possible. In Canada, book your appointment by calling 1-800-661-9800 between 8:00 a.m.and 4:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) and ask to speak with the care associate. Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love… Psalm 143:8 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 100:1-5; COLOSSIANS 2:6-7; 3:15-17; 4:2 Take a deep breath. Focus on the way it feels as the air enters your body. We are breathing all the time, but how often do we really think about our breathing or take time to be grateful for what those breaths are doing for our bodies? Isn’t it an amazing thing that God has given us the ability to breathe? We all need to breathe in order to survive. And breathing is just one of the many things we tend to do without even thinking about it. But it’s so good to slow down, notice how God is providing for our bodies, and let that move us to gratitude. As Acts 17:25 says, “He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” As you sit down to your next meal, pause for a moment and really look at the food that’s in front of you. Think about where it came from and how it came to be yours. Think about the benefits this food offers your body—the nutrients and energy it provides. Often, we eat without really thinking about what we’re doing. But it’s good to savor the foods we enjoy. And, whether we like the taste of a certain food or not, it still gives our bodies what we need to keep going. As we take time to be grateful for what we have to eat, we can rest knowing that we have a God who provides us with food (Genesis 9:3; Psalm 136:25; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians 4:12-13). The next time you lay down to rest, really think about the feel of the bed beneath you. Think about the place where you are laying. Think about how beautiful it is that you can take a break from everything and just spend time resting. We need sleep to go on, but we don’t always think of sleep as a gift from God. Yet Psalm 127:2 says God “grants sleep to those he loves.” There is much that is a part of our daily lives that’s easy to take for granted. Food, breath, sleep…these are basic necessities, and we don’t always think of them as gifts. We are nothing without the one who created us, though, and whether we realize it or not, we are all relying on Him to provide us with our next breath and our next meal (Matthew 5:45). He is always loving us and caring for us. We have so much to be grateful for, even in those simple everyday moments when all we’re doing is eating or laying down to sleep. • Emily Acker • The Bible says Jesus is “sustaining all things by his powerful word” and “in him all things hold together” (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:17). And He died and rose so we could live forever with Him. Consider taking some time to thank Jesus for giving you “life and breath and everything else.” Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. Hebrews 13:15 (NIV)

READ: ESTHER 4; ROMANS 8:28-39 The book of Esther takes place during the time the Israelites were exiled in Persia. It follows a group of Israelite people living away from their homeland. Not only are they far away from home, this group of captives is living in the capital city of the Persian Empire, Susa. This book of the Bible is unique from the rest of the Bible because God is not mentioned in the whole book. But since the Bible is God’s story, shouldn’t He be mentioned at least once? The book of Esther does not mention God by name, but the whole point of the book is to show the reader how God works in His peoples’ lives. The story of Esther is full of God’s handiwork and plans, from Esther being chosen to become the new queen and gaining the king’s favor so that he eventually spares her people, to the way the wicked Haman’s plan to destroy the Jews all unravels and Haman himself ends up being put to death. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle who Haman wanted to kill, is even elevated to take Haman’s position as the king’s second in command. To anyone who picks up the book of Esther for light reading, it might look like her story contains coincidence after coincidence, but to those who know what God’s providence and sovereignty look like, it’s clear who’s in control of the narrative all along. While the Israelites are living in exile, in a foreign land, under a foreign king, it may seem like God is far off and has forgotten His people and His promises. But the opposite is true. Even when God feels far away—to us or to the Israelites—He is actively working in our lives to save us. • Naomi Zylstra • Can you think of a time you felt like God was far away? What was that like? Looking back, are there any ways you can now see God’s handiwork where you may not have expected it? • God saved His people from genocide through Esther—she was willing to lay down her life for others, risking everything to ask the king to spare her people. This story offers us a glimpse into God’s ultimate plan to save us from sin and death through Jesus—He was willing to lay down His life for us. Jesus died on the cross, and then He rose again, and now He promises to be with us no matter what. Consider taking some time to talk to Jesus and ask Him to help you see how He is actively working in your life, and how He might be inviting you to be part of that work. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV)

READ: EXODUS 34:6-7; LAMENTATIONS 3:22–24; HEBREWS 10:19-23 Lord, You are faithful. When I despair over illness and disease And the wars across the globe, You are the hope of joy in the wind. When I doubt that You are there And seek the hopeless comfort of sin, You are the mighty voice, shaking me free. When I am so tired, Weary of the pain that beats me down, You are the steadfast strength I need. When my thoughts stumble On the temptations of the world, You are my shelter and my rescue. And when I run toward the darkness Of hate and wretchedness, You guide me home with the light of Your Son. Lord, You are faithful. • Emily McDonough • When we feel overwhelmed, sin can seem especially tempting. While sinning might make us feel a little better at first, we quickly realize that sin just makes things worse. But the good news is, Jesus never changes. He is the same God who created the world, who died on the cross, and who lives now today (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus came to forgive our sins, and He promises to one day free the world of evil. What broken things in the world or in your own life have been weighing on you lately? Consider taking some time to talk to Jesus, telling Him about these hard things, confessing any sins that come to mind, and resting in His sure love for you and for the world. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures. Psalm 119:90 (NIV)

READ: ROMANS 5; PHILIPPIANS 2:3-11; HEBREWS 13:8 Princess Gayle examined a few documents on her desk as General Blackgrove delivered his opinion. She attempted to appear disinterested. They weren’t exactly allies. “Between you and me, I believe there is sufficient evidence that you are ready to become queen,” the general said in an undertone. “Unfortunately, I don’t think Runyan agrees…” “Really?” Gayle said dryly. “If you promise me a position in the Mountain Army, I will support you. And,” General Blackgrove added, measuring his words carefully, “if I were to learn more about the future of your father’s reign, I may be able to convince others to support you as well.” Gayle understood his meaning. She didn’t particularly like him, but he had power. So she said, “I will tell you this: my father’s health is indeed waning. Soon he will be incapable of carrying out his duties.” General Blackgrove seemed pleased, and after he left her study Gayle smiled to herself—what a cunning politician she was becoming! A knock sounded and Runyan entered, his eyes shining. Gayle beamed. “I have General Blackgrove on my side. He wants a position in the mountains.” The old council member smiled softly. “Excellent!” “But he said he didn’t think you would recommend me.” She laughed. Runyan shook his head. “He thinks everyone is a snake like him. What did you tell him in exchange for his support?” Gayle looked away. “I confirmed the rumors about Father.” Runyan raised his brows. “I thought no one was supposed to know.” Pushing back her rising guilt, Gayle said, “I needed to build trust.” At the next council meeting, Princess Gayle was able to convince her father to move General Blackgrove to the Mountain Army. And then her father stood. “I would like to propose that my daughter be my successor.” She sat up straighter, expecting Runyan, General Blackgrove, and others to stand in support of her. But her smile faded as every one of her contacts remained silent. Runyan even made a statement that he didn’t trust the king’s judgement on account of his health. Gayle’s stomach dropped. After the council disbanded, she paced furiously in her chambers. “After all I did for them! Is no one true?” She paused, catching a glimpse of her harried appearance in the mirror. “Am I true?” she wondered aloud. “What… what am I becoming? Betraying people for my own gain?” Wait, my child. Do not despair, a voice whispered. “Lord, is that you?” I am unchanging. I will not lie to you. I will not trick you. Though others might deceive you, and you might deceive others, I am true. I always have your best interests at heart. Relief flooded over Gayle like a bucket of water. Cool and refreshing. Will you trust me? “How do I know I can trust you? I can’t even trust myself!” I know you. I made you. I love you. I knew all your failures before you were born, and I purchased your forgiveness. I have all the power in the world, and yet I took the position of a servant and died a criminal’s death—for you. Come and walk with me. Let me teach you the good way. You don’t need to grasp for power. I am working, even in the midst of this corruption, for the good of my people. • Natty Maelle • The world has been broken by sin, so it’s easy to compromise and give in to the broken systems and greed around us. We all sin, and we all need forgiveness. That’s why Jesus came. He loves us so much, and He hates to see us hurting and deceiving each other. Through His death and resurrection, He made the way for us to be forgiven. And when Jesus returns, He will restore all things. As we wait for this glorious day, we may feel disoriented and unsteady because of...

READ: ROMANS 12; 2 CORINTHIANS 4:16 I felt a complete emptiness. What was the purpose of life? As a newer Christian, my life wasn’t really “fixed.” I still felt empty. Was life just about being good? Sitting in my room, I found myself reading Romans 12. Sure, I’d skimmed by it once or twice, but strangely, this time I was stuck on the second verse. Reading past it proved quite difficult, and after a while, I stopped trying. Squinting closer, I stood arrested at the clarity found in the words. “Don’t be conformed to this world.” I was still for a while, pondering its meaning. My thoughts turned to Jesus’s closest disciples. In following Jesus, they rejected the ways of the world. As they walked with Jesus, their lives began to look different. I started to wonder, what made me stand apart from the world? Was I just like the rest? I realized that I turned to conformity as a way to meet societal expectations, and simultaneously as a defense against being disliked or rejected. Yet, I realized that Jesus doesn’t call us to be conformed to this world, just fitting into the mold, but instead to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Shocked, I stared at that word. Transformed. Not just physically, or emotionally, but entirely. Once a pastor told me, “When you follow Jesus, your mind is renewed.” I immediately understood the source of that insight was this verse, Romans 12:2, and I smiled. That night, I prayed silently that Jesus would renew my mind and transform my life. Since then, I’ve noticed how His Holy Spirit has been leading me. That week was busy, and so was the next. However, an unexplainable peace settled over my life in a powerful way. No longer did I feel empty. No longer did I have to walk without a purpose or talk without a meaning. Life without Jesus doesn’t satisfy. Living transformed by Jesus leads to life abundant (John 10:10). • Evelyn Cardriche • Life can seem monotonous sometimes. We can feel stuck in certain habits or thinking patterns, feeling like there’s no purpose in life. But Jesus loves us, and He wants to transform us. When we put our trust in Him, believing in His death and resurrection, He gives us the Holy Spirit. He begins transforming us from the inside out, and He helps us see that we “are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). He shows us how He is moving in and around us, and He invites us to be part of His good work. How can this kind of transformation lead to peace and joy? Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2 (WEB)

READ: MATTHEW 7:24-27; EPHESIANS 3:16-19; COLOSSIANS 2:6-10 Colossians 2:6-7 says, “And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught.” If we know Jesus as our Savior and build our lives on Him and what He tells us in the Bible, our spiritual roots will go deep. As we dig into the richness of the gospel alongside fellow Christians, studying His Word and pondering how He saved us through His own death and resurrection, we won’t be easily fooled by false teaching or be quick to wander away from God. We’ll be firmly rooted in Jesus. There will be plenty of storms in life that threaten to shake us, but when we belong to Jesus, we can be confident that He holds us securely in His love (Romans 8:35-39). And knowing that truth changes how we live. We can be totally honest with Him about both the joys and the sorrows we experience, coming to Him with our questions, doubts, frustrations, and fears. He can handle all of it. He is eager to reveal who He truly is and how much He cares for us. As we look to Jesus for help, relying on Him to give us strength and guidance in every area of life, we’ll continue to grow in our relationship with Him, firmly rooted in His truth and love. • A. W. Smith • One powerful way for us to be more firmly rooted in Christ is through prayer, simply talking with God. Consider taking some time to ask God to help you grow more rooted in Him and trust Him to hold you securely no matter what. If you’d like a guide, you could pray the words of Ephesians 3:16-19 for yourself, and you could also pray them for a friend. • Throughout our lives, we all have times when our faith feels weak. But Jesus is so eager to help us through His Spirit, His Word, and His people. Who is a mature Christian in your life? Consider asking them how their faith has grown throughout the years and how Jesus has helped them. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Colossians 2:7 (NLT)

READ: LUKE 19:1-10; ROMANS 15:7 Sometimes I find it difficult to take feedback from others. I put a lot of effort into what I do, so it can be hard to hear notes and criticism about the work I’m doing, whether it’s about my job, writing, singing, or just my personal life. And it’s even worse when the feedback comes with a rejection—like when I haven’t done x, y, or z, so I’m not qualified for whatever I was pursuing. Back when I was looking for a job, I would hear phrases like, “Sorry, you don’t have the right experience,” or “We’re looking for someone with a different degree,” or “You should have become more specialized in this area.” Those rejections combined with negative feedback really stung. But, despite knowing I will face rejection in life, I can take comfort in the fact that Jesus’s way is totally the opposite. Jesus loves us first. He doesn’t require us to do x, y, or z before He accepts us. His love for us goes all the way to death on a cross— and resurrection three days later. When Jesus was passing through the city of Jericho and He encountered a wealthy tax collector named Zacchaeus who cheated people out of their money, Jesus didn’t say to him, “Get your life together, change your career, and build a better reputation, and then maybe I’ll come over to your house for dinner.” Absolutely not! Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “I must stay at your house today” (Luke 19:5). Jesus loves us as we are. When we put our trust in Him, He sets us apart as holy. As we follow Him, He works in us to make us more like Him, but different people have all sorts of starting points on their faith journeys, and at the beginning of all these journeys is the love, mercy, and grace of Jesus, given freely. Jesus loves you as you are, each and every day. • Naomi Zylstra • Can you think of a time you faced rejection or harsh feedback? How did you deal with it? Sometimes feedback is helpful, sometimes it’s hurtful, and sometimes it’s a bit of both. Jesus wants to help us heal and grow through these experiences, and often He helps us through other Christians. Who is someone in your life who can help you sort through difficult feedback? • How can knowing that Jesus loves us and accepts us first, before we could even love Him back, affect the way we love Him now? What about how we love and accept others? (Romans 15:7) • What did Zacchaeus do after Jesus came to his house? How did Jesus’s loveaffect Zacchaeus? We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 (NIV)

READ: JOSHUA 2; HEBREWS 11:29-31; JAMES 2:25 Rahab is one of my favorite people in the Old Testament of the Bible. We remember her because of her faith in God. Though she was not an Israelite by birth, her faith in the God of Israel prompted her to hide two Israelite spies in her home within the walls of Jericho. As a result of this act of faith, Rahab and her family were spared when the Israelite army conquered Jericho. The Bible notes that not only was Rahab a Canaanite, but she was also a prostitute. We might be tempted to think of Rahab as “worse of a sinner” than other people—after all, she performed sexual acts for a living, something detestable in the sight of the Lord because He created sex to be shared faithfully by a husband and wife. But the truth is, all sin is heinous in God’s sight. Yet, because of God’s mercy, Rahab was the woman He chose to be the great, great-grandmother of King David, a direct ancestor of Jesus Christ the Messiah (Matthew 1:5). Rahab became a believer in Yahweh, and this is what set her apart from everyone else in Jericho. They had all heard of the miraculous deeds of Yahweh—how He parted the Red Sea to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and then gave them victory over their enemies in Canaan—but only Rahab had the faith to act on her belief and say to the Israelite spies, “The LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Joshua 2:11). One person in the midst of thousands of pagans put her trust in a God she knew of only through the words of others. In addition to being honored with a place in Christ’s lineage, Rahab was also included in Hebrews 11, which recounts stories of people who acted in faith, so that her faith could be a testimony to others. And James 2:25 says Rahab was “considered righteous.” Rahab probably had no idea the blessings God would bestow upon her and how she would be remembered by Jews and Gentiles alike for thousands of years to come. Perhaps God includes this story of one woman’s steadfast conviction to show the riches of His grace and point forward to Jesus. Just as Rahab had faith in the one true God and was saved when Jericho fell, so now anyone who has faith in Jesus is saved from sin and death, made righteous in God’s sight, welcomed into His family, and will one day dwell with God and His people forever. • Eliana Canfield • Have you ever felt disqualified to serve God because of your past? How might Rahab’s story speak into this? (If you want to dig deeper, read Matthew 21:28-32; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:8.) By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. Hebrews 11:31 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 145:17-19; ACTS 12:5-17 After we ask God for something in prayer, it can be easy to just move on without actually looking for His answer. We can get distracted by a thousand different things that steal our attention away—meanwhile His answer to our prayer is right in front of us. We find an example of this when Peter is thrown in prison and the believers begin earnestly praying for him. God answers their prayers by sending an angel to free Peter and lead him right out of the jail. But when Peter gets to the house where they’re all still praying for him, they can’t believe it’s Peter at the door! Finally they let him in, amazed at what God had done. Sometimes, when we don’t notice God’s answers to our prayers, we can get into trouble by trying to answer our own prayers. If God is telling us to wait on Him to work, and we insist on manufacturing our own solutions instead, it can only lead to trouble. When we pray, how often do we look and listen for God’s answers? As people who’ve put our trust in Jesus, we have His Holy Spirit living in us. That means we can be in constant communication with God through prayer, and we can always expect some kind of answer when we pray. But it can be difficult to see those answers sometimes. Especially when we expect—or want—a certain answer and we’re not willing to accept any other. But maybe God will show us there’s something unexpected we can do about a situation that concerns us. Maybe He’ll show us an area of sin in our lives that we need to confess and give over to Him. Maybe He’ll simply offer us comfort. When we trust the Holy Spirit to help us be open to whatever answer God gives, we’re better equipped to notice what He’s doing in and around us. • A. W. Smith • Can you think of a time you saw God answer prayer in an unexpected way? What happened? • Jesus is with us in all our pain and concerns. He cares about us and promises to make all things new one day. How can remembering His faithful love help us listen and wait for His answers? For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer. 1 Peter 3:12 (NIV)

READ: ISAIAH 55:8-9; MATTHEW 19:26; MARK 9:14-27 I come to You, and I wonder if You can. I have turned to others, and I have tried myself. I question You, not sure if You understand my needs. I doubt You, not sure if Your plan and my plan will align. If I have tried already, how can things be different? If it has been impossible for me, how can it be better? If I leave it in Your hands, will I end up disappointed? Am I making a mistake even just by turning to You? You tell me that Your ways are not like mine. You tell me that what’s impossible for humans is possible for You. You tell me that all I have to do is trust You to work. You tell me so many things, and I still have my doubts. But You have compassion on me, even when I don’t trust You. You’ve made me, and You’ve given me life. God, take my unbelief—rip it away from me. Let me know that You can, let me trust that You will. • Emily Acker • Consider taking some time to reread Mark 9:14-27. A man brings his son to Jesus because the boy is possessed by an evil spirit. Jesus’s disciples are there, and they try and fail to drive out the spirit. When Jesus arrives, He talks to this desperate father, asking more about his son. Then the man says, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Jesus replies, “‘If you can?…Everything is possible for one who believes.” The father exclaims, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Then Jesus commands the evil spirit to come out of the boy, and He lifts the boy to his feet, healed. Have you ever felt like the father in this passage? How could it be freeing to know that we can be totally honest with Jesus about our desire to trust Him, and also about our doubts? Is there anything you want to ask Jesus for that seems impossible? “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:24 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 139:7-12; LUKE 15:1-7; ROMANS 8:31-39 I spread mortar on the next brick. The thick sludge looks like grey toothpaste as I smother it on the porous red block. I set the brick firmly on top of the others and reach impatiently for the next one, scoop another trowel-full of mortar and slap it down. Another brick, and another, and another. The wall is tall enough, and now I’m making it thicker. I lost track of how many layers of bricks I’ve put up. It doesn’t matter. I don’t bother to focus my eyes on anything. I just keep going. I don’t feel anything. I just keep going. I’ve gotten pretty good at not feeling. It takes practice, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Detach. Disengage. Just keep going. As I place the next brick, the wall thumps. Thumps? I pause with my hand midair. I listen. The wall thumps again. And again. And again. It’s getting louder. And suddenly I realize—something’s trying to get in. I work quickly, my hands trying to keep pace with my racing pulse. I grab more mortar, more bricks, and focus on adding more layers to the spot where I hear the thumping. I can feel the wall shaking now. Just a little. But the pounding is getting stronger with every blow. I’m working furiously now, trying to build the wall faster than it can be broken down. I have to keep myself away from what’s on the other side. Who’s on the other side. Detach. Disengage. Just keep going. What’s on the other side is the stuff of childish hopes. I won’t be a fool. I won’t let myself get drawn in—again. I used to think everything that was good and right and beautiful was possible and real. But now I’ve grown up. I know the truth. Don’t let yourself hope. Don’t let yourself feel. Don’t be tricked into trusting. Even the light casts shadows. But then, I hear a crack. I look to my right, and suddenly the newest layer of bricks bursts open. And I see a hand. Reaching for me. Oh, that hand! It’s Him—it’s really Him! I grasp His hand, and every feeling I haven’t felt bursts open in sobs of pain and relief. Jesus, my Jesus. My only Jesus. They told me you weren’t as good as I thought You were. They hurt my friends. They hurt me. They told me that’s what You wanted. They told me I didn’t really know You. And after a while, it hurt too much to hope. I cling to His hand, His warm, strong hand. And He holds on to me. “I’m here. I will always come for you. Always.” My sob catches in my throat, and all I can do is nod. I have so many tears left to cry, and yet, I can feel myself beginning to hope again. Then He says gently, “I’m not going anywhere. Now, how about I take down the rest of this wall?” • Hannah Howe • Have you experienced things that made you feel like Jesus wasn’t as good as you hoped He was? Maybe you’ve seen a devastating natural disaster, or lost someone you love, or maybe people have said or done wrong things—whether people in the church or outside the church—that have hurt you or people you care about. Consider taking a moment to ask Jesus to help you notice how He is even now pursuing you with love. • Jesus invites us to tell Him about all the hurtful, confusing, and infuriating things we encounter in this broken world—and He also provides trustworthy Christians in our lives who can help us process what we’ve experienced and get out of unsafe situations if needed. God sees how messed up things are, and He grieves all the world’s brokenness far more deeply than we do. He knows how bad our sin is, yet He wants to forgive and restore us. He longs to enfold us in His arms and bring healing to our hurting places. That’s the kind of love He has for us. That’s why He went to the cross and rose from the grave for us. He came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10)...

READ: MATTHEW 7:1-5; JAMES 2:10; 1 JOHN 1:7-9 Are you ever tempted to believe that your sins are bigger or smaller than somebody else’s? It’s an easy lie to fall into. But in God’s sight, there are no big or small sins. It’s all just plain sin. It might be helpful to think of sin like stepping on a rock. Whether you trip over a large rock or step barefoot on a small, sharp pebble, it hurts! Stumbling on a rock of any size can stop us in our tracks. It’s easy to think that “small” sins like hiding the truth, gossip, and jealousy aren’t really a big deal, but even little pebbles can cause great pain. James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” When we commit a sin that seems small to us, we may think it’s not so bad. But the Bible says if we break just one small part of God’s law, we’re as guilty as if we’d broken every part. Now, that doesn’t mean we might as well sin big because it’s all the same to God. But instead of pointing a finger at others when they sin, insisting their sins are bigger than ours, we need to confess our own sins to God. Our sin has caused each one of us to stumble and fall, but Jesus wants to pick us back up and tenderly care for our wounds. He took all our sin upon Himself on the cross, and then He was resurrected from the dead to defeat sin and death. If we’ve put our trust in Jesus, all our sins are paid for. He forgives us for all of them—past, present, and future. So whenever we sin, we can admit our guilt to God, receive His forgiveness, and ask for His help to keep walking. Through the Holy Spirit, He will help us turn away from sin and look for ways we could make things right, such as apologizing, telling the truth, or providing payment for something we’ve damaged or stolen (Luke 19:1-10). God knows that sin hurts everything it touches. That’s why He sent His Son, Jesus, so we could be forgiven and saved from sin. So none of us has any right to think we’re better than someone else. Instead of being critical of others, we can look for sins in our own lives, then confess them to God and walk forward with Him. • A. W. Smith • What sins are you tempted to think of as “small”? Why do you think there’s no such thing as “small” sin in God’s eyes? • God always wants to forgive and restore us. How can remembering God’s perfect grace help us confess all our sins to Him? (Find out more about His forgiveness through Jesus on our "Know Jesus" page.) For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. James 2:10 (NIV)

READ: PSALMS 32:8; 91:15; 119:105; PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7 Imagine for a moment you’re in a car, driving. On and on you go, but soon you realize you’re absolutely, hopelessly lost. The narrow, dead-straight country road stretches out before you with no chance to turn to the left or the right. Should you turn around and go back? You pull over and haul out your phone to use the GPS. It doesn’t work. What should you do? You’re in the middle of nowhere, and you have no idea which way to go. Is this the right way? How far can you go before you run out of fuel? There’s nothing to do but go on. Surely if you keep going you’ll eventually get somewhere. So you continue, trying to stay calm. The sun begins to sink lower and lower in front of you until it’s dark. Pitch dark. You can’t even make out the shapes of the trees as you pass them anymore, can’t even see the lines on the road in front of you. You moisten your dry lips and try to swallow the growing lump of panic rising in your throat. What if you never get home again? The silence grows oppressive. If only there was a light somewhere, if only you had someone with you! And yet, it’s dark, and you’re completely alone. But wait, aren’t you forgetting something? Why don’t you switch on the headlights? With a sigh of relief, you turn on the lights. Now you can see where you are! A thought suddenly strikes you—you may not be able to use your phone for a map, but you might have enough service to call your dad! You pull over to the side of the road, whip out your phone again, and call him. Before long, with help from your dad and those headlights, you manage to get home. Driving alone without lights on a dark road sounds pretty terrifying, right? Yet so often that’s what we try to do with our lives. Psalm 119:105 tells us that the Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. God wants to light our way! Jesus is the Light of the World, and whoever puts their trust in Him becomes God’s child (John 1:1-14; 8:12). We can always call upon the Lord, our Father, and He will answer us and guide us safely home. • Renata Hornshaw • Life in our broken world can be difficult and confusing, but we never have to navigate it alone. God is with us, and He is eager to help us and guide us through His Spirit, His Word (the Bible), and His people (the church). In what ways do you need God’s help and guidance today? Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; 1 PETER 5:6-7 Has a Bible verse ever hit you like a freight train—in a good way? I had that experience a couple months ago. I was going through a very stressful time in life with a number of large, sometimes painful decisions in front of me. I was weighed down, desperately trying to work through several problems in my own life while also coming alongside others experiencing problems in their lives. I was reading through 1 Peter 5, and I came across verse 7: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” I have read this verse dozens or hundreds of times, but this time it hit right at my heart. The breath rushed out of my body. I realized that I was clinging to my worries and cares, believing the lie that it would be irresponsible not to worry about them. I couldn’t give them over to God because it was my job to figure them all out. It’s so easy to fall into this lie because, like many people, I want control over my own life. I don’t want God’s solutions to my problems; I want my solutions—and I want them now. God’s solutions might be uncomfortable, or they might take too long, or they might require too much from me. All these fears and lies and sinful desires can swirl around in my mind, clouding my vision and making it harder to see God with clarity. But once I lay these down at Jesus’s feet and the smoke clears, I can finally see what God has been telling me. He loves me. His ways are so much better than my ways. And, yes, His solutions may be uncomfortable. They probably won’t arrive on my timetable. And they might require a lot from me. But, when I’m not clinging so tightly to control, I’m able to see how God is reaching for my hand, inviting me to depend on His strength instead of my own. He’s walking with me, providing everything I need. I really can give all my worries and cares to Him, because He really does care about me. • Taylor Eising • Are there any worries you’ve been clinging to? Does it feel like it would be irresponsible not to worry about them? Consider taking some time to bring these worries to God. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 (NLT)

READ: PSALMS 34:5; 89:14, 30-34; ROMANS 8:1 When you were younger, did you ever get hurt while doing something you knew you weren’t supposed to do? Like, maybe as a toddler your parent told you not to touch the hot stove, but you did anyway and got burned. Or maybe when you were a bit older you went ahead and built an amateur ramp to jump your bike, even though your babysitter told you not to, and you ended up breaking your arm. The best thing to do when we mess up and get hurt is confess what we’ve done and ask for help. Similar to how we’d confess our disobedience to the adults who were trying to keep us safe, we confess our sin to God. Like a caring parent, God very quickly forgives His children for disobeying. Yet, the pain of the injury might stay for quite a while. As we grow up, we come to find this same principle still holds true. When we disobey God and go against His good ways, He is eager to forgive us. Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, believing in His death and resurrection, all our sins have been paid for—past, present, and future. But God doesn’t always take away the natural consequences of what we’ve done. We sometimes have to face those consequences, even after we’ve been forgiven for our sin. Those consequences might look like broken trust, hurt relationships, lost opportunities, injuries, addiction, and more. But the good news is, Jesus will walk with us as we face all these consequences, holding us in His love and giving us comfort and strength. It helps to remember that, for those who trust in Jesus, the consequences of sin are only temporary. Because He took the punishment for our sin when He died on the cross, we don’t have to face the ultimate consequence of sin—eternal separation from God. So one day, when we see Jesus face-to-face, we’ll never be in pain again. God always forgives those who trust in Jesus, but He doesn’t always take away the consequences of our sin right away. In this broken world, we often experience painful results of wrong things we’ve done. But if we know Jesus, the consequences won’t last forever. Because of His great love for us He willingly experienced death, the ultimate consequence of our sin, so we don’t have to. And He rose again so we could have eternal life with Him. • A. W. Smith • Can you think of a time you had to face the consequences of a sin, even after you confessed it? How could remembering that Jesus walks with us, even when we mess up, give us hope? • As Christians, we don’t have to carry the guilt and shame of our sin anymore because Jesus has set us free! Find out more on our "Know Jesus" page. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; faithful love and truth go before you. Psalm 89:14 (CSB)

READ: PSALM 23; ISAIAH 53; MATTHEW 18:12-13 Remember when you were a little kid and would imagine what it would be like to be an animal? I do. I would wonder, What if I was a bird and I could fly? Or what if I was a cheetah and could run 75 miles per hour? What if I was a house cat and could lounge around all day without a worry in the world? Well, these musings aren’t just for kids. In fact, the Bible often compares God’s people to sheep. Think about that. We are God’s sheep. The fact that we are fallen humans can sometimes distract us from this truth. As humans, it seems like there is so much for us to worry about, from essay deadlines to car insurance. But the Bible says the Lord is our Shepherd (Psalm 23:1). So even though we are human, and there are so many daily worries to tempt us, we don’t need to worry about anything because we are His sheep. And He is such a good Shepherd. Being a sheep also means that we have all wandered astray from God’s perfect law, despite all the blessings we had been offered in life with Him. Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.” However, God has laid His judgment on Christ in our place. Christ is not only our Good Shepherd; He is also the sacrificial Lamb who died for us, “and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Imagine you are a sheep under the care of a good shepherd who loves and provides for you. Isn’t that a peaceful thought? Perhaps you’ve sought greener pastures and found yourself lost in your sin. Yet, as we see in a parable Christ tells in Matthew 18:12-13, your Shepherd has left the entire flock to find you, rescue you, and rejoice over you. • Eliana Duran • While it can be uncomfortable to think of ourselves as sheep, totally dependent on a shepherd for things as basic as sustenance and safety, what can Psalm 23 show us about life with Jesus? • When are you most prone to wander away from the Good Shepherd, Jesus? Consider taking a moment to imagine yourself as a wandering sheep,and Jesus coming to find you, pick you up,and carry you to safety in His embrace. Your Shepherd loves you more than you could ever imagine. And you can rest in His care today. (If you want to dig deeper, read 1 Peter 2:24-25; 5:6-7.) “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11 (NIV)

READ: 1 SAMUEL 30:1-31; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-27 God has given each of us a unique role to play in His kingdom. As Christians, we all have different spiritual gifts and different roles, and no one person is greater than any other. We’re all called to love one another and participate in the kingdom of God together. We find an interesting illustration of this in 1 Samuel 30. An Amalekite raiding party attacked and burned Ziklag, and they captured the wives and children of David and his men. After weeping severely and asking God what to do, David and his 600 men pursued the Amalekites. But when they reached a valley, about 200 of them were too exhausted to keep going, so they stopped to rest and watch the supplies while David and the remaining 400 men continued their pursuit. They found the raiding party, fought them, and rescued their families and recovered everything that had been stolen. They also took the Amalekites’ livestock as plunder. But when the 400 fighting men return to the 200 resting men, some of the fighting men didn’t want to share the plunder with those who hadn’t fought. But David said, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the LORD has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us… The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike” (1 Samuel 30:24). David determined that no role was greater than any other or deserved more plunder. Each role was important and needed, and David made sure everyone received God’s gift. Today, we have all been given different roles in life, and each one is important. Maybe right now your roles include being a student, daughter or son, or friend. Someday you might be an employee or employer, spouse, or parent. It can be easy to be discontent with our role in life when we find ourselves longing to have a different role or be at a different place in our lives, or when we’re jealous of others. But we can be encouraged knowing God has purposeful work for us to do right where we are in life right now. And one of the most important roles all believers have is being ministers of reconciliation. Jesus died on the cross and rose again to save us and bring us into His kingdom, and now He calls us to share this good news. • Elizabeth Cooper • What roles do you have right now? How could you faithfully serve God in those roles? Is there anyone in your life you can share the good news of Jesus with? (2 Corinthians 5:11-21) But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 1 Corinthians 12:18 (NIV)

READ: PSALMS 28:7; 33:1-3; 40:3; COLOSSIANS 3:16 While I was in high school, I wrote the first version of today’s poem as a song for my personal worship time. Although I can’t read or write music, I can strum a few chords on the guitar and still enjoy singing this song in my devotional time with God. Music is God’s gift to everyone, no matter how “musically inclined” we are (or not!). Through music, God helps us interact with Him in a unique way. We can speak to Him in song, and God often speaks to our hearts as we sing to Him. And, since Scripture repeatedly tells us to sing to God, I believe He delights in our songs more than we can imagine! Sing a song of praise unto the King of Kings; Sing a song of praise— He has done wondrous things! Sing a song of praise unto the Lord of Peace; Sing a song of praise— Let not your voices cease! Sing His praise—Alleluia! Shout His praise—Alleluia! Sing a song! Sing a song of praise! Sing a song of praise unto the Lamb of old; Sing a song of praise— The Word of Truth behold! Sing a song of praise unto the LORD Most High; Sing a song of praise— His Name is Adonai! Sing His praise—Alleluia! Shout His praise—Alleluia! Sing a song! Sing a song of praise! • G. Kam Congleton • Jesus is the King and Lord of all creation, and yet He chose to humble Himself, taking the position of a servant and dying on a cross, then rising from the dead to make the way for us, His creation, to be with Him. What are some ways we can praise Him for that amazing act of love? • Consider writing your own song of praise: Pick a Scripture passage—maybe Nehemiah 9:5-6 or one of today’s Bible passages. Then use some of your favorite phrases to create your own song to the Lord. No matter your musical bent, you can be sure of one thing: God is listening, and He delights in your song! I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High. Psalm 7:17 (NIV)

READ: JOHN 15:1-17; GALATIANS 5:22-23 When I was growing up, my family always had a garden. I would help plant the tiny seeds, water them, and tear out the weeds that grew around them. I became so used to watching the little plants pop out of the ground year after year, and then grow until they were large enough to produce all kinds of delicious vegetables, that I became almost numb to it. What was the big deal? But now when I think about how a tiny seed goes into the ground one day, and then just weeks later there’s a plant large enough to produce food for me to eat, it’s pretty amazing. God’s creation is captivating. He created all the vegetables and fruits with their unique seeds, unique ways of growing, and unique flavors. Potatoes and carrots grow under the ground, tomatoes grow on vines, and cobs of corn grow on tall stalks. It’s fascinating to witness all these things come to be. God put so much care into each of them, just as He did you and me. God never made any mistakes in His world. God made each plant unique. In a well-tended garden, these plants grow from tiny seeds to large, vegetable-producing plants. Isn’t it awesome that God put just as much care into you and me, and He wants to help us grow too? God created each of us to be unique, like all the many varieties of plants we find in a garden. He created us to grow and bear fruit, and He tends us like a careful gardener. But, on our own, we can’t make ourselves grow spiritually. In John 15, Jesus said, “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (verse 5). Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, His Holy Spirit lives in us, helping us mature in our faith and producing good fruit in our lives—the fruit of “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). It was amazing to see the garden I had growing up, and it’s also amazing to see how God can help me and work in me. I am so grateful to Him for all He does for me and how He helps me grow. • Bethany Acker • Have you ever taken time to marvel at how such small seeds grow into large plants that produce food for us? How could it be encouraging to remember that the same God who designed the plants to be unique and to grow and produce fruit is also the one who designed us, and He wants to patiently help us grow and bear the fruit of righteousness? (Philippians 1:11) “I [Jesus] am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 32; ROMANS 3:23-26; EPHESIANS 5:8-14 How do you fix a typo? Will ignoring it fix the problem? Of course not! Then they’d never get corrected. But when we take the necessary steps, they are quickly fixed. That’s kind of like confessing our sins. Ignoring sin, like ignoring typos, doesn’t fix the problem. Only Jesus can fix the problem. Sin is a much bigger deal than typos, but through His death and resurrection, Jesus made the way for us to come to Him and receive forgiveness for all our sins. So when we sin, we can confess it to God, knowing that Jesus has already paid the price for our forgiveness. And then, Jesus helps us move past our sin. He walks forward with us toward holiness and wholeness. In addition to confessing our sin to God, we may need to confess to the person we wronged and do what we can to make things right. This can be awkward or downright painful, but the Holy Spirit will guide us through the whole process and help bring healing to what has been hurt. We find a potent example of this in 2 Samuel 11-12, when David tried to ignore—and even hide—his sin. After using his position as king to have Bathsheba taken to his palace and have sex with her, David had her husband Uriah killed so no one would know that David was the father of Bathsheba’s baby. But God knew. God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David about these terrible acts, and then David finally confessed his sin. In his repentance, he wept. There were still grave consequences for the evil he had done, yet David experienced God’s wondrous forgiveness. He even went on to teach others to repent so they too could experience forgiveness. Are you ignoring a sin in your life? Don’t hold on to it. Instead, confess it to God. Jesus died and rose again to save you from sin, and God will forgive you so you can put sin behind you and do what’s right instead. You may need to apologize to someone else too. Why not do that right away? Admitting what we’ve done can be hard, but, as David writes in Psalm 32, there is a peace and a freedom that comes from bringing our sins out of the darkness and into the light. • A. W. Smith • We all sin many times a day, and while it’s impossible to confess every single sin, we are called to confess the sins we are aware of (Psalm 19:12). What sins are weighing on your heart right now? Consider taking some time to pray and confess these to Jesus, resting in His grace and forgiveness and trusting Him to guide you forward to walk in His good ways. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9 (NLT)

READ: PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7; 2 THESSALONIANS 3:16 Life can be hard. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Life can be very hard. We may find it pretty easy to love and worship God when things are going well and life is good. But what about when a loved one passes away? What about when you’re so stressed with work and school that it feels like you don’t have energy for anything else? What about when a friend lets you down? What about when you’re having financial struggles and you don’t know how you’ll get by? Whatever you’re dealing with, there are probably days when your mind and heart are so clouded with emotion that you have trouble even opening that Bible or asking God for His help and guidance. I can relate. I can’t say that I know exactly what you’re going through because everyone has their own individual life and struggles. But I do know what it’s like to feel like you don’t have any choice but to put God last, when deep down you know He should be first. Here’s what we need to remember: God is there when nobody else is. He is the peace in the chaos and the hope in the heartache. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He’s not just some other chore that we can maybe work into our schedules. He loves us. He died and rose again to be with us. He cares about what we’re going through, whether our problems are big or small, and He wants to help us. Today, Jesus invites us to come to Him with all our burdens, and He will give us rest (Matthew 11:28-30). He will give us peace and comfort in our storms. He might not take away our pain immediately, but He will be there with us through it all. • Elizabeth Blanton • When are you tempted to put God last? In other words, when does it feel like a chore to spend time praying, reading the Bible, and gathering with other Christians to worship God together? It’s easy to let these things fall to the wayside when life feels overwhelming, but when we view our time with God as spiritual nourishment, we realize how much we need it—especially in the overwhelming seasons. Spending intentional time with God may not always feel nourishing in the moment, but whenever we focus on His ever-abiding peace and presence within us, it’s always time well-spent. “I [Jesus] have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 73; EPHESIANS 2 "I know God is good, but why do they always seem to get the blessings and not me?” I asked as I sat with my Chinese takeout and tried valiantly not to dissolve into a teary mess. I was the one actually trying to do things God’s way and please Him, but in that moment, although I didn’t say it, the biggest thing I was feeling was bitter disappointment. Ever been there? Asaph was. He was a Levite singer and a contemporary of King David. In Psalm 73 he recorded his struggle with feeling envious of those who were proud, arrogant, violent, and lived their lives the way they wanted to with no regard for God or His laws. Asaph was frustrated by how everything always seemed to go well for them but not for him. At one point he even contemplated if his efforts were all in vain (verse 13). Was it even worth it? But Asaph’s perspective radically changed when he entered the place of God’s presence. Mine did too when I read his words. Asaph concludes, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever…as for me, it is good to be near God” (verse 26, 28). The nearness of God is the greatest blessing we could ever receive. To be far from Him is the greatest lack we could ever experience. No matter how outwardly prosperous someone may seem, if they are far from God, they will never experience the joy, peace, and fulfillment that only He can provide. Because God loves us, Jesus, God the Son, left the presence of His Father and came to us. For us and our salvation, He died and rose again that He might bring us near to God (Ephesians 2:13). He is our portion forever (Psalm 73:26). • Kayla Esguerra • Can you think of a time you felt jealous of people who don’t follow Jesus? It’s easy to fall into this sin. Consider spending some time with God in prayer, confessing your jealousy and asking Him to help you see those who don’t know Him yet with love and humility. • When Jesus returns, everyone who trusts in Him will enjoy an abundance of all good things on the new heavens and new earth. Until then, He comforts and strengthens us in His presence. Have you noticed anything in your life that affects your ability to daily sense and enjoy God’s nearness? What helps you be aware of His closeness? What distracts you from Him and makes you feel far away? But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds. Psalm 73:28 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 28:7; MATTHEW 14:13-21; JOHN 11:38-44 Do you still believe in miracles? I know the Bible mentions that Jesus fed over 5,000 people with only a handful of bread and fish (Matthew 14:13-21). Jesus also raised up Lazarus from the dead after he had been in the grave four days (John 11:38-44). Several years ago, my mom was very sick. I remember visiting her in the hospital one day. There were so many tubes in her, and my heart sank when I saw her. When I got home, I cried my heart out. I was upset with God. I asked God why He allowed my mom to suffer. Does He care? Does He love us? I hoped and prayed that God would heal her. The next day in school, as I was washing my hands in the bathroom, I heard a loud noise. It happened so fast that I couldn’t react in time. I looked down, and there were shattered pieces of glass on the floor all around me! I looked up and saw a broken ventilation window. I went to find out what happened. It turned out a group of boys was playing soccer and one of them had kicked the ball too high and broken the window. I went back to the bathroom to check again. The floor was full of pieces of glass, and yet not a single piece had landed on me just now. How could that be? Later, I reported the incident to a teacher. He came to check the bathroom. The first thing he said to me was, “It’s a miracle!” Yes, indeed. It was God who shielded me from the pieces of glass. He is my strength and my shield (Psalm 28:7). He protected me. A few weeks later, my mom passed away. I was not angry with God. I know God loves my mom too, and I knew she would be in heaven with no more pain and suffering. • Kelly Choy • Both miracles and acts of providence are powerful ways God shows His love and care for us. Some Bible scholars define miracles as God setting aside natural phenomena in favor of a supernatural intervention, whereas an act of providence is God acting on our behalf through natural means. Have you or somebody you know experienced a miracle or an act of providence from God? What happened? How did you feel about it? • Because Jesus died on the cross for us, and then miraculously rose from the grave, everyone who puts their trust in Jesus has this sure hope: even in death, we are held safe in Jesus’s presence until the day He will raise us from our graves and renew heaven and earth. So when we or someone we love is dying, we can be honest with God about how upset we are, remembering death breaks His heart too, and He always loves and cares for us. Yahweh is my strength and my shield. Psalm 28:7 (WEB)

READ: MARK 15:37-38; HEBREWS 6:19-20; 10:19-22 "Quick! This way!” Rhys yelled, motioning with his arm for the large group of people to turn down yet another oak-paneled corridor. Everyone followed, all suddenly getting a hopeful feeling that their endless wandering through this wooden labyrinth was finally coming to an end. So, with a new light in their eyes and energy in their step, the group rounded the corner after Rhys… …and stopped short. For there, between two walls of a cathedral-sized room, stretched an enormous, imposing curtain. Its scarlet fabric hung ominously still, draping down from the ceiling like a frozen, fabric waterfall. “Wh-what is that?” A girl named Kaelyria voiced the question in everyone’s mind. “I—I’m not sure…” Rhys replied quietly. He unsheathed his iron sword, and cautiously approached the eerily still curtain. Rhys put out his hand and pushed, but instead of yielding to his touch and moving back, the curtain stayed perfectly still. “It’s solid!” he yelled in surprise. He hefted his sword and lunged at the curtain, but his blade didn’t make a scratch. The people murmured amongst themselves, and someone called out, “So, is this a dead end?” “We can’t turn back now!” cried another. “There has to be a way through!” Kaelyria said, notching an arrow and taking aim at the curtain. “There is.” Immediately, the room became silent. “Who said that?” Rhys asked, his eyes searching the crowd. “I did.” Suddenly the crowd parted, revealing a man clad in a simple tunic and trousers. The man walked forward toward Rhys and Kaelyria, stopping just feet from the scarlet fabric. “One way. One person can open this curtain and open a way through. Only one is worthy.” The people watched breathlessly as he drew from a sheath at his side, a glowing, white sword. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. And I opened the way—by dying.” He lifted his tunic and revealed an enormous scar. No one could survive such a wound. “But,” he said, “I have come back to life.” And with that, he raised the magnificent sword… …and cut the curtain in two. • Anna Tuckfield • Putting our trust in Jesus is the only way for us to enter relationship with God, who made us and loves us more than we could imagine. When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple was literally torn in two from top to bottom (Mark 15:37-38; Luke 23:44-46). It’s important to know a few things about this curtain. When God instructed His people in how to build the Tabernacle and later the Temple, He said, “Make a special curtain…with skillfully embroidered cherubim” (Exodus 26:31). This curtain separated the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence dwelt, from the rest of the temple. And the woven cherubim remind us of the cherubim and flaming sword in Genesis 3:24, who blocked the way to thetree of life in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve rejected God and rebelled against Him. That tree of life only became accessible to us again when Jesus walked through the swords to open the way. By letting Himself be put to death, Jesus tore the curtain. All because God loves us, and He doesn’t want us to be separated from Him. If you want to know more about what it means to put your trust in Jesus and enter a relationship with God, see our "Know Jesus" page. And if you want to dig deeper, read John 14:5-6; 20:24-29. • Jesus is the only one whose death could open the curtain because He is both fully God and fully human, and He never sinned, so He could take the punishment for all our sins. Why is it so important to remember that Jesus is the only one who could rescue us from sin and death and make the way for us to know God and be with H...

Hey, this is Dylan here from Unlocked. And as you probably noticed, we have some new theme music, so I hope you like it. We might still change exactly what the theme music is, this might just be temporary, it might be a long-term piece of music. But the reason we had to change it is actually because of complicated legal agreement type things. We were using an old production music service and then we had to switch to a new production music service. So then that means we couldn't use the old music up until a certain time, and now we've passed that time, and now we have to use the new theme music. So it's a little bit complicated, it's kind of a behind-the-scenes kind of a thing. But we're going to go with this music for now and maybe think about updating it in the future. And if you have an opinion on this music, or if you have something that you'd like to see different about it, then let us know. Send us your feedback when you email [email protected], that goes straight to me. I'll see it, and I'll share it with the Unlocked team. And we'll see what you think about this music or possibly getting new music. So thanks!

READ: EPHESIANS 5:1-2; COLOSSIANS 3:1-4, 22-24 Over the years, I’ve done a variety of tasks to earn money. One job I found online was trying beauty products at home and then writing reviews about them. The first (and only) item I tested was a hair growth solution. I dutifully sprayed it on my scalp a couple times a day, realizing it would require weeks of use to see any difference. The instructions on the bottle said so. Then, just three days after I’d begun, the coordinator of this job asked if I had my review ready to submit. If not, they would pass me over, I wouldn’t get paid, and I wouldn’t be eligible for future product testing. How could I give a truthful response about how well the solution worked after only a few days? I decided I’d give the product three out of five stars—even though I knew the coordinator wanted five-star reviews. I also indicated I liked the smell and would look forward to observing how the product worked. My review was honest, since I didn’t rave about the spray’s hair growth potential, but I honestly had no idea if the product grew hair. I sent in my response, received my payment, and never sought another product testing opportunity. I learned something from this short-term job though. The way we do our work matters to God. Contrary to what I assumed as a kid, this involves more than simply working hard. Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” When we put our trust in Jesus, believing in the work He did on the cross to provide forgiveness for our sins, we enter a relationship with God as our Father. As we rest in His love for us, we begin to want to do our work in a way that reflects Jesus. He is the only one who could live a pure, righteous life—and because of this He was able to pay the penalty for our sins. But once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we have His Spirit living within us, transforming our attitudes and priorities so that we begin to pursue His holiness and righteousness in every area of our lives, including our work—no matter who sends the paycheck. • Allison Wilson Lee • Have you ever felt pressured to do something dishonest in your work, whether it be at school, a job, etc.? When you find yourself in situations like these, what could you do? Who are trusted Christians you could go to for prayer, advice, and help? …with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. Colossians 3:22-23 (NIV)