Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: PSALM 42; ZEPHANIAH 3:17; HEBREWS 12:2; REVELATION 19:6-9 My twelfth-grade English teacher taught me to love Haiku, a form of poetry that originated in Japan. These short, three-line poems are traditionally drawn from nature, and they’re only seventeen syllables long. He described Haiku as transforming a visual image into a “word snapshot.” For example, after reading Psalm 42, I wrote this Haiku poem: “Beneath the fearsome waves I wait, breathless and still… then, Your light breaks through.” In Scripture, I think there are snapshot glimpses into God’s nature. For example, the writers of Psalm 42 feel forgotten and earnestly voice their complaint to God, yet they console themselves with images of God’s faithful love: “I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your…surging tides sweep over me. But each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs…” (verse 7-8). Other passages show us vibrant images of God’s love, like Zephaniah 3:17, where God declares He will “take delight in you with gladness…[and] rejoice over you with joyful songs.” And Isaiah describes God delighting in His people “as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride” (Isaiah 62:5)—anticipating the heavenly celebration of the wedding feast of the Lamb, when all God’s people will rejoice with Him at Jesus’s return (Revelation 19:6-9). Now those are images to treasure! God rejoicing—and all heaven celebrating— with such joy that Revelation says the sound will be like “the shout of a vast crowd…or the crash of loud thunder” (19:6) all because of our wonderful Lord Jesus, who cherishes us—His bride. Just as Haiku captures the sensation of a moment, these Scriptures capture the beauty of God delighting in those He loves! Are we worth all that? Jesus says “Yes!” He gave His life because of such delight, such love for us. As Hebrews 12:2 puts it, “Because of the joy awaiting him…[Jesus] endured the cross.” How amazing to know we are part of the joy Jesus anticipated, even as He gave His life, longing to greet us at the great wedding feast to come. • G. Kam Congleton • Which of today’s Scripture passages is your favorite? Consider taking a moment to read this passage again and ponder the fact that God is passionate about us—He truly delights in us! • Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we can look forward with joy to the day we will be raised from the dead, as Jesus was, and see Him face to face! If you want to know more, see see our “Know Jesus” page. “He will take delight in you with gladness.” Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)

READ: PSALMS 63:1-7; MATTHEW 6:19-34; GALATIANS 2:16-21; 2 TIMOTHY 3:10-17 Why are you reading this devotional? I remember being told that if I didn’t do my devotions I would have a bad day. “So, if you want a good day, do your devotions.” I gotta be honest; there were many days I didn’t do my devotions and that day was just fine. There were other days when I did my devotions and the day was terrible. Should we be taking time to interact with God’s Word every day? Absolutely. But if our motivation is to have a better day, we’re going to be disappointed. I’ve met Christians who do “Christian stuff” because they think that then God will do what they want. This way of thinking is sometimes called the Health and Wealth Gospel or the Prosperity Gospel. Here’s a very simple example of this kind of logic: “Obey God so your knee feels better and you get richer.” But this is not the true gospel. The word “gospel” means good news, and the idea that we could get God to do what we want when we do religious activities—and that He won’t help us if we don’t do those activities—would not be good news. After all, we could never do enough to earn His favor. The true gospel is all about God rescuing His people even though we don’t deserve it. God came to live among us—stubborn, rebellious people that we are—because He loves us. Jesus died on the cross for us and rose from the grave so that everyone who puts their trust in Him can be in relationship with God. And this relationship is what will truly satisfy us…no amount of health or wealth could ever do that. When we read or listen to the Bible, we have an opportunity to interact with the God of the universe who loves us more than we could ever understand. The reason God calls us to be in His Word is because He wants us to know Him. Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). We can be free to follow Jesus, instead of chasing after health and wealth, because we know that God cares about all our needs and He provides for His people. Jesus invites us to live a life of purpose with Him, but He doesn’t guarantee health or wealth. When we obey God’s Word, some things may go better for us and we might avoid certain kinds of troubles. But we might also experience trouble because we are obeying God—after all, many people in the Bible were imprisoned or killed for following Jesus. So if we’re trying to do devotions to get stuff, that’s not going to work out. Besides, all the stuff we could gather in this life can only last as long as we do! But trusting in Jesus—and having a new identity as His forgiven people—is better than anything, and our relationship with Him will last forever. • Jeff Weddle • Why do you think God invites us to spend time with Him through reading or listening to His Word, the Bible? • God wants us to ask Him for healing and for the material things we need or want. Sometimes His answer is “yes,” sometimes “no,” and sometimes “not yet,” but we can trust that He cares for us and He is always working for our good (Romans 8:28). Consider taking a moment to ask God for whatever you need or want today. • How is asking God for what we need or want different from trying to appease God so He will reward us with what we need or want? According to Hebrews 4:14-16, why can we “approach the throne of grace with boldness”? • Because of what Jesus has done, we get to look forward to the day Jesus will return and restore His creation—then everyone who has put their trust in Him will have new bodies that never get sick or injured, and we will have an abundance of everything we could ever desire! But until that day, we will all experience pain and lack. Yet God is with us, inviting us to r...

READ: ACTS 1:7-11; 2 PETER 3:1-13 So…where is He? It’s been 2,000 years since Jesus ascended into heaven, promising to return the same way He ascended and to set the world to rights. The church has grown since then, spreading all across the globe, but there has been no sign of Christ. Some say He isn’t coming back, that we misunderstood. “The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom,” they say, “living inside our hearts. When we die, our souls will be with God, but He isn’t coming back into this world.” The early Christians struggled to believe that Christ would return and bring heaven to earth. The resurrection of the body was hard to accept, and the “spiritual kingdom” solution seemed like an easy way out. Today many feel the same way. But the truth can be found in the words of Peter. In his second epistle (or letter) to the church, he denounces those who scoff at the bodily return of Jesus. He points out that the God who created the world will certainly come again to make it new. Peter even tells us why Jesus is taking so long. He wants more people to turn to Him! After all, if He had returned sooner, how could we be part of His kingdom? So, as Christians we can wait with hope and anticipation, knowing that Christ will truly return bodily to earth. Then He will raise our dead bodies from the grave, and we will live with Him in the new heavens and new earth. And He will reign forever. • Kevin Zeller • Do you ever wonder why Christ has waited so long to come back? How does 2 Peter address this concern? • Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave just as He said He would, we can have confidence that He is going to return bodily to earth and restore His creation, and in the meantime He is present with us through His Spirit, His Word (the Bible), and His people (the church). What questions do you have about Jesus’s return? Who are trusted Christians in your life you could talk to about these questions? The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 119:25-40; EPHESIANS 1:18-23; HEBREWS 12:1-3 Hebrews 12:1-2 holds some of my favorite words in the Bible: “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” I’ve always loved this idea of fixing our eyes on Jesus. But in our everyday lives, we probably don’t think too much about where we direct our focus. Maybe we should start paying more attention. Because where we fix our eyes changes our entire perspective. When we go through our lives without thinking about where we’re setting our sights, we’ll spend most of our time looking at what’s right in front of us. We might orient ourselves around our work, our commitments, our adventures, our friends, our families…and those aren’t bad things—in fact, they’re good gifts from God. But they can’t ultimately give our lives purpose or fulfillment. All created things will eventually let us down. What changes when we fix our eyes intentionally on Jesus? Hebrews 12:2-3 goes on to say, “For the joy set before him he [Jesus] endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we remember how He was willing to die on the cross for us. And when we remember the sacrifice He made and all He endured, we’ll be less likely to lose heart in our day-to-day lives. Because Jesus knew that His suffering, even His death, was not the end. He knew the joy that was coming. After three days in a tomb, Jesus rose from the grave, and now everyone who puts their trust in Him gets to live with Him forever! As we wait for Jesus to return and make all things new, we can persevere because of the life God has given us in Jesus—and because of the joy set before us as His children. So, let’s be intentional about where we look. Let’s watch how God is working. And when it gets hard to keep going, let us look to Jesus and say: “Our eyes are on you.” • Becca Wierwille • In your everyday life, what are your eyes naturally drawn to? • What do you think it means to fix our eyes on Jesus? How could this help us persevere? • Consider taking a moment to talk to Jesus now, thanking Him for enduring the cross for you and telling Him about the things in your life that matter to you, knowing they matter to Him too. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1b-2a (NIV)

READ: PSALM 34:1-8; MATTHEW 6:25-34; JOHN 14:1-7; PHILIPPIANS 4:4-9 Why do we worry when we know that God loves us? Why do we let our hearts become troubled when we know that Jesus warns us against that very thing? I wish I could say I never have a troubled heart. I wish I could say I easily and naturally surrender my worries to God. But I do worry—many of us do. Why do we deal with worry, fear, and other struggles? Shouldn’t we be able to leave these behind when we follow Jesus? The reality is, we still live in a broken world. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The good news is that Jesus is with us, even in the midst of struggles, and He wants to help us. I wonder what would happen if we got into the habit of seeking the Lord at the very first sign of a troubled heart. In Psalm 34:1, David writes, “I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” Always. We can choose to praise God always, in the good times and the bad, in our moments of joy and in our moments of worry. We are designed to live and breathe in worship to our Creator. Worship is a safe place to go when we feel worried. A few verses later, David goes on to say, “I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4). It’s interesting that David doesn’t say he never had fears. But when he was experiencing worry, he sought the Lord, and he was delivered. Not delivered from the danger, necessarily—but delivered from the fear. Like David, we can rush to God as soon as we start to feel worried or afraid. We can go to our knees in prayer whenever our hearts feel troubled. We can praise God at all times. As we remember who He is and how much He loves us, we often find that our worries can’t cling as tightly. And we can rest in the sure hope that Jesus Christ died and rose again so that we might live fearlessly. He is going to return one day and fix our broken world, taking away things like worry and fear forever. And even now, Jesus is in the business of healing troubled hearts. • Becca Wierwille • When do you tend to feel worried or afraid? Why do you think God invites us to worship Him at all times, especially when our hearts are troubled? • If you find yourself struggling with worries or fears that won’t go away, you’re not alone. The Lord has compassion on you, and He wants to help you. Who are trusted people in your life you could talk to about what you’re experiencing, such as pastors, parents, or counselors? “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me [Jesus].” John 14:1 (NIV)

READ: 1 JOHN 4:7-12 Maybe you know someone who claimed to love God but hurt you or someone you care about. Maybe you watched in the news as a pastor got arrested for hurting someone or pulling off some big scheme. Maybe you know people who make Christians look really bad. Humans are fallen and sinful, and we don’t always represent God well. And when we see people who claim to know God acting in sinful ways, this can cause us to get some false ideas about what God is like. But one of the best ways to avoid getting a warped image of God from those who misrepresent Him is to really know who God is and what He is all about. When we learn from the Bible about how much God loves, we can see that those who are unloving are not following God’s way (1 John 4:7-8). When we learn how God is honest and good and righteous, we can spot those who are misrepresenting Him when we see their lies and greed and selfishness (Exodus 34:6). Scripture tells us how wonderful God is. While we can never fully understand everything about God, we see who God is in Jesus, God in flesh. God is most fully revealed in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. To know the God we worship, we look to the cross. His self-sacrificial love is central to His character, and if someone isn’t displaying that love, they aren’t representing God well. We all fall short of representing who God is. But we don’t have to let that failure control how we think of God. No matter how deeply someone who claims to be a Christian has failed, God is different. God is holy and good and right. God loves you, and He is with you. And He will never change. • Emily Acker • What are some of the ways you’ve seen God misrepresented? Where can we find truth about who God really is? • While all of us fall short of representing God in one way or another, who are some people in your life who represent Him and His love very well? If you can’t think of anyone, you can ask God to help you identify someone in the future. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 (NIV)

READ: PHILIPPIANS 3:12-14 I just keep sinning even though I know Jesus—I’ll never get it! Have you ever been frustrated with yourself for sinning? Have you felt like you should be able to get it right, but you just can’t? Lots of us feel this way. Here’s the good news: as Christians, we don’t have to “get” anything. Jesus already did. He got everything right—He never sinned. He is the only One, and He died for our sins so that we could be totally cleansed from sin. If we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we will continue to struggle with sin—but our sins cannot define us anymore. Because we are in Christ Jesus, we are forever forgiven. God sees us as His blameless children, and He has compassion on us when we stumble. It may be helpful at this point to think of a toddler who is just learning to walk. At first, they fall all the time. Actually, at first they can’t even stand! But when they lose their balance and fall flat on the ground, everyone who loves them will run to help and cheer them on toward their first step…and the many more steps that will follow. It’s a one-step-at-a-time process that we have to go through in order to learn how to walk. Knowing Jesus is a walk too—one where we fall down a lot. But He’ll always forgive us and help us get back up. None of us will be able to walk perfectly, at least, not until we see Him face-to-face someday. But, little by little, He’s helping us learn to say no to sin and walk more closely with Him. So we walk forward in hope, knowing that Jesus is walking right beside us, helping us grow to become more and more like Him. We can trust Him, one step at a time, looking forward to the day when He’ll finish the work He’s started in all of us, and our struggle with sin will finally be over. • A. W. Smith • Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we can know that He’ll always be at our side, ready to forgive us and help us up when we fall. Consider taking a moment to talk to Jesus about any sins that come to mind, confessing them and thanking Him for His forgiveness. • When you’re struggling with sin, who are trusted Christians in your life you can be honest with? How could you support each other through prayer, encouragement, and reminding each other of God’s great love, unending forgiveness, and steady power inside us through His Spirit? Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 103:11-12; ISAIAH 43:25; MALACHI 3:16-17 Do you ever wonder what you were like when you were a baby? In addition to photos stored on computers, phones, and in albums, some families keep a remembrance book where they keep special details about their children, along with mementos from their growing-up years. A footprint from when they were a month old. A piece of their first baby blanket. A note of when they first walked and talked. The list goes on. In a way, God has a book of remembrance too. When we put our trust in Jesus, we become a member of God’s family. And God, our good Father, remembers all His children by name. Because when we put our trust in Jesus, He writes each of our names in His book and deletes the record of our wrongdoing—all our sins are forgiven. As Christians, we are totally blameless in God’s sight (Ephesians 1:4). Of course, sin does have consequences, and when we do something wrong, Jesus calls us to admit we’ve sinned and repent by turning away from sin and turning toward Him. But that sin will never show up in God’s remembrance book because Jesus took all our sins on Himself when He went to the cross. So instead of dwelling on our failures, He wants us to turn away from sin and rest in the work He has done for us by dying on the cross and rising from the dead to forgive us. We can joyfully walk with Jesus, knowing that we are God’s forgiven children. • A. W. Smith • As Christians, we can know that God doesn’t keep a record of our sins because Jesus has already paid the price for all our wrongdoing. When we’re tempted to dwell on our failures, we can run to Jesus. Whenever we do something wrong, we can confess it to Him. He promises to always forgive us—and give us strength to move forward in our walk with Him. Consider taking a moment to ask God to bring to mind any sins you could confess to Him. As you repent from these sins, picture how Jesus erased them from God’s book of remembrance forever. • When you sin, who are trusted Christians in your life who can remind you of God’s love and forgiveness? How could you also remind others of these truths? A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. Malachi 3:16b (NIV)

READ: LUKE 18:31-34; 23:26-49; MARK 16:1-8 If I were thereWould I just stareAs they bound my Savior?If I lived during that timeWould I denyThat I ever knew Him?If I witnessed all they did to Him Would I have offered to take it on me The carrying of the cross?If I watched Him dieWould I have criedAnd been too heartbroken to carry on?If I had heard Him sayHe’d rise again in three daysWould I believe He’d do just that?If I saw the empty graveAnd saw Him alive againHow would I have felt? • Bethany Acker • Have you ever imagined what it would have felt like to live during Jesus’s time on earth? As we hear the stories of people who interacted with Jesus face-to-face, how could it be helpful to imagine ourselves in these people’s places? • When Jesus told His followers that He would be put to death but then rise from the grave three days later, they didn’t understand. When Jesus was arrested, all His followers abandoned Him and ran away. Yet Jesus still died on the cross for them…and for us. He came to save us from sin and death, to make the way for us to become part of His family, because He loves us. How could it be comforting to know that none of us could earn what Jesus did for us? (Romans 5:6-11) • If you want to dig deeper, read Matthew 26:47-56, Luke 22:54-62, and John 20:1-18. “And after they flog him, they will kill him, and he will rise on the third day.” Luke 18:33 (CSB)

READ: PSALM 107:1; ROMANS 8:31-39; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:7 I was out of ideas for where to look. Finally, I pulled out my journal, grabbed a pen, and wrote, “Lord, please help me find my grammar textbook.” About a week before, I’d misplaced a schoolbook. I had already been reprimanded about not having the textbook for English class and had borrowed a friend’s book once. I couldn’t keep that up indefinitely. What was I to do? I searched everywhere I could envision the book might be hiding—under my bed, in my locker, in our family’s minivan. I just couldn’t locate it. However, within a day or so of asking God to help me find it, the book appeared—right there on a shelf in the school’s band hall. Relieved, I thanked God for leading me to the missing book. But what if I hadn’t been able to locate it? What if I’d had to pay the school for the lost textbook? Would I still have thanked the Lord? Would I still have considered God to be good? Often, I notice statements from people on social media, sharing about some happy news in their lives and then declaring that God is good. But the Bible tells us God is always good, no matter our circumstances. When we trust in Jesus as the One who saves us from sin and promises to free us from death, we begin a relationship with our Heavenly Father. Through Jesus, God gives us the gift of becoming His child, and, as a perfect father, He is always good to His children. And when our situations cause us to question God’s goodness? Then we have a choice to make about how we view God’s heart and His actions. Since God loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die in our place, then raised Jesus from the grave, making the way for us to be with Him forever, we can trust Him to be good always, even when life is difficult. • Allison Wilson Lee • Have you noticed people saying “God is good” when things in their life seem to be going well? While it’s great to celebrate and thank God for what He has done, why is it also important for us to remember God’s goodness in the hard times? • How does the gospel (the good news about Jesus) reveal God’s unchanging goodness? • Whenever we’re struggling, God wants us to be honest with Him and ask for His help. Consider taking a moment to talk to God about any difficult circumstances you’re facing today, remembering that nothing can separate you from His love (Romans 8:38-39). For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7 (CSB)

READ: GENESIS 1:6-10, 14-19; PSALM 19:1-2 Have you ever been overwhelmed by the beauty of the sky? Whether it’s the rolling clouds on a summer day, a golden sunset, or the twinkling stars at night, the skies above our heads are beautiful. Artists and painters try to imitate the beauty of the sky, but even their artwork isn’t as awesome as the real thing. God is a master Artist. He has made the world a beautiful place, and it all reflects His greatness. Today’s verses tell us that the heavens and the skies “declare” God’s glory. Not everyone will read the Bible, but everyone can see the sky. Even though we don’t often realize it, the sky is telling us about God. Without words, the sky tells us how great our God is. The heavens are a beautiful reflection of God’s creativity, power, and wisdom. How often do we actually look at the sky? It’s easy to get busy down here on earth, going to school, working, and just moving about our lives. But in these verses, God is calling us to look up—up to the skies, where we see His glory on display. Did you know… • Every second, the sun releases an amount of energy equal to 10 billion hydrogen bombs—that’s a lot of power! But our God is even more powerful than that (Colossians1:15-20). • Although clouds look like light, puffy pieces of cotton candy, they can contain millions of pounds of water. And just wait until it rains! Lightning and rainstorms—not to mention snow, hail, and everything in between—are awesome displays of God’s power (Psalm 135:7). • Every star that you can see in the sky is actually much bigger and brighter than our sun. They only look smaller because they are farther away from us than the sun is. Scientists think there are at least 100 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy alone. And yet God knows each one of them by name (Psalm 147:4). Today, consider taking a moment to look up at the sky. Ponder its beauty and majesty. Remember that the God who made the sky is the same God who made you and loves you. Our God is awesome! • Jacob Bier • What is your favorite kind of sky? Sunrise, sunset, starry, stormy, clear, cloudy with cumuli, strati, cirri…? • Why do you think God calls us to take time and space in our lives to behold His creation? The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1 (NIV)

READ: ISAIAH 53:4-11; ROMANS 5:6-11; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 Second Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” This verse is beautiful and important, but what does it mean? How was Jesus made to “be sin for us”— especially since we know that Jesus never sinned (Hebrews 4:15)? It might help to consider an illustration. Imagine for a minute that you encountered a person who had a deadly disease. And what if, in this scenario, in order to really help this person, you had to get sick? What if you had the power to allow all their sickness to flow into your body, and let all your strength and health flow into theirs? Would you do that? Here’s the thing: that’s what Jesus did for us. When we were sick with sin, God became human to dwell among us (John 1:14). Jesus never sinned, but He was willing to take all our sin upon Himself and die on the cross to take our punishment. And that wasn’t all. After He died, Jesus defeated sin and death by rising again three days later. Now, everyone who puts their trust in Jesus has their sins forgiven because Jesus took our sins and gave us His righteousness. As Christians, we also have the promise and hope of living with Jesus forever: Jesus will return to make all things new, and then we will be totally free from sin and death (Revelation 21:1-5). What good news! Even though we’re all born with the sickness of sin, that’s not the end of the story. Jesus has come to make us well. • A. W. Smith • Have you ever thought about sin being like sickness? How could this illustration help us understand the gospel (the good news about Jesus) in a deeper way? • To learn more about what it means to be healed from the sickness of sin, check out our “Know Jesus” page. God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)

READ: PSALMS 36:5; 148:7; EPHESIANS 3:14-21 The ocean makes me nervous. I really don’t like movies where people are lost at sea—especially if they’re stuck on some sort of tiny raft and no one knows how to find them. How awful would that be? The sky, huge above you, could release a storm at any moment. The waves stretch out in every direction, with no end in sight. And you know the water goes down, down, down for miles, and there are thousands of creatures you can’t see or even imagine—some of which might like to eat you. Did I mention the ocean makes me nervous? But there’s a Bible passage, that I really like, that actually reminds me of the ocean. In Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, he says, “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19). When I think about trying to grasp how high and long and wide and deep God’s love is, I think about the ocean. God’s love reaches higher than the skies. It stretches farther than the farthest shore. It descends deeper than any ocean crevice. And it’s okay that we can’t fathom it. How could we? It’s so amazing. It’s so wonderful. God’s love is incredible—and His love is for us. He loves us with that unending, unimaginable, unfathomable love. How do we know for sure that God loves us this much? Because of Jesus. God came in human flesh and lived among us. He was willing to die a death He didn’t deserve because it was the only way for our broken relationship with Him to be restored. Because even though our sin separated us from God, even though we rebelled against Him on purpose, even though humanity wanted nothing to do with God, His love for us didn’t shrink back. He wanted to rescue us from our own selfishness. He came, He died…and He rose again, defeating sin and death once and for all. That’s the love that’s bigger than oceans. The love that reaches out to us, no matter how far we go. The love that comes for us, no matter how low we sink. The love that promises to raise us up in glory with our Lord, the Creator of the sky and the sea. • Hannah Howe • If we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we can know we are surrounded by His incredible love (Psalm 32:10). Can you think of a time you felt sure that God loved you? If nothing comes to mind, you can ask God to reveal His love to you anytime—He delights in answering these prayers! …how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:18 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 23 As Ronan neared the end of his journey, he entered the Valley of the Shadow. It was so dark he could barely make out the path. The moon hid behind the clouds, casting weird shadows on the waving grass. Empty moans emanated from the trees that covered the cliffs and encroached on the valley’s winding path. Ronan’s heart thumped, and his knees felt weak. “Shadows can’t hurt anyone,” he told himself. “Shadows can’t hurt anyone.” “Ronan?” a voice called from the darkness. For a second, Ronan’s heart almost stopped, but then he recognized the familiar voice. “Teacher!” Ronan said, his voice shaking. “It’s so good to see You—or at least, it’s good to hear You. It’s so dark, I can hardly see anything.” “I know. I’ve been walking with you the whole time,” the Teacher said, His words surrounding Ronan like an embrace. “I will be with you as you walk through this darkest of valleys.” With the Teacher beside him, Ronan’s fears began to quiet. At times, he even felt like the shadows were friendly, and the sounds no longer made him quake. Even though Ronan couldn’t see Him, he could feel the Teacher’s presence. He knew that no matter what happened on his journey across the Valley of the Shadow, the Teacher would be with him. • A. W. Smith • This story is an allegory. In Psalm 23, David writes about “the valley of the shadow of death” (verse 4). Do you know someone who is dying? Do you ever feel afraid of dying yourself? • Read Matthew 28:20 and then Psalm 23. For a Christian, death is like a shadow. As Psalm 23 says, we don’t have to fear death because Jesus is with us. He is the Teacher and the Good Shepherd (Matthew 23:8; John 10:11). He has already faced death for us—and He defeated death by rising from the grave. If you know Jesus, you will be raised from the dead too. In fact, the last verse of Psalm 23 tells us what will happen to those who trust in Jesus: we will dwell with God forever. We will spend eternity with Jesus and with our siblings in Christ! How could these truths comfort us when we feel that death is near? • If you have questions about what it means to know Jesus, who is a trusted Christian you could talk to? (You can also find out more on our “Know Jesus” page.) Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Psalm 23:4a (WEB)

READ: PSALM 36:7; MATTHEW 6:25-34; 23:37 Life can be so hard sometimes. Maybe you’re facing a challenging situation at school, or your parents are getting a divorce, or you got a scary medical diagnosis. In our world that’s broken by sin, we can quickly get discouraged because of all the messed-up stuff we face. But the good news is, as Christians, we have hope: Whatever we’re facing, Jesus is always with us. Nothing can separate us from His love. Nothing can get in the way of Him accomplishing His good purposes. Nothing can shake His promise to be present with us and to make all things new one day (Matthew 28:20; Romans 8; Revelation 21:1-5). In short, we can take comfort in the fact that God loves us, and He cares for us like a mother bird cares for her chicks. Now, comparing God to a mother bird may seem odd when we think about how awesome and infinitely powerful God is, but in the Bible He really does compare Himself to a mother bird—more than once. Throughout the Psalms, God invites us to take refuge in the shadow of His wings.* And when Jesus was approaching His death, He said that He longs to gather us like a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34-33). The reason we can draw near to God and dwell with Him is because of what Jesus has done. Our sin separated us from God, but God loves us so much that He came to live among us. Because He died and rose from the grave for us, paying the price for our sins, we can be in restored relationship with Him. Therefore, as Christians we can take refuge in the shadow of God’s wings, bringing Him our worries about whatever we’re experiencing and resting in His promise to use everything for His good purposes—even the things that don’t go the way we hoped they would. We can trust Him to take care of us, including guiding us in reaching out to trusted people around us for support. Like a mother bird cares for her chicks, God will provide everything we need. • A. W. Smith • Why do you think God compares Himself to a mother bird in the Bible? What do you like or dislike about this mental picture? (*Psalms 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 63:7; 91:4) • What kinds of hard things have you been facing lately? Consider taking a moment to talk with Jesus about these things. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 36:7 (NIV)

READ: GENESIS 3:1-9; ROMANS 8:14-17; 2 CORINTHIANS 6:16-18 Recently, as I was sitting on the porch enjoying the sunshine, I watched my dad start walking down the driveway. I instantly thought of running to catch up with him and join him as he walked. When I walk with my dad, I get to spend time talking with him and just enjoying his presence. In that moment, a thought hit me—this is what a believer’s relationship with God is like! Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we get to walk with our heavenly Father on the journey of life. I find it so beautiful that having a close relationship with God is described as walking with God (Genesis 5:21-24; Hebrews 11:5-6). But when Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from God as He came walking in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8). Sin destroyed the beautiful walk with God we were created to have. But, because of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, God has made the way for us to be adopted as His children (Romans 8:15-16). Our opportunity to walk with God has been restored! This simple picture is powerful—we don’t walk alone. Our God walks with us! We can talk to Him about anything at any time. Like little kids, we can grab God’s hand for comfort when things get tough. I am so grateful for the fellowship and special moments I get to spend with my earthly father when I walk with him. And I am more grateful still that he has taught me what it means to walk with my heavenly Father—I know I’ll never have to walk alone. • Lily Walsh • Have you ever imagined God walking with us like a father walks with his child? What do you like or dislike about the idea of God walking with us? • When Jesus returns, all His people will get to be with God face-to-face and walk with Him in renewed creation (Revelation 21:1-5). How can looking forward to Jesus’s return help us understand the kind of relationship God wants to have with us now? • Are there any dads or father figures in your life who’ve shown God’s love to you? Consider taking a moment to thank God for them, and maybe thank the person/people too! He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 27:10; 139:1-10; HEBREWS 13:5, 8 One thing I’ve learned is that the people who are in our lives at one point in time may not be around later on. As we go through life, we lose some of the people who mean the most to us. We also meet new people and let them into our lives. Sometimes, we bond with friends or family members or mentors who eventually leave our lives or even abandon us. Other times our loved ones pass away, and our hearts are left aching as we long to be with them again. The relationships we have are constantly changing, and we’re going to lose some of the people who mean a lot to us. But, as Christians, the relationship we have with God will remain. Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave for us, everyone who has put their trust in Jesus is God’s child and His friend, forever. We will never be abandoned by God. He is never going to pass away. We will have God’s presence with us no matter what we go through (Matthew 1:23). I know what it’s like to be close to someone and then have that relationship destroyed, and I know what it’s like to lose family members. Through everything I’ve faced, God has only drawn closer to me, not fallen further away. He has been my constant. He will be the constant in your life too, even through all the changes you experience in your human relationships. • Emily Acker • Has there ever been a relationship in your life that you thought would last forever but eventually fell apart? Have you ever had someone close to you pass away? Consider taking a moment to bring these hurts to Jesus. • God sees all our hurts, and He cares. In His great compassion, He comforts us in every loss and grieves alongside us through every heartache. And when Jesus returns, all God’s people will live in perfect harmony with Him and with each other, and our hearts will never be broken again (Revelation 21:1-5). How could these truths give us hope when we experience the loss of a human relationship? “And surely I [Jesus] am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20b (NIV)

READ: ISAIAH 61:10; 1 CORINTHIANS 13:8-12; PHILIPPIANS 1:6 When Jesus comes back, He’s going to make all sin go away. But you might ask, “How is He going to do that exactly? If doing wrong things is the problem and Jesus fixes it, what if someone sins again after that? I mean, I still sin even though I’m a Christian.” If you’ve ever thought about these questions, you’re not alone. All Christians do things that are wrong. We’ll struggle with sin as long as we’re still living in a sinful world, but even so, we can live knowing that Jesus has saved us and He has promised us something better. But how can we be sure that God will complete the work He started in us? Funny as it might sound, wedding dresses can actually help us understand this. The Bible uses the image of wedding outfits to show how God saves us from sin by clothing those who trust Jesus as their Savior with His righteousness, or sinlessness. That means even though we still do wrong things, God sees us as righteous because Jesus already lived a sinless life and died on the cross for our sins. This idea of wedding clothing also points to God’s promise that one day, when Jesus returns and makes everything new, He’ll give us new bodies so we’ll never sin again! Kind of like how, on the day of the wedding, a bride puts on her wedding dress in the morning, even before the vows have been said. The wedding dress signals that something is about to happen that will change her life forever. In a similar way, as we wait for Jesus to return, we are dressed in our spiritual wedding clothes of righteousness. We can go to Him whenever we do something wrong and confess it, knowing He’ll forgive us because we’re already wearing His righteousness. He has already paid the price for our sins by sacrificing His own life for us on the cross. He loves us that much. So together, as people who are dressed in perfect righteousness, let’s look forward to Jesus’s return. On that day, all of creation will celebrate! • Aurora Scriver • When you sin, do you sometimes worry that you’re not saved or that Jesus will stop loving you? If you know Jesus, you don’t have to worry because He has clothed you in His righteousness. He promises to forgive you when you do something wrong, and one day, when He returns, He’ll make you completely new so you’ll never sin again! Who are trusted Christians who could remind you of these truths when you sin? How could you remind others of Jesus’s love when they sin? For he [God] has…draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10 (NLT)

READ: ROMANS 8:19-25 Have you ever been to a wedding, and when the ceremony was over and it was time for the reception, you had to wait a long time to eat? At the weddings I’ve been to, it’s often the custom to wait to serve the reception meal until the bride and groom arrive, and this can mean a long wait for guests because the bride and groom usually have to take pictures between the ceremony and the reception. Sometimes, all you can do is keep your hunger at bay with mints, reminding yourself that better food is coming even as your stomach growls loudly! This wedding waiting—complete with a groaning stomach—always reminds me of Romans 8:22, which mentions that creation is “groaning” until Jesus comes back. This verse is referring to how the whole world is waiting for Jesus to return. But how is creation groaning? It’s not like we hear trees crying when we go for a hike. While it’s true that we don’t typically hear creation groaning, we do see lots of things in the world that cause us to groan or cry—things like pain, death, and brokenness. Those things exist because of sin. Sin destroys everything it touches because it goes against the loving and good Creator. So, similarly to when we wait for the bride and groom to come back so we can eat and satisfy our hunger at a wedding reception, we’re waiting for Jesus to come back too. Until He does, we still have to deal with the effects of sin, so things are broken and hard—kind of like the often-questionable mints served at wedding receptions. But when Jesus returns, He’ll get rid of all the sin in the world and make everything new. One day all of creation will be made as wonderful as the delicious wedding food our stomachs groan for. The Bible says that when Jesus returns to earth, all Christians will join Him at a great feast called the wedding feast of the Lamb, because one of Jesus’s names is “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29). We can rejoice as we look forward to the day we will celebrate together at the wedding feast of our Lord (Revelation 19:7). • Aurora Scriver • When Jesus returns, He’ll right every wrong and get rid of sin and all its effects. He’ll make everything new, and those who trust in Him will receive new bodies and live with Him forever in a world free from sin and death! What makes you groan as you wait for this day? What are you looking forward to most about Jesus’s return? • We know that all creation has been groaning…for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. Romans 8:22-23 (NLT)

READ: GENESIS 1:27; GALATIANS 3:23-29; EPHESIANS 2:19-22; 1 THESSALONIANS 5:5-11 I was born into a family of Chinese-Singaporeans who immigrated to the United States. Throughout my life, I was exposed to different cultures and customs. My parents wanted me to know my heritage, while at school I was taught values that were more American. For example, in Chinese culture, it’s considered rude to open a gift in front of the giver, while in American culture, this is done quite often. Sometimes, I wasn’t sure how to act or how to perceive things. I didn’t know what my ultimate identity was. Should I follow the Eastern or Western way of doing things? When I came to know Jesus, I learned that He accepts anybody as His child no matter what background they are from. There are Christians around the world speaking different languages, yet in the end, they are all children of God. So, while I can step into both familiar and unfamiliar cultures, I identify first and foremost as a Christian. I don’t have to decide between human-made cultures and borders because I know that, in the end, I am a child of God. Paul writes in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Therefore, I realized that the ethics that matter most are the ones our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ taught. Jesus’s teachings are how I live my life today. If you are struggling with your identity right now, know that Jesus sees you, and He wants to help you. You can trust in the Lord Jesus and know that your identity will forever be with Him. • Isaac Ong • As Christians, our identity is secure in Jesus. What can today’s Bible passages tell us about who we are in Him? Why could it be helpful to take time to remember what God says about us? • Think about the customs you were taught by your school, guardians, and others. While it can be difficult to navigate different customs, as Christians, we get to follow Jesus first and foremost. God created diversity, so we can appreciate and enjoy our beautiful differences. Through His Word, His Spirit, and His people, He helps us discern how to interact with those around us. In differing cultural situations, such as the way we exchange gifts, neither option is sinful. And Jesus’s ministry models how we should serve the people around us, being considerate of others’ needs, traditions, and cultural contexts (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). Who are trusted Christians in your life who can help you discern how to follow Jesus in your own particular context? So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. Galatians 3:26 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 56; LAMENTATIONS 3:22-23; JOHN 8:12 Here I am, LordFalling into the darknessWaiting for someone to hear my cryHere I am, wandering and brokenDealing with the pains of my pastI want to see a comebackI want to feel Your songMy soul needs to hear a note of hopeHere I am, calling to the LightFeeling Your life reachingTo my broken and healing soulFighting for a fresh, new startJust because I’m brokenDoesn’t mean I can’t be fixedMy past is goneThere’s a brand new futureI know there’s hopeDarkness can’t stayYou’ve given me this brand new day • Corinna Kahrs • Have you ever felt like you were stuck in darkness, longing for a new day to start? Even in those dark places, Jesus—the Light of the world—is walking with you. He loves you, and someday He will return and His light will fill the whole earth, destroying darkness forever. How could these truths bring us hope and comfort in difficult times? • Jesus doesn’t want us to walk through difficulty alone. When you are going through a hard time, who can you talk to, such as parents, youth leaders, pastors, counselors, or friends? For you rescued me from death, even my feet from stumbling, to walk before God in the light of life. Psalm 56:13 (CSB)

READ: MATTHEW 9:10-13; ROMANS 7:21-8:14 Several years ago, I came down with the flu. Throughout the day I could feel all the classic symptoms coming on—fever, body aches, headache, cough—but I sure didn’t want to believe it. I commanded my body, “Thou shalt not be sick!” And after work I decided to climb a mountain (a small one) to sweat that sickness right out of my system. I forced my body up the trail with a heavy backpack and even ankle weights strapped on. Sweat poured off me, my head pounded, and I finally collapsed against a boulder with my vision swimming. I could not make it to the top of that mountain, and I could not pretend that I wasn’t sick. Somehow, by God’s grace, I made it back down to the trailhead and drove home, where I staggered into bed and promptly fell asleep. I wasn’t fit to go out again for a week! This experience reminds me of the apostle Paul in the Bible. The harder Paul tried to prove he was a good and worthy person by keeping the strict religious laws, the more obvious his failures became. His insecurity and jealousy grew, turning into judgment and even murder of others. But when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul realized that all his pretending would never make him perfect in the eyes of God. He was “sick” with sin, just like everyone else, and he couldn’t cure himself. To be well, he needed to receive the grace of Jesus. When we see our own shortcomings, we might be tempted to try to power through and make ourselves better. But our failures are symptoms of the underlying problem, which is disconnection from God. Jesus came to reconnect us by dying on the cross and rising from the grave. Instead of trying to make ourselves worthy of God’s love, we can rest in the truth that He already loves us, and through Jesus He made the way for us to be healed from our sin sickness. When Jesus returns and makes all things new, we won’t struggle with sin anymore. In the meantime, He has given Christians His Holy Spirit, who helps us recognize sin, turn away from it, and rely on His grace to live according to God’s good ways. And even when we fail, we can know that Jesus has already forgiven us and made us blameless in God’s sight (Colossians 1:22). • Andrew and Lydia Huntress • Have you ever tried to pretend you were okay when you really weren’t? How might it be freeing to rest in what Jesus has done for us, instead of striving to make ourselves perfect? “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do…I [Jesus] have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Matthew 9:12-13 (NLT)

READ: ROMANS 5:8-19; 1 JOHN 2:1-2 How often do you think about words? Words are tools for describing reality, and sometimes, the reality is so deep and important, whole books of words hardly scratch the surface of the idea’s fullness. In that case, we sometimes try to come up with a single word to wrap all the parts of an idea in a tidy package. One of these big words is “atonement.” This one word holds the fullness of God’s plan for your own life—and everything else in all creation. Every time we come across the word atonement, we get to remember the good news about Jesus. Something should fire in our minds about the deeper meaning of this word, our eyes open to a world where Jesus is the atonement. The English word “atone” comes from the two words: “at one.” So, in my opinion, it shouldn’t be pronounced “ah-tone-ment.” Instead, we should say “at-one-ment” because atonement is reconciliation with God and being “at one” with Him. It reminds us of how Jesus’s death and resurrection turn back the clock on the fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3), inviting us to re-enter Eden in perfect fellowship with God. Jesus’s work of atonement completely reverses our rebellion against God’s love, majesty, and authority. His Holy Spirit moves us to agree with Him so we, too, desire that His will be done on earth and in our own lives. Through this one-ness with Him, He compels us to turn away from sin and toward loving relationship with Him. And this one-ness doesn’t just apply to our individual relationships with God—it applies to all of creation. Through Jesus’s death and resurrection, God has made the way for heaven and earth to be one, as they were in the Garden of Eden. At Jesus’s return, all will be made new. We can celebrate that in Him is found all glory and honor and power forever (Revelation 7:12). There are many pages and books devoted to the full significance of Jesus’s atoning sacrifice on the cross, but if you can remember this one little pronunciation tip, you can remember instantly that through Jesus, we can be AT ONE with God—and that is the heart of atonement. • Andrew and Lydia Huntress • God is the source of all goodness and life, which is why being “at one” with Him is the best place to be. And through Jesus’s death and resurrection, we can live in this one-ness without having to earn or achieve it— Jesus already did the work. How could resting in this truth affect the way we interact with God and others? He [Jesus Christ] himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. 1 John 1:2 (NLT)

READ: PSALM 32:1-5; 1 JOHN 1:7-9; 4:18 I watched as a droplet of shimmery liquid slipped to the floor. Regrettably, I realized too late that I shouldn’t have painted my nails while sitting on the carpet. What would my landlord say about this mistake? The carpet had looked new when I moved into the apartment. Would he charge me extra for marring the property? I tried to blot the nail polish with a tissue but then made a happy discovery. The pattern of grays, tans, and browns in the carpet seemed to welcome the cinnamon-brown polish. That one little drop fit right in, and, once it dried, it was impossible to notice the stain—for anybody except me, of course. The carpet had hidden my blunder. It’s natural to want to hide the evidence of our failings, especially if we fear punishment. But if we’ve trusted in Jesus Christ, He doesn’t just cover our sin…He completely removes the punishment of our sin and its power over us (Psalm 103:12). So now, we can live differently. We don’t have to be afraid of God’s punishment, so we don’t have to hide our failings. Once we put our faith in Jesus, who died to pay the penalty for our sins, we begin a relationship with God. So, how should we interact with our loving Father when we do wrong in His eyes? God calls us to admit our sins to Him, to acknowledge them and not conceal them. While we might be able to hide our failures from other people, at least for a while, it’s impossible to hide things from God. He does know everything, after all. When we approach God honestly, we can experience freedom: the freedom of knowing how loved and accepted we are in Jesus (Hebrews 4:14-16). Our secure identity as God’s children means we can be real with Him about our faults and flaws, and we never need to hide. • Allison Wilson Lee • Because of Jesus, we don’t have to hide any of our failures, whether they be mistakes (like spilling nail polish on carpet) or sins (anything we do, think, or say that goes against God’s good ways, see Matthew 22:36-40). Are there any sins you feel tempted to cover up? Consider taking a moment now to confess these sins to God, thanking Him for His forgiveness through Jesus. People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. Proverbs 28:13 (NLT)

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:6-7 Have you ever visited a bulk food store for groceries? More and more of these environmentally-conscious shops are popping up as a way to help reduce waste and save money. There are lots of items you can buy in bulk from big bins and dispensers, instead of buying these same items in small, disposable packages. In many cases, when people go to a bulk food store they bring their own glass jars or other reusable containers so they can get exactly how much they need and no more. The other advantage of these kinds of shops? They also make grocery shopping really beautiful. Rows of big bins full of rice, beans, and pasta. Colorful crates overflowing with fruits and veggies. Walls lined with dispensers filled with golden honey, crunchy cereals, and dried fruit. Shelves with dispensers of things you can’t eat but still need—like liquid shampoo and dish soap. And finally, a cart full of glass jars as colorful as the store. Whenever I go bulk shopping, I’m reminded of 2 Corinthians 4. In this Bible passage, Christians are compared to jars. Like a jar, none of us are complete unless we’re filled. On our own, we’re empty. We don’t love God and others, and we’re not able to save ourselves from sin and its consequences (Matthew 22:36-40; Romans 3:23-24; 6:23). For us to be complete, we need Jesus to fill us. Jesus is the only One who can save us from sin and death, and there’s nothing we can do on our own to fill ourselves with His love and salvation. It’s a free gift. So, whenever I look at the jars I buy at a bulk store, I can see all the good things they’ve been filled with, and I remember all the ways Jesus has filled us with His goodness and love by the power of the Holy Spirit. • Aurora Scriver • Read 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 and John 8:12. Even though we are “like fragile clay jars” (2 Corinthians 4:7), as Christians, how can it be comforting to know that Jesus is at work in us? • When we put our trust in Jesus, He fills us with His goodness. We couldn’t do anything to earn the free gift of His love and salvation—that’s why He died and rose again so that we could be rescued from sin and death. His Holy Spirit lives in Christians, guaranteeing we will live forever with Jesus (Ephesians 1:14). According to 1 Timothy 1:14, what are some of the ways God fills us with His goodness? (If you want to dig deeper, read Romans 5:5-11 and Galatians 5:22-23.) We ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:7b (NLT)

READ: PSALM 55:22; MATTHEW 11:28-30; 1 PETER 5:7 Have you ever had an ache or pain that wouldn’t go away? It can be utterly exhausting—physically, mentally, and emotionally. I experienced this when I was pregnant with my son. Especially in the last few months of pregnancy, my belly was HUGE. It was so big that people wouldn’t believe me when I told them I still had a couple months until my due date, and they would often ask if I was having twins. When my son was born weighing just shy of ten pounds, nobody was surprised. Those last few months of pregnancy were miserable. Pain constantly shot through my back and legs from supporting the weight of my gigantic belly. No matter how I stood or sat or laid down, I was always uncomfortable. And I was tired of it. One day, in the midst of this pain and exhaustion, my husband and I went on a mini-getaway and decided to go swimming in the pool. The water was cold, but I gave it a try anyway. And as I slowly stepped down into the pool, I felt relief seep through my body for the first time in months. The water lifted the weight of my belly, and the pressure on my back eased. I took a step, and no pain ran through my leg. Standing in the cold water, I nearly cried with relief. For about an hour, I paced back and forth in that small pool, the weight of my belly finally lifted. And I felt Jesus walking alongside me, carrying my burden of pain and exhaustion. I felt His arms around me, holding the weight I had been carrying for so long. He reminded me that I can trust Him with any burden. He knew my pain (in fact, I had told Him about it several times over the past few months, often quite loudly). And He wanted me to give Him my burdens. I’ve known for a long time that I can give my burdens to Jesus. But when I walked in the pool, I felt that truth in my very body. He was with me in my pain, offering hope and comfort and strength. I needed to be reminded of that, and Jesus graciously met my need. No matter what burden you are carrying, He is with you. He died and rose again to be with you. And He is strong enough to carry the heaviest of burdens. • Taylor Eising • What burdens are you carrying right now? Consider taking a moment to give these to Jesus in prayer. You can ask Him to remind you of the strength, hope, and comfort you have in Him. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3 (NLT)

READ: COLOSSIANS 3:12-17; 1 PETER 3:15 Have you ever wondered how to go about sharing your faith with friends and family? It can be scary and a bit confusing, but God is ready to help us. Sharing Jesus with others involves more than talking. It involves the ways our whole lives—both our words and our actions—show the good news of Jesus. In very practical terms, it’s important that while we share our faith we don’t try to change people. Instead, we let our actions show them how Jesus is changing us. As we do this, we can rest in God’s love. Our lives can impact those around us, not because we make anything happen inside them, but because God is the One doing the work in each of us (1 Corinthians 3:6-8). Sharing our faith isn’t about being perfect either. In fact, because we still have our sinful natures until Jesus returns, we will absolutely mess up—in both what we say and what we do. But the good news is, when we fail to love God and others well, all we need to do is talk to Jesus, apologize to those we’ve hurt, and rely on Jesus to help us turn away from sinful behavior. We can move forward in faith because we know that our sins are forgiven through Jesus’s death and resurrection. So today, sharing our faith starts with resting in God’s love for us. As we lean into relationship with Jesus, we grow to become more and more like Him…more kind, more compassionate, more trustworthy. And this is a lifelong process. So, when we share God’s love with others, it’s because God loved us first (1 John 4:19). We get to invite people to know the One who loves them unconditionally and wants to have a close relationship with them forever. • A. W. Smith • Who would you like to share your faith with? Consider taking a moment to pray for them and ask God: “What might a conversation about faith look like with this particular person? How could my actions communicate Your love to them?” Then, write down anything that comes to mind. • Who are trusted, mature Christians in your life you could talk with about good ways to share Jesus’s love through your words and actions? Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Colossians 4:5 (NLT)

READ: ISAIAH 2:1-5; 9:6; ROMANS 3:23-24; JOHN 14:25-29 Have you ever wondered why there is always a war going on somewhere? War causes so much death, so much destruction. It ravages the land, destroying plants, animals, and towns…but the greatest tragedy of war is the loss of human life. From powerful leaders to low-ranking soldiers to defenseless civilians—including the elderly, small children, and even infants—so many people are killed in the chaos of the fighting. And even the survivors are left with scars, both visible and invisible. God sees all this suffering, and He weeps. War might be described as a sickness caused by sin. Sin infected our world when humans first rejected God. Now, hatred and violence and greed are wreaking havoc everywhere. And yet, God has not abandoned His creation. He still loves us, and He wants to make us well and forgive all our wrongdoing. That’s why God became human and lived among us. Jesus came into our sin-sick world, and when His followers realized He was the Messiah, the Rescuer who God had promised, they thought Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman empire and free Israel from the nation that had conquered them. But Jesus didn’t do that. Instead, He let Himself be put to death on a Roman cross. And in doing so, He did something far greater than overthrowing an empire. When Jesus gave up His life on that cross, He gave us the cure for sin. When Jesus died, He beat sin, and when He rose from the grave, He beat sin’s consequence, which is death. Now, He invites all of us to come to Him and be free of our sin sickness. We can trust and follow Him as our Savior by putting our faith in His death and resurrection (Romans 10:9). Without Jesus, we are all sick with the sin that’s in our hearts, and the whole world is sick too. But Jesus promises to cure the whole world of sin. When He returns, He will make everything new. Then war—and everything else caused by sin—will be gone for good (Revelation 21:1-5). In the meantime, when we put our trust in Jesus, He rescues us from sin and death, makes us new, and begins the healing work of putting His love and peace in our hearts, moving us toward wholeness. Whenever we encounter the pain and destruction of terrible things like war, we can come to Jesus. He weeps with us, grieving all the suffering caused by sin and holding us close (Matthew 11:28-30; Luke 15:20; John 11:35). As Jesus’s people, we can share His love and peace with others, taking part in God’s good work of bringing wholeness and reconciliation to all of creation. We can care for our neighbors and love them well, even when the world is in turmoil. And even though we will do things imperfectly, we can take great comfort in the fact that God is so good that He is working all things to draw people to Himself and transform us to become more and more like Jesus (Romans 8:28-29). One day, war will be no more, for the universe is ruled by Jesus, the Healer of our sin sickness and the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 2:1-5; 9:6). • A. W. Smith • To learn more about the cure for the sickness of sin, check out our “Know Jesus” page. • Where have you seen the devastating effects of war? Consider taking a moment to come to Jesus in prayer, bringing Him all the pain, frustration, and confusion…and imagine Him weeping with you over all the things that are wrong. • When we wonder how God could allow such terrible things to happen, how could the gospel (the good news about Jesus) reveal God’s great love and tender compassion for His creation? • As you encounter the effects of sin in our broken world, remember that God doesn’t dismiss our questions and doubts; rather, He invites us to wrestle with Him. Who are trusted Christians you feel comfortable talking to about these things? If no one comes to mind, you can ask God to help you identify someone in the future.

READ: EXODUS 17:7-15; ECCLESIASTES 4:9-12 Standing on the peak of the mountain outcropping, Shalish scanned the battlefield. The noonday sun glinted off armor as the battle raged on in the valley below. Lord Nissi, the great voice who had led them through both sea and desert, had trained Shalish and several of her friends for years. But the throes of their first combat were more taxing than they had imagined. Yet Shalish was positioned above the battlefield for a reason. Lord Nissi had given her a gold cord to wear around her wrist, saying, “My presence goes with you. Remember me.” Now, when Shalish kept her cord raised above her head, their victory seemed sure. But her right hand had long since fallen asleep, and her muscles spasmed as she struggled to keep her wrist high above her head. She trembled at the thought that keeping her gold cord raised would be the difference between victory and defeat. When she had momentarily lowered her hand an hour ago, it had almost cost Ezrah his life. Shalish could only watch in horror as the enemy’s sword slashed just below the gap in his armor, Ezrah’s crimson blood flowing. Ezrah and Merea were two of her closest friends. Shalish scanned the battlefield for Merea’s fiery red curls, concerned that she had not seen her friend in a while. But then another spasm shot through her arm, and in despair she cried out, “Lord Nissi, my strength has run dry—please, help your people!” A gentle footfall caused Shalish to whirl around, her right hand still raised, her sword at the ready in her left. “Shay, you need help.” Merea’s brown eyes reflected concern. “But Merea, you’re needed on the battlefield!” “I’m needed right here.” Merea reached up and intertwined her bronze cord with Shalish’s gold one, supporting the weight of her friend’s arm. Shalish felt immediate relief, and she let out a sigh as she leaned on her friend. Sunset was quickly approaching, and the task of keeping the cords held high over the battle was once more becoming too difficult. But then, Ezrah wordlessly joined them on the mountain, tying his silver cord to theirs. Shalish couldn’t even lift her head, and Merea laughed in delirious relief. Supported by her friends, Shalish felt Lord Nissi’s presence around them. As the setting sun splashed vivid pinks, golds, and dark hues of purple across the sky, a cry of victory rang out. Ezrah smiled at his friends, joy etched on his glistening face. Then he reminded them of Lord Nissi’s words: “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” • Savannah Coleman • Today’s allegorical story is based on Exodus 17, when the Amalekites attacked the Israelites. God had just delivered His people from slavery in Egypt. When they came to the Red Sea, God told Moses to raise his staff, and God parted the waters so the people could pass through. Yet, not long after this, the people asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (verse 7). So, when the Amalekites attacked, Moses stood over the battle on the top of the hill with the staff of God raised in his hands (verse 9). Whenever Moses’s hands lowered, the Israelites started losing the fight (verse 11), and he inevitably grew tired. Thankfully, Moses had two friends, Aaron and Hur, to help hold his hands up as he held the staff until the battle was won (verses 12-13). Then Moses built an altar and called it “Yahweh Nissi” which means “The LORD is my banner” (verse 15). (The Hebrew word for “banner” is very similar to the word for “staff.”) God had saved His people once again and confirmed that He was indeed with them. Can you think of a time you were reminded of God’s presence with you? Consider taking a moment to thank Him for this. • In Exodus 17, we catch a glimpse of the gospel, God’s plan to deliver His people from sin and death. Jesus is Immanuel, which literally means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). When He went to the cross for us, His...

READ: PSALM 23; JOHN 10:10-16 Shepherds were not held in high regard in ancient Israel. They spent most of their time outdoors, the sheep didn’t smell great, and the job could be pretty dull…until it wasn’t. One part of a shepherd’s job was to defend the flock against wild animals looking for a meal. Shepherds had to protect the sheep and guide them to safe pastures. In the Old Testament, David was a shepherd before he was Israel’s king. When God sent the prophet Samuel to anoint one of Jesse’s sons, David had to be called in from the field because he was watching the sheep. As the youngest son, he wasn’t even around when Samuel first arrived to see Jesse’s family and anoint the future king. After all, someone had to watch and defend the sheep, and that job fell to the youngest son, David. In the New Testament, Jesus is frequently called a shepherd. He fulfilled Old Testament prophecies of a Messiah who would shepherd God’s people, including a poem/song written by David: Psalm 23. Like David guided sheep, Jesus guides us. In fact, Jesus is called the Good Shepherd. While every human leader fails, Jesus is the perfect and trustworthy leader. He shows us what it looks like to walk in “paths of righteousness” in our lives, and He walks with us (Psalm 23:3-4). Like David protected his sheep—even fending off a lion and a bear—Jesus protects His people. Jesus performed the ultimate act of sacrifice a shepherd could do. When we were trapped in the jaws of sin, Jesus laid down His life for us. But even death couldn’t stop the Good Shepherd. He rose from the dead, and then He shared the victory over death with His flock in the resurrection so that we can be with our Shepherd in the new creation forever. • Naomi Zylstra • In what ways is Jesus like a shepherd? • Jesus often associates with outcasts. In Luke 2:8-20, why do you think God chose to announce Jesus’s birth to a group of shepherds? • If you want to dig deeper, read 1 Samuel 16:1-13; 17:34-36; Isaiah 40:11; Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15, 22; Mark 6:34. “I [Jesus] am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11 (WEB)

READ: ZEPHANIAH 3:17; JOHN 3:16; EPHESIANS 2:8-10 “Does God really love me?” If we’re honest, this is a question we ask often. And the answer is a resounding yes! God loves us very much! But what do we do when it doesn’t feel like God loves us? One thing we can do is remember the evidence of God’s love for us. After all, He knows we need reminders, and He doesn’t scold us for needing to hear it again and again. In fact, God loves to remind us of His love. 1. God made us. And that’s just one of the reasons why we can know that He loves us and we matter to Him. He created each of us on purpose, and He was delighted to do it. 2. God’s love for us is unstoppable. God didn’t stop loving us when humanity rejected Him. Just the opposite. His great love for the world compelled Him to give Jesus, His very own Son, to die on the cross to save us from sin. Nothing, not even death, could stop His love. We know this because after three days, Jesus rose from the dead, defeating sin and death forever. 3. God has made us His own. As Christians, we belong to Him. When we put our trust in Jesus, He makes us new people and gives us important work to do in His kingdom. In fact, the book of Ephesians in the Bible calls us God’s handiwork—His masterpiece or artwork. 4. God cares about what happens to us. When we suffer, He weeps. And He promises to work all things for the good of His people. Jesus will return one day to make everything new, free from sin and healed from all the brokenness sin causes. 5. God is with us now. As we wait for Jesus to return bodily to earth, He is still present with us through His Spirit, His Word, and His people. It’s easy to forget God’s love for us, especially when we hear the cruel words of others or when we experience heartbreaking situations. But, as Christians, we can rest in God’s love for us by remembering how God made us because it pleased Him to do so, and how God became human to dwell among us. He (Jesus) was willing to die on the cross for us. Then He rose again three days later to beat death, and He promises to return to be with us forever. Even now, His loving presence is always with us. No matter what, we can know that we are each an important part of God’s kingdom and family—we have a purpose and place because we belong to Jesus. And, as we rest in God’s unshakable love for us, we get to be part of sharing His love with others. • A. W. Smith • Which of the five evidences of God’s love listed above resonates with you most today? Why? For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Ephesians 2:10a (NIV)

READ: EPHESIANS 1:4-14; 2:4-10; 4:21-25 I am a full-fledged adult, and I still don’t feel like I know what to do when I let people down. Of course, I understand that we live in a world that’s been broken by sin so we all hurt others, whether intentionally or unintentionally. That’s just part of life until Jesus returns. But letting others down still gets to me. As a Christian, I know that I’m supposed to be reflecting Jesus, but when I let the people around me down, I feel like I’m failing both them and Jesus. Sometimes, we just mess things up entirely. Sin gets in the way, and we let down the people we love. What then? We can apologize and seek forgiveness, but what if we still feel gross? Then we can look again to Jesus and be reminded of the value He sees in us. In fact, looking toward Jesus should be the first thing we do when we fail. Jesus died on the cross for us, knowing that we all mess up again and again. That didn’t stop Jesus from sacrificing His life and inviting us to join in His resurrection. God knows that we sin, and He readily offers forgiveness. Whenever we fall, Jesus wants to pick us back up and help us turn away from our sin. We don’t have to live under the crushing weight of guilt and shame, because Jesus has set us free (Psalms 32:1-5; 34:5). It helps me to remember that God sees the value in me, even when I don’t see it in myself. He made me on purpose, and despite any mistakes I make or anything I do wrong, I still bear God’s image (Genesis 1:27). • Naomi Zylstra • Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we can know that we are totally forgiven from all our sins—past, present, and future. Even so, when we mess up and let others down—either by sinning or just by making a mistake—we often feel gross. How could it be helpful to turn to Jesus in these times and remember how He sees us? (Ephesians 1:4-14; 2:4-10) • Sometimes, we let others down even when we don’t do anything wrong. They might have expectations or desires that we cannot meet, and this can be difficult to navigate. Even Jesus experienced people being disappointed in Him, so He can empathize with us. He grieves our hurts with us, holding us close and reassuring us of His unconditional love. If you’re struggling with letting people down, who are trusted Christians in your life you could talk to about this? Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 (NLT)

READ: GENESIS 1:27; PSALM 139:13-16; EPHESIANS 5:1-4 The human body is amazing! Did you know that the human heart, which is only about as big as a clenched fist, pumps over 4,000 gallons of blood a day? Or that human eyes are protected by seven interlocking bones? Or that the palms of your hands are sort of skid-proof so you can get a grip on things? God created the human body in His image with the ability to do amazing things. His great handiwork is nothing to laugh about. But sometimes, we as humans say things that aren’t respectful about the human body, even mocking others whose bodies look different from ours. That’s not how God wants us to treat the people He created. He loves us so much, He sent Jesus to live among us as a human, physical body and all. Out of love, Jesus died for us. When we put our trust in Jesus, He gives us new hearts—not physical hearts that pump blood, but hearts that are cleansed from sin, no longer hard and stubborn but tender and responsive, eager to follow God’s good ways (Ezekiel 36:25-27; Matthew 22:36-40). And one day, God is also going to give us new physical bodies. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, all God’s people will be raised to life when Jesus returns, and our new bodies will be free from sin, sickness, and death. Because God created us with care and provided us with such amazing bodies, we need to treat our bodies—and everyone else’s—with respect. Our human bodies remind us how much God loves us and all He’s done for us… and what He promises to do for us in the future. • A. W. Smith • What amazes you the most about the human body? Consider taking a moment to thank God for creating us this way. • Read Hebrews 4:14-16. God became human, so Jesus knows what it’s like to be human in a world that’s broken by sin and its effects. And He promises that those who know Him as their Savior will be raised bodily when He makes all things new. How might these truths affect the way we view ourselves and others, including our bodies? • Have you ever been tempted to make fun of other people’s bodies or your own body? You can ask Jesus to forgive you for the times you didn’t treat people He loves, and their bodies, with respect, and you can rest in the assurance that His death and resurrection have already paid the price for your sin. God created human beings in his own image. Genesis 1:27a (NLT)

READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; HEBREWS 4:14-16; 12:15 Have you ever dealt with an ant infestation? If you start noticing a couple ants creeping in the cracks, it might not seem like a big deal. But if you ignore the problem, it will only get worse. Soon you’ll have ants all over—in your bathroom, in your bedroom, in your kitchen, even in your food! An ant infestation is a big problem; it can even make people sick. So, what can you do to handle an infestation? One way is to set a certain kind of trap that has poison inside. The ants think the poison is food, so they bring it home for all the other ants to eat, and it kills them. Bitterness is a lot like an ant infestation. Bitterness can creep in when we face a difficult or hurtful situation and we’re not able to process it. If we try not to feel the pain of a hard situation, it doesn’t work. That’s like trying to kill ants one by one—they keep coming back! Instead, when we experience the beginnings of bitterness, we can go directly to whatever its source may be. How? By coming to Jesus. He invites us to share our hurts and all our difficult feelings with Him. Because Jesus is both fully human and fully God, He knows firsthand what it feels like to suffer in a world broken by sin, and so we can bring everything we’re feeling to Him (Hebrews 4:14-16). He will weep with us and remind us that He never leaves us. As we share our hurts with Jesus, we can also ask Him to remind us of His goodness. When we look to Jesus and remember how He saved us through dying on the cross and rising from the dead, the gospel can give us hope, opening the door for bitterness to turn to thankfulness. As we work through our bitterness with Jesus, we may still feel sad—or have any number of strong emotions about the difficult or heartbreaking situations we’ve experienced. But even in these times, we can rest in Jesus’s love for us, remembering His promises to be with us always (Matthew 28:20) and to one day make all things new—free from the suffering and death that are in our world because of sin (Revelation 21:1-5). It’s also important for us to reach out to trusted people in our lives (such as therapists, parents, pastors, etc.) to help us process difficult emotions and address any situations that need to change. So, when bitterness starts to creep into our lives, we don’t have to be afraid to go to whatever its source may be. We can face hard things with Jesus, the One who heals our hurts and sets us free. • A. W. Smith • Who are trusted people you can reach out to when you’re facing difficult situations and having trouble processing them? [Jesus] understands our weaknesses...So let us come boldly to...God. Hebrews 4:15-16 (NLT)

READ: GENESIS 1:26-27; 2:15; JOHN 6:25-29; COLOSSIANS 3:23 Did you know that work is part of God’s loving plan for us? Work is a good thing. The first thing God did after He created Adam and Eve was give them work to do. It was only after humans sinned that work became difficult—and sometimes frustrating—but that doesn’t mean we can’t find joy and satisfaction in our work. God Himself works, and since He created us in His image, work is one of the things we’re wired for (John 5:17). Our work isn’t futile, because God uses the work of those who love Him for His good purposes. Even everyday tasks that don’t seem very important are valuable in His kingdom. Work done well and with justice also points to the new reality of God’s kingdom, His loving reign over His people and His restored relationship with them. Jesus (who is God) announced that the kingdom of heaven has come near. Because He wants us to be part of His kingdom, Jesus died and rose again, defeating sin and death, and He will return someday to make all things new, free from the effects of sin. Then work won’t be toilsome any longer, and everyone who knows Jesus will live together with Him on the new heavens and new earth, doing work that is fulfilling and God-honoring. But while we’re still living in a world that’s broken by sin, things don’t always go justly in the places where we work. Sometimes, employers treat their employees unfairly, and sometimes, people experience illness or injury or other hard circumstances that make it so they cannot work in the ways they were expected to, or even work at all. But even if we find ourselves unable to work, as Christians, we can still find joy in another person’s work—and that’s the work of Jesus. By dying on the cross and rising from the grave, Jesus beat sin and death. No matter what we go through, we can find rest and joy in Him, knowing that He finished the work of our salvation, and even now He is working in our hearts to make us more like Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. As we wait for Jesus’s return, He calls us to do our work to help others and bring Him glory, remembering that our ultimate joy and hope doesn’t come from what we do, but from who we are—God’s children. • A. W. Smith • Can you think of a time you enjoyed work? What do you remember about it? • Imagine how it would feel to not be able to do any work. If you or someone you know is experiencing a hard situation like this, how could today’s Bible passages be a source of comfort? The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. Genesis 2:15 (CSB)

READ: JOHN 3:16; 1 CORINTHIANS 15:12-22 The tomb was not Jesus’s final resting place. When He was killed on the cross, that was not the end. Three days later, Jesus rose to life again. The stone that had been placed in front of the tomb was rolled away, and His body wasn’t there anymore. Jesus lived. The disciples were amazed when they found out about this—even though Jesus had told them He would rise again on the third day. It was hard to believe that it could be true. When you hear the story of Jesus’s death on the cross and how He came back to life three days later, does it fill you with hope? God invites us to remember this good news, to tell it to each other over and over again, to behold how amazing and powerful Jesus is. The story of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross is one that should fill us with awe. He loves us so much that He died for us, to take away our sins. Jesus died once for all so that we don’t have to perish. God wants us to live forever with Him in the new heavens and the new earth, and He has made this possible through Jesus. When Jesus returns, there will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more pain (Revelation 21:1-5). On that day, all of God’s people will be raised to life, just as Jesus was. The tomb was not Jesus’s final resting place. Because of His grace for us, the grave won’t be yours, either. If you’ve put your trust in Him, your sins are forgiven and you will live again. How amazing is that? • Bethany Acker • As Christians, how can the hope of the resurrection fill us with peace, even as we experience death—both the deaths of our loved ones and, someday, our own death? • Jesus died to take away your sins so that you could live with Him forever. If you have questions about putting your trust in Jesus, who are trusted Christians in your life you can talk to? (You can also find out more on our “Know Jesus” page.) “[Jesus] isn’t here [in the tomb]! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.” Matthew 28:6 (NLT)

READ: PSALM 32:7-8; ISAIAH 42:16; LUKE 1:78-79; JOHN 1:1-12 Merrick lifted the candle as he clutched his tunic. He felt the sand underfoot as shadows danced on the cave walls. “Beautiful, yes?” Father’s voice comforted him and pushed him to ignore the darkness. Yes, it was breathtaking—like a hidden world. “All this time,” Merrick said, fixing his eyes on the glittering ceiling, “the cave went farther than we imagined.” “How about going farther now?” Father asked. Merrick took a deep breath and continued forward. Now was not the time to fear. The candle was near, as was Father. Besides, exploring was fun. He kept the candle outstretched and stepped after Father’s form. Suddenly, the flame flickered and with a whoosh, the candle went out. “Father!” “I’m here, son. Stay calm.” He heard Father’s voice but could feel the panic seeping inside and eating his breath. Merrick reached Father and threw himself against him. “Are we to die in here?” With the ink of night polluting his vision? Father wrapped his arm around Merrick. “Tell me, what blew your candle out?” “What?” Merrick’s breathing slowed. “Listen, wind is whistling around us.” Yes, Merrick could hear the whisper. Then he could feel it. “And if you train your ears, you may hear a crashing.” Merrick lifted his head from Father’s tunic. Could it be the ocean? “I suppose if we move toward that sound we shall find light and escape this darkness. Place your hand on the wall and trace the rock as we walk.” Eager to see light, Merrick obeyed, his heart still shaking. Together they let the wind guide them. Soon, a faint light erupted into their line of sight. “The darkness never lasts. Remember who our Light is.” Father’s words lit Merrick’s heart with courage. Now, he could see blue etched around the white haze. Darkness would not last. Merrick ran into the first wave that lapped into the cave and let it soak his shoes. He lifted his face to the sky, which shone a vibrant hue that melded with a gathering gray. He turned to see Father splashing behind him and laughed with relief. “The darkness is gone.” • Payton Tilley • Today’s story is an allegory. Even when life feels dark and confusing, Jesus is the Light of the world. One day, Jesus will return to get rid of all fear and darkness, and in the meantime, He lovingly guides us through everything we face. What are some ways we can we encourage each other with the hope we have in Jesus? “I [Jesus] am the light of the world.” John 9:5b (CSB)

READ: ROMANS 5:6-8 There is no greater way to show love than to be willing to give up everything for someone else. That’s what Jesus did for us. He loved us so much that He gave up everything, including His life, for us. Romans 5:7 says it’s rare for someone to give up their life for a deserving person, but it’s even more rare for someone to give up their life for a person who doesn’t deserve it in any way. Jesus gave His life for us even though we were undeserving. The next verse goes on to say that while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. He didn’t wait for us to do anything before He sacrificed it all. He knew that we are helpless to save ourselves, and He loves us so much that He was willing to go through death for us, even when we were living in sin. Jesus showed the utmost love for us when He willingly died on the cross. His death and resurrection was the most important event in the cosmos because He saved us—and His entire creation—from sin and decay and death. Now everyone who puts their trust in Jesus, believing He died and rose from the grave, is totally forgiven from all their sins. As Christians, we get to look forward to the day Jesus will return and we will live in restored creation with the One who loves us more than any other! When we consider how Jesus died on the cross to take away our sins, we can know that He did it all because He loves us. We can remember that we have a Savior who gave up everything for us. • Bethany Acker • Why is it important that none of us could ever earn what Jesus did for us? • According to Romans 5:6-8, how has Jesus revealed God’s love for the world? When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Romans 5:6 (NLT)

READ: MATTHEW 11:28-30; 1 TIMOTHY 1:12-16; 2 PETER 3:8-18 “Just be a little more patient with me…all I’m asking is that you let me figure things out, let me grow, let me work on myself a little and become better at this…” Have you ever been in a place where it felt like everyone was pushing you and no one had any patience when it came to your growth? Have you ever felt like you needed to do something great, and quick, or else everyone was going to cut you out? When it feels like people are pushing you and refusing to be patient with you, know that God has a patience that goes beyond anything we could imagine. The Bible tells us that God desires for everyone to be saved. He wants all of us to put our trust in Jesus. He wants to transform us through the power of the Holy Spirit and guide us in doing the good works of His kingdom (Ephesians 2:10). He wants to work in our lives and help us become all we are meant to be. Yet, He is patient as He waits for us to grow. God is not going to push you to move quicker than you can. He is not going to give up on you when your growth is slow. Instead, He has compassion on you. He invites you to rest in His peace and trust His gentle leadership as you grow at the pace that’s right for you. Sometimes, it might seem like you’re growing too slowly, while other times you might feel like God is leading you to grow faster than you expected, but just know that God created you, and He knows what you need. Through every milestone and every setback, He walks alongside you, and His love for you remains constant. He is patient—always. • Emily Acker • Have you ever felt pressured to move at a pace that didn’t work for you? What was it like? • Read Matthew 11:28-30. What kind of leader is Jesus? How might remembering that He is patient with us help us be patient with ourselves, and with those around us? The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)

READ: PSALM 32; 1 JOHN 1:8-2:2 Weighed downBy a wrong I should not have doneTrying to hide itHoping no one will ever knowGuilt eating meGuilt over secrets on top of the wrongCan’t go on like thisSpending my life lying is no way to liveI let You inGod, I’ll share my secret with YouThis is what I’ve doneI’m sorry and I want to move onReleased from the shameI feel free to go forward with life nowFreedom from guiltI have my sins forgiven and I am alive • Emily Acker • Keeping our sins a secret and hiding the wrong things we’ve done can be hard on us. In Psalm 32, how did David feel when he tried to hide his sin? How did he feel after confessing it? • Through Jesus, God has made the way for us to be forgiven. Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave, everyone who has put their trust in Jesus is totally forgiven from all their sins—past, present, and future! Yet, as Christians, we will continue to struggle with sin until Jesus returns and makes all things new. Whenever we sin, God wants us to come to Him and confess what we’ve done. He will reassure us of His love, help us turn away from sin, and help us move forward in loving Him and those around us— this might include confessing our sins to others and making amends. Consider taking a moment to pray, confessing any sins that come to mind, thanking Jesus for His forgiveness, and asking for His guidance in how to move forward. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

READ: SONG OF SONGS 2; 8:6-7; EPHESIANS 5:25-32 Today we’re looking at a book in the Old Testament called Song of Songs. Many readers are confused when they find this love poem in the Bible. It talks about the passionate love between this husband and wife, written in a way that no one speaks today. But the poem honestly shows love and sexual desire without embarrassment or shame. Some scholars made a connection between the love between this husband and wife and the love we experience with Jesus, who is God. In Scripture, we see God pursuing His people with an unceasing love, culminating in Jesus’s death and resurrection. He did this to unite us to Himself, and this unity will be completed when Christ returns to bring heaven to earth and live forever with His people. So we can think of Jesus’s love for us when the bride in Song of Songs says, “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame” (8:6). Jesus’s love for us is like a blazing glory and unquenchable fire. Nothing can break that love. When people fall deeply in love, they are changed by the joy they experience. Likewise, when we are captivated by the all-consuming, never-ending love of God, it shines in us. We can be free of shame in the love we feel for the One who created us, forgives us from our sins, and restores us to wholeness. So whenever we dive into the Song of Songs or other types of love poetry, as we see the love between two people, we can also see the love Christ has for the church. And through all of our relationships—both romantic and non-romantic—we can spread His love without embarrassment. God created human love, and with that love, we point back to Him. • Corinna Kahrs • In what ways have you personally experienced the love of God? If nothing comes to mind, you can ask God to reveal His love to you anytime—He delights to answer these prayers. • What are some ways we can glorify God and show His love in our relationships? • God created romantic love and sexual desire as good gifts to be enjoyed by a husband and wife, so we don’t need to be embarrassed about these things. When you have questions about romance, sex, and marriage, who are trusted Christians you feel comfortable talking to? If no one comes to mind, you can ask God to help you identify someone in the future. Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love. Song of Songs 2:4 (NIV)

READ: PSALMS 1:2; 119:103-105; 2 TIMOTHY 3:14-17 Have you ever canned food? Throughout much of history, people have canned and preserved food—often in glass jars. This has been an important way for people to get nutrition, even in less-than-ideal times like winter or natural disasters. In a way, memorizing Scripture is like “canning” truth from God’s Word to store in our hearts so that we always have it with us. Memorizing words from the Bible is a spiritual practice that Christians have done for centuries. It provides us with the opportunity to feast on God’s Word, even when we don’t have easy or convenient access to a Bible, or when we just want to meditate on Scripture without using a screen. The reason the Bible is so important to us as Christians is because every single verse is “God-breathed,” and it’s a gift from God to us (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible tells us all about Jesus: He is our Savior, God, and King—and He is also our Shepherd, Advocate, and Friend. When we learn Bible passages, these can provide help, encouragement, wisdom, and comfort when we need it most. On top of that, the very process of trying to memorize a passage can help us chew on it, giving us a chance to grow in our understanding of the good news about Jesus. Today, consider what Bible verse or passage you might like to try to memorize. Don’t feel like you have to set a goal of memorizing a long passage. That can get overwhelming! Instead, start with a single verse or a short passage that reminds you of Jesus’s love for you. Want to know a simple way to commit a verse or passage to memory? Read or listen to it every day for a month. Even if you don’t have it perfectly memorized by the end of the month, you will have spent around thirty days dwelling on those words from the Bible and considering how they declare the good news of Jesus. And that “canning” time is always time well-spent. • A. W. Smith Want other ideas for how to memorize Scripture? Consider trying one of these: • On a whiteboard, write out the Bible verse or passage you want to learn. Then read it aloud. Then erase one word and read the passage again. Repeat this process until no words are left. • Think of a song you like to sing. See if you can put the verse or passage to that music, and then practice your verse or passage by singing it at a set time each day. • Break the verse or passage into phrases, then create motions to go along with each phrase to help you remember the words. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)

READ: ISAIAH 56:5; ACTS 11:26; 1 PETER 4:16 Do you know what your name means? Across cultures, names have meanings, and when we give names to babies, those meanings can be a beautiful way to communicate love and care for the newest members of our families. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches.” But here’s the thing: we don’t choose our own names. We receive them when we’re born into our families. Similarly, there is another name we can receive, separate from the one given to us at birth. When we trust Jesus as our Savior, we become part of His family and receive His name: we are called “Christian,” which means “little Christ.” This name means that He has made us new people and we belong to Him. God has poured out His great love on us through Jesus’s death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. Now, He invites us to imitate Him as dearly loved children imitate their parents, by loving others as He loves us (Ephesians 5:1-2). Sometimes, when God called people to follow Him in the Bible, He literally renamed them. Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Jacob became Israel, and Simon became Peter (Genesis 17:5, 15-16; 32:28; John 1:42). Their new names were a sign to others that God had made them new people and they were now part of His family. Today, God does the same with us as Christians. When we put our trust in Jesus, He makes us new and adopts us into His family (John 1:12; Colossians 1:13-14). As we rest in His great love, He is shaping all of us to become more and more like Him so we can point others toward His good name. • A. W. Smith • Do you know what your name means or why your family chose it for you? Do you like your name? • The name Christian means that you belong to Jesus’s family. As Christians, how can this truth comfort us when we feel unloved or rejected? • To learn more about what it means to have a new name in Jesus—to become God’s child—check out our “Know Jesus” page. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1a (NIV)

READ: PSALMS 36:7; 94:18; 143:8-12; ISAIAH 54:10 Unfailing love… We sin and sin again. We mess up and try to put the blame on someone or something other than ourselves. We fail to help the hurting. We fail to take our eyes off our own needs and see the needs around us. We don’t do what God calls us to do, but… Unfailing love… Our sin separated us from God, but He wanted to draw us near. Our God gave His Son for us. Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself by dying on the cross and rising from the grave so that everyone who puts their trust in Him can be forgiven and adopted into God’s family. Our God wants us to feel loved; He wants us to know that His love is always there. Our God knows that we’ve sinned and that we will sin again, but He loves us anyway. There is no way for us to earn His love; He gives it to us freely. Unfailing love… Human love is a gift from God, but only God’s love is unfailing. People will let us down, and those closest to us might even stop loving us. Though we can try our best to love others well, we still fail in one way or another. Human love cannot fill our deepest longings, but God’s love can. He holds us close in His arms and never lets us go (Psalm 27:10; John 10:27-30). I thank God for His unfailing love. • Emily Acker • How is God’s love different from human love? • Can you think of a time you felt loved by God? Consider taking a moment to thank Him for this! If nothing comes to mind, you can ask God to reveal His love to you anytime. • When we feel like God doesn’t love us, or like we don’t deserve God’s love, how could it be helpful to remember the good news about Jesus? (See our “Know Jesus” page for more about this good news.) What are some ways we could remind each other of God’s unfailing love for us? Rise up and help us; rescue us because of your unfailing love. Psalm 44:26 (NIV)

READ: MATTHEW 4:1-11; 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13; HEBREWS 4:14-16 How can we resist temptation? As Christians, when we encounter something we know Jesus wouldn’t want us to do, we have a choice. Will we give in to the temptation? Or will we trust Jesus to empower us to do the right thing? Sometimes, trusting Jesus is easier said than done. But it can help to remember why Jesus can be trusted. Jesus is fully God, and when He became human, He didn’t withhold Himself from any kind of human hardship. He personally faced temptations to sin when He was on earth, and yet, He resisted every time. Jesus never sinned. He can empathize with us because He knows firsthand what temptation is like. Whenever we’re tempted, we can cry out to Jesus with confidence because we know that He understands what we’re facing. But even more than that, He has power over sin. If we’ve put our trust in Jesus, His Holy Spirit is inside us, so we can depend on Him to help us not give in to temptation. And even when we do give in, He’ll always forgive us. We can know that God’s forgiveness is sure because Jesus took all our sin upon Himself when He died on the cross—and then He rose from the dead, defeating sin and death once and for all. When Jesus returns, we won’t struggle with sin anymore. But until then, no matter what temptations we experience, Jesus is always with us. We can trust Him to give us the wisdom and courage we need to follow Him in every part of our lives: His call is to love God and those around us. To love as we have been loved by God (1 John 4:19). Next time you face temptation, run to Jesus. You can always go to Him, even in the times you give in to sin. Regardless of how successful we are at resisting temptation, we can know that Jesus holds us in love, and His forgiveness is unshaken. • A. W. Smith • What kinds of temptations are hardest for you to resist? Consider taking a moment to talk to Jesus about this. You can be totally honest. He won’t be surprised, and He won’t reject you. • God wants to help us resist and/or run away from temptation. One of the ways God helps us is through community with other Christians. When you’re struggling, who are trusted Christians in your life you’d be comfortable talking to and asking to pray for you? If no one comes to mind, you can ask God to help you identify someone in the future. [Jesus] has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)

READ: ROMANS 8:28; 1 CORINTHIANS 13:12; REVELATION 21:1-5 It might seem odd, but I often think of kittens when I consider a very hard question: “Where is God with all the hurt going on?” It’s a question I ask a lot, especially since my husband is a news reporter, so I often get a front-row seat to the heartbreaking and scary things happening in the world. But that’s where kittens come in. When they’re brand new, they can’t even open their eyes. They’re helpless. All they know is that their mom is with them. They can’t see her, but they know she’s present and she cares for them. I don’t have an answer for why bad things happen. All I know is that our world is broken because of sin, but Jesus is with us, and He’s working to fix all this. I’m like a kitten who just has to trust that I’m loved, that I’m not alone, and that my suffering won’t last forever. I recall how Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” While we can’t see everything clearly right now because we live in a world that is broken by sin, we can know that Jesus is with us, even now, and He knows how much it hurts. One day, we’ll finally see Him face-to-face and He’ll make everything new. All His people will be healed and whole. Until that day, we are like little kittens. Though we can’t see very much yet, we can rest knowing that we are loved. • Aurora Scriver • Have you seen anything in the news lately that makes you feel unsettled? How can talking with Jesus and people we trust help us process things like this? • No matter what happens in this broken world, you are not alone. Jesus loves you so very much, and He will never leave your side. He is stronger than anything we might face, and He promises to make all things new when He returns. In the meantime, He will be with His people every step of the way. How could these truths give us hope when we experience hard things? Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT)

READ: JOHN 1:14; 3:16-17; COLOSSIANS 1:12-14 I think being a professional kitten rescuer might be one of the cutest jobs in existence. But the practical realities of the job are anything but cute. When a rescuer receives foster kittens into their home, these tiny rescue kittens need lots of attention, and the care they need is often pretty gross, including special flea baths. Even after the fleas are gone, the kittens still need round-the-clock care, like special feedings and medicine from the vet. Not to mention cleaning up their messes if they feel sick and need to throw up or have diarrhea. But it’s all worth it. If everything goes well, the kittens begin to grow, becoming healthier, stronger, and cuter by the day. When you see kittens who have passed this threshold—happily exploring, climbing, and cuddling—it’s amazing to consider how well they are doing compared to the bad shape they were in when they arrived. It’s sobering to realize that these now-healthy kittens would have died if people hadn’t rescued them. And the thing is, these kittens remind me of us. Without Jesus, we were helpless too. We were sick with sin and doomed to die because of it. But Jesus stepped in and rescued us by dying for our sins on the cross and rising from the grave. He loves us so much. Even when our sin sickness was grosser than fleas, Jesus wasn’t afraid to come to this earth and live with us so that we could be rescued. • Aurora Scriver • God loves us so much that He was willing to do the difficult work of saving us. If you have questions about what it means to be rescued by Jesus, who is a trusted Christian you could talk to? (You can also find out more on our “Know Jesus” page.) • When we realize how gross our sin is, it might leave us feeling pretty bad about ourselves. But God already knows how gross our sin is, and His love for us does not change. Whenever we sin, we can repent, turn away from our sin and turn to Jesus. Consider taking a moment to come to Him in prayer, confessing any sins that come to mind and resting in His great love and care for you. For he [God] has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son [Jesus]. Colossians 1:13 (NLT)

READ: EPHESIANS 1:3-14 We don’t always fully agree with everyone who shares our faith in Jesus Christ. Some people might judge us, and we might fall into judging them too. The decisions that we make don’t always line up with what others think is right, and we are going to see other Christians doing things that we would never do. However, no matter what our differences are, our belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus unites us. And He loves all of us. We come from different places in life, raised either in a comfortable, happy home environment or in a struggling, tense one—or maybe somewhere in between. We have gone through things that others can’t imagine, and others have gone through things that we can never fully understand. But Jesus has saved all of us—rich and poor, people dealing with issues from the past and people who are fully happy with the way they were raised. Jesus unites us. When Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected from the dead, He did that for all kinds of people. Anyone who calls on Him will be saved (Romans 10:9-13). His blood unites us with everyone who has seen what He has done and put their trust in Him. • Emily Acker • When we disagree with other Christians, how could it be helpful to remember that we are all united by Christ? • One way we can love our brothers and sisters in Christ is by trying to empathize with them and understand them when we disagree. What are some ways you could try to understand the people you disagree with? If you aren’t sure, who are some people who could help you, such as pastors, parents, youth leaders, or friends? • As Christians, we can demonstrate our unity in Christ through communion, or the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26). In communion, we remember the blood and body of Jesus given for us. We remember that we are united to Him and to each other. How can communion help us feel connected even when we disagree? “For this is my [Jesus’s] blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28 (CSB)

READ: 1 CORINTHIANS 9:19-23; PHILIPPIANS 2:5-8 I sat down at a table lavishly spread with traditional Romanian foods. And that was the day I began eating meat again. Years ago, at age sixteen, my best friend and I ordered steak sandwiches while on a school trip. Our meals arrived undercooked. Even though the staff remedied the problem, we decided afterwards to try being vegetarians for a week. We lasted a year on this plan together. Then my buddy chose to return to eating meat while I continued down the vegetarian path. Over six years later, I was preparing for a year of ministry with college students in Romania. During our two-week briefing in Hungary, I sensed the Lord nudge me to abandon my vegetarian ways. As a visitor, I wanted to enjoy meals with Romanians, to eat what they ate and what they served us. By the time I entered Romania, I’d decided to give up being a vegetarian. About a week later, a Romanian family invited me and my three ministry teammates to an extravagant lunch at their apartment. One of the dishes they served included pork. I dug in, ate some of everything, and thanked them for hosting. To connect with people from Romania, I made a decision about my diet, wanting to exalt Jesus instead of my own preference. Our Savior renounced more than a simple lifestyle choice so He could minister to people on earth. Even though He is fully God, Jesus humbled Himself, laid down His rights, and took on the weakness of being human. When we begin a relationship with Jesus Christ by trusting in Him, believing that He died and rose again to provide forgiveness and eternal life, we’re called to live as He did. And He walks alongside us every step of the way. Through the Holy Spirit, He empowers us to take on the Christlike nature of a servant so we can point others to Him. • Allison Wilson Lee • Have you ever laid down your own preferences to connect with another person or group of people? What was it like? How could an experience like that point you and others to Jesus? • Sometimes, people choose to eat vegetarian because of certain values, which can be a beautiful thing. And some people have health needs that require a special diet, such as avoiding gluten or dairy. As Christians, how can we be respectful of each other’s eating choices and needs? • If you feel like God may be leading you to change the way you eat, who are trusted Christian adults in your life who can help you discern His guidance, such as pastors, parents, youth leaders, or counselors? In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…Philippians 2:5 (NIV)

READ: PSALMS 9:10; 63:1-8; ACTS 17:27 When I search for You You’re not hard to find When I need a friendYou are always kindWhen I ask for helpYou are always thereWhenever I’m in a messYou still show me You careWhen others do me harmYou hold and comfort meIn the times I feel aloneBy my side, You’ll beWhen I need my SaviorI simply call to YouYou always come to meAnd help me with all I do • Bethany Acker • Have you ever felt God’s nearness, like a close friend? What was it like? If you haven’t experienced this, you can ask God to show you His love and nearness anytime. • God invites us to come to Him with all our needs, but sometimes, it can be hard to ask God for help when we need it. If you struggle to be vulnerable with God like this, who are some trusted Christians you can talk to about it, such as parents, counselors, pastors, or friends? • This poem mentions that sometimes others harm us. If you’ve experienced harm and want someone to talk to, you can speak to a counselor anytime by setting up an appointment for a one-time complimentary phone consultation with a Christian counselor through the Focus on the Family Counseling Service. In the United States, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) weekdays 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Mountain Time) to set up an appointment. 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. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10 (NIV)