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  2 Peter 1:5-9 Listen to today's devotional Dallas Willard said, "Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning." That is to say that God's grace is not something we strive to earn. You can't work your way to earn God's love. Any attempt to do so is a misconceived notion. Grace opposes earning because earning doesn't need Jesus. We wouldn't need Jesus if we only had to follow some holy formula. But grace understands our efforts. And our efforts aren't ways to influence God. Instead, we strive for the godliness God calls us to. Because of all that God has given us, 2 Peter 1 instructs us to make every effort to add to our faith. That means spiritual growth is not about earning God's love, but responding to what God has already given. Grace allows us the room to grow, but we still have to put in the work. Even with a gym membership, you still need to show up and train. So, when Peter says to "make every effort," he means for...

  2 Corinthians 1:8-11 Listen to today's devotional None of us plans to go to prison. Yet, during my time with the Kairos community, I met men who thanked God for exactly that experience. Before that, they lived as they pleased, often without considering the impact of their actions on others. But prison changed everything. A strict schedule replaced freedom, and choices were limited. Their physical freedom was taken, but in that confinement, many discovered a deeper kind of freedom. They learned to live more responsibly, reflect, and rely on structure and guidance outside themselves. Paul writes about a similar kind of spiritual “confinement” in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9. In Asia, he and his companions were overwhelmed, burdened beyond their strength, and even felt great despair. But it was through this that Paul realized he could not rely solely on himself. Just as the men in Kairos found freedom in boundaries and reliance on what they could not control, Paul found life-giving strength ...

  Luke 24:30-31 Listen to today's devotional When I went for my treatments, I knew I’d be away from home for a while. I didn’t expect how much I would miss the small comforts, especially shared meals. One evening, I received a text message. A friend and colleague from Nigeria had sent another friend to visit me with Nigerian food. It was a great spread, and it was a kind gesture I will always remember. That meal reminded me that food communicates in much the same way language does. It’s how we say, “You’re not alone.” Our basic need for food is a powerful reminder of our shared humanity. When our hunger is not satisfied, we all experience loss. Sharing food and meals, then, becomes more than just a means of nourishment. It becomes an act of recognizing our common life together. My friend couldn’t be with me in person, but through a shared meal, he showed solidarity, care, and friendship. Throughout Scripture, meals carry sacred meaning. Abraham welcomed three strangers by preparing...

  Proverbs 2:3-5 Listen to today's devotional I've been reflecting on a prayer that was shared with me at the start of a new work week. It is a prayer for empathy, vulnerability, and curiosity. While these may not sound like your typical spiritual disciplines, they can help draw us closer to God. Empathy helps us see others as God sees them. And that helps us see that people are not problems to be solved or opponents to be defeated. They are people to understand. Empathy asks us to listen and imagine what life feels like for someone else. Doing so often stretches us beyond our own comfort or certainty. Vulnerability is a posture of faith that awakens us to the unknown. Being vulnerable means being willing to be changed, surprised, or even unsettled. We often resist change because it exposes our comfort levels. But if we let God surprise us, we discover strength and grace in new ways. Vulnerability, then, is not weakness. It is trust and the courage to believe that God’s Spirit ...

  Luke 18:9-14 Listen to today's devotional Yesterday, I preached a sermon based on the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. I hid a joke in the message, but I don't think anyone caught it. The joke was wrapped in the idea that the Pharisee was the one you'd expect to get things right. The tax collector was someone most people would write off. I didn't say it was a good joke! But the point still stands. It's like saying the criminal went home forgiven by God, while the pastor didn't even come close. Of course, that's not an impossible scenario. It does represent a reversal Luke likes to highlight in his story. What I didn't emphasize in the message that I would want to spend more time on is the tax collector's prayer. It was short, but meaningful. We recognize that he asks God for mercy. But we might not fully appreciate the depth of his understanding of mercy. It wasn't just a cry to forgive my mistakes. Jesus ensures the tax collector...

  2 Timothy 3:1-9 The thing about predicting the end of the world is that, someday, someone will be right about it. Until then, all the talk about the last days is just that. Talk. Many Christians look at the state of the world and are sure  this  is what the Bible was warning us about. Maybe they're right. Or perhaps there have always been patterns of brokenness that emerge to the forefront of a society and culture. Of course, I don't mean to downplay what we see. Like you, I notice the selfishness, greed, and misplaced love that get celebrated and perpetuated today. It fills our newsfeed and shapes our values because it's almost impossible to ignore. But I don't see those things and think about the end of the world. I see them as proof that we have always had the same choice. Will we love ourselves first, or love God most?  Last days  moments happen in every generation. As the world chooses self-centeredness, what is our response? Many Christians are at the re...

  Luke 22:39-46 I’ve often thought that my role as a pastor is a bit like that of a cheerleader or a waterboy. I'm there to offer encouragement and inspiration as you live out what God has called you to do. I used to think of myself as the church’s trainer, helping to get everyone ready for the work ahead. But after reading today’s text, I realize that role might already be taken. There's a question of textual authenticity related to Luke 22:43-44. Those two verses don’t appear in some of the earliest manuscripts we have. So, scholars debate whether Luke originally wrote them or if they were added later. Whatever your view, these verses still draw us into meaningful reflection. The passage tells us that an angel appeared to Jesus while he was at his lowest point, giving him strength. There’s a give and take in the angel's appearance. The angel gives, and Jesus receives. As he receives, he is strengthened. Think about that. Jesus had already prayed one of the most difficult ...

Psalm 8:1-4 No audio devotional today :( My wife and I added bubble parties to our small business venture. We love spreading joy, and there's something about bubbles that makes everyone happy. At a bubble party this weekend, I noticed something you've probably seen, too. Every time a child showed up to the party and saw all the soapy, floating spheres, the first thing they would say was, "Bubbles!"  I started thinking, What makes a child feel like they have to say it out loud every time? My guess is they can’t keep the joy to themselves. It’s like their hearts recognize something wonderful and their mouths just respond. They don’t analyze the situation. They don’t hold back. It's almost like they can't. They just say it: Bubbles! Don't you think that's what praise should be? Real joy that we experience in God overflows from our hearts. When we pay attention to something beautiful that God has done, it’s natural to speak it, to sing it, and to let it ri...

  1 John 4:7-12 Listen to today's devotional John Wesley understood holiness to be God's ultimate goal, calling it "the end of all ordinances of God." Holiness begins and ends as God's purpose and is the love-centered renewal of God's Spirit within us. Like grace, love is the divine initiative towards holiness, restoring humanity to perfect love. Holiness also becomes humanity’s participation in that redemptive process. Wesleyan holiness moves toward Christian perfection. That is a term John Wesley spent considerable time explaining. Many people in Wesley's day, as do today, misunderstood what he meant by his use of perfection. In his sermon "Plain Account of Christian Perfection," Wesley explains how he came to understand this idea and how much it guided his work as a minister. Plainly, Christian perfection is the fulfillment of God's desire for humanity. It is "a renewal of the heart in the whole image of God, the full likeness of Him ...

  Luke 9:23-25 Listen to today's devotional In his sermon "The Causes of Inefficacy of Christianity," John Wesley wrestled with the question, Why has Christianity done so little good in the world? For many of us today who have been shaped by the vitality of the Methodist movement, that is an odd question for Wesley to ask. We see Methodists as making significant contributions in the realms of spiritual and social renewal. So, what did Wesley see during his time that led him to question the Church's witness to the world? He was not questioning the church's accomplishments. He was making a judgment on its spiritual condition.  Wesley offers three responses. He observed an ignorance of correct doctrine, the neglect of Christian discipline, and a loss of discipleship rooted in self-denial. We could spend time on all three of his answers and relate them to our modern context. Today, though, let's focus on Wesley's third observation. He writes of the church'...

  Philippians 3:7-8 Listen to today's devotional My wife and I have seen every episode of  Call the Midwife . It's one of our favorite shows. The midwives of Nonnatus House have ministered to people in meaningful, Christ-like ways. Over fourteen seasons, there are several scenes that have really resonated with me. In this most recent season, an older nun asks a new postulant what God asked her to surrender in order to take on this new life. The younger devotee answers confidently, "Everything." Of course, that is the right answer. But the older, wiser nun gently replies, "'Everything' is merely a word." She knows "everything" sounds noble and true. But it can also be a generality too broad to shape a faithful life. She follows up by asking, "What did your  everything  consist of?" I've been thinking of the best way to answer that question since I first heard it. Everything's too easy an answer. And it may not be an honest ...

  Acts 26:24-29 Listen to today's devotional The apostle Paul was the persecutor turned preacher. After his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, his life underwent a transformation. Whatever you might say about him, you can't ignore his passion. Once he started sharing the gospel, he never turned back. His life was marked by an unrelenting desire for the world to know Jesus. Nothing kept him from that mission. Not hardship or ridicule, not persecution or imprisonment. In Acts 26, he had a chance to make his defense before King Agrippa. He explained his conversion and what his ministry has entailed since then. Festus, the Roman governor, thought Paul had gone over the deep end. But the apostle didn't let that stop him from addressing the king. King Agrippa responds to Paul with his famous question: Are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian? Paul's reply offers a guide for how we might approach evangelism and outreach. Paul says, "Whether quickl...

  John 3:3-6 Listen to today's devotional John Wesley wrote: "God is continually breathing, as it were, upon the soul; and his soul is breathing unto God. Grace is descending into his heart; and prayer and praise ascending to heaven: And by this intercourse between God and man, this fellowship with the Father and the Son, as by a kind of spiritual respiration, the life of God in the soul is sustained, and the child of God grows up, till he comes to the 'full measure of the stature of Christ.'" Wesley wrote that to answer the question of how we are born again in Christ. He called it  spiritual respiration . Like our breathing keeps us physically alive, communion with God keeps us spiritually alive. Breathing is constant and essential. So, too, should be our awareness of God. Our faith, then, isn't static, stale or mechanical. It is a living, relational rhythm with God. As God breathes grace into us, we respond with prayer and praise. That, says Wesley, is how G...

  Jeremiah 25:1-7 Listen to today's devotional Today, a group from our church watched an episode of The Chosen. The episode centered around Jesus' sermon on the mount. In previous episodes, the disciples and Jesus had been preparing for this moment. His message seemed to resonate with them in a profound way. I promised the group I'd try to preach a good enough sermon to follow suit. I've heard of many people praying for the right miracle. I'm sure you have, too. Today's episode has me wondering if we should also pray for the right message. The prophet Jeremiah preached to the people for twenty-three years (Jeremiah 25:3). In that time, the people did not respond. He said the people "neither listened nor inclined" their ears to hear. That's a long time to ignore what God is telling you. It's easy to focus on how stubborn the people were, but I also can't help thinking about how loving God must be to keep speaking for so long. God will send p...

  Mark 11: 20-24 Listen to today's devotional One day, Jesus cursed a fig tree, drove people out of the temple, and flipped some tables. The funny thing is, as Mark tells it, Jesus isn't angry. These aren't outbursts, but faith lessons. Each move is a deliberate teaching action. The next morning, Peter sees the fig tree Jesus had cursed. He seems surprised. But Jesus had said no one would ever eat fruit from it. So, what was the problem? The fig tree was like a staged home. Oh, the furniture looks beautiful and makes a wonderful impression on those who enter. It is perfectly presentable. But it is lifeless; no one lives there. The fig tree had leaves that appeared to be ready to bear fruit. But it was all show. An empty promise. Since Jesus' actions in the temple are sandwiched by the lesson of the fig tree, it seems appropriate to make a connection. Namely, that Jesus wanted us to learn a difference. The difference was between religious activity and spiritual authentic...

  Psalm 137:1-3 Listen to today's devotional Many preachers have heard the warning: No one comes to church on Sunday wondering what happened to the Jebusites. That's a reminder that when we preach, our job isn't just to give a history lesson. Our people don't need lectures, but wisdom and inspiration that help them make sense of their lives right now. God's word doesn't live in the past. It also speaks to our present. I think about that opening quote sometimes when we talk about exile. Most of the people I have pastored don't know what it's like to be carried off to another land; I don't. Exile sounds like an abstract idea. At least, we think it does. Psalm 137 shows us we might understand exile more than we realize. Unless you've been torn from your homeland, stripped of everything familiar in life, even separated from your family, you haven't experienced the kind of exile the psalmist writes about. But when he says, "By the rivers of B...

  James 1:2-4 Listen to today's devotional Joy is deeper than happiness. Happiness can rise and fall with each day. But joy is rooted in the eternalness of God. So, you can be unhappy and still have joy, because true joy doesn't come from you. It comes from God. And faith teaches us that joy is not dependent on our circumstances. Instead, joy comes from learning to trust in who God is and the promises God makes. That's an important consideration because none of us escapes sorrow or pain in this life. We all face our share of unhappiness and heartbreak. But even in our trials, we still have joy. That doesn't mean God throws calamity on us. God doesn't play games with our suffering. Testing isn't to fail us, but to form us. Testing doesn't expose your weakness to shame you. It reveals your strength to shape you. And as we let it do so, we learn to persevere. So, perseverance isn't sitting on your hands waiting for a trial to pass. Instead, perseverance is ...