15 Jan 2026
We were given the capacity to reason, let us use it wisely. May we not be distracted and lose faith in God. Let us trust God and live for Him without complicating matters. May we use our time constructively serving God and He will keep blessing us. Mark 11:27-33.
Today’s Verse – 1 John 4:20-21
If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” —1 John 4:20-21 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Love! The word can mean almost anything in a world where it is overused and under-practiced. Many in the Christian community have tried to define it by a dictionary or lexicon, not realizing that the key word for love, agape, is defined by action. Before Christians got a hold of agape, it meant basically the same thing our word “love” is used today: just about anything! But if you read 1 John, you see love defined by God through what he does. God demonstrates his love. He asks us to do the same for our brothers and sisters. Love must be more than talk; love must be genuinely demonstrated in loving, selfless actions! For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son… (John 3:16). This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16). This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10). My Prayer… Precious Father, you have so graciously shared your love with me. I must confess, in my heart, I intend to love others as you do, but my intentions often get washed away with busyness, selfishness, or timidity. Father, through your Spirit, I ask that you prompt me to demonstrate my love to others in actions, not just words. Through Jesus, your most significant demonstration of love, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
True Healing
Note from Jesus Dear Friend, To be My disciple means that you are committed to following in My footsteps. You come to Me, recognizing your need for healing grace — not just to cure some physical malady or even just to find salvation, but also to heal what is broken inside your life and your heart. When you recognize that I have called you to follow Me, that I have accepted you, and that I have brought you into My family, then you will offer My healing grace to others. Today in My life story from Luke’s gospel, Levi, also known as Matthew, leaves his life as a tax collector. In the times when I physically walked the earth, tax collectors were a notorious lot who used their position and power to extort money from others in the name of Rome and to line their own pockets. They were hated and despised. Most lived up to their reputation — living it up with those who were openly sinning. When Levi followed Me, he didn’t abandon his friends even though he left his old lifestyle. Instead, Levi did what he knew best: he threw a party for his friends at his house. There, he introduced his friends to Me. As you might expect, my religious critics launched their criticisms at My disciples and Me for being at Levi’s party. Before their whispers turned to full public criticism, I reminded them what Levi knew: I came to heal sinners. I came to mend broken lives. I came to restore people to fellowship with God and with each other. So when people find My healing grace, it becomes their lifestyle to share that healing grace with others — not to think of themselves as spiritually superior and certainly not to isolate My healing grace away from those who desperately need it. Verses to Live As you read this story about Levi, rejoice in the grace I have given you (Ephesians 2:1-9). Realize that grace not only saved you from sin and destruction but that it also saved you to be a blessing to others: you were carefully made by the Father for this purpose (Ephesians 2:10). I hope this will stir your heart to follow Levi’s example and think of others who need to be invited to come and know Me! Some time later [after forgiving and healing the paralyzed man who was lowered through the roof], Jesus walked along the street and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting in his tax office. Jesus: Follow Me. And Levi did. He got up from his desk, left everything (just as the fishermen had), and followed Jesus. Shortly after this, Levi invited his many friends and associates, including many tax collectors, to his home for a large feast in Jesus’ honor. Everyone sat at a table together. The Pharisees and their associates, the religious scholars, got the attention of some of Jesus’ disciples. Pharisees (in low voices): What’s wrong with you? Why are you eating and drinking with tax collectors and other immoral people? Jesus (answering for the disciples): Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I haven’t come for the pure and upstanding; I’ve come to call notorious sinners to rethink their lives and turn to God. (Luke 5:27-32) Response in Prayer Abba Father, thank You for the grace that forgave my sins and adopted me into Your family. Today, dear Father, I want to pray for several people who need Your healing grace in their lives. So, Father, please bless the following people as I pray for them by name… Also, use me to be a magnet to attract people who need Your grace and please use me to be a bridge for them to You and Your family of grace. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2026, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
14 Jan 2025
Do we have to see to believe? Obviously, evidence goes a long way to bolster faith. But we are often forced to believe, even when we don’t see. We trust God for something even when it hasn’t become manifest. May our faith in God never die. May we believe that He hears and answers our prayers. And in time, may we be witnesses of His love for us when what we prayed for comes to pass. Mark 11:20-25.
Today’s Verse – 2 Corinthians 5:19-20
God has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. —2 Corinthians 5:19-20 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Jesus has paid the price. God provided the ransom. The LORD’s holy judgment was averted, not because of anything we did to appease him, but by the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. If God has gone to such great lengths to reconcile us to himself and adopt us into his family, how can we refuse? We must not! Father God, we offer you our hearts, and we pledge to share the message of reconciliation as ambassadors on Christ’s behalf! We will share your message of Jesus and invite, urge, and implore those around us to receive Jesus as their LORD and Savior to be reconciled to you through your Son! My Prayer… O Gracious God, we know our sins have broken your heart and offended your holiness. Words, therefore, cannot communicate our thankfulness fully to you for the way you provided us a way for us to be reconciled to you. You were hurt by our sins, yet provided a sacrifice to redeem us from your judgment and reconcile us to you through Jesus. We praise you for your grace, thank you for your love, and promise to share your mercy and reconciliation with all who will listen. Through Jesus, our atoning sacrifice, we pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Move Out to Deeper Water
Note from Jesus Dear Friend, Wow, there is so much I would like to say to you about this important moment in today’s verses that forever changed the lives of Peter, James, and John when I told them where to cast their fishing nets. The last few days, I’ve been trying to help you look beyond the miraculous to My message and My mission. The same is true with today’s message. You see, I’m trying to gain committed followers, real disciples, not just an audience. This purpose is an important message for you to hear in your day because some churches are working hard to gain an audience, but not all are equipping people to be real disciples. So notice a couple of things about the events in today’s story from My life on earth. First, Peter and his co-workers had to trust that I had authority over the areas of their lives that they didn’t see as religious. On their road to being fully committed to Me, they had to learn that My lordship extended over every area of their lives. So when I pushed them to go to deeper water and to continuing fishing even though they hadn’t caught anything all night, they had to decide whether to obey Me or do what their human experience thought best. Notice this key phrase from the way Luke tells the story: Peter says, “I’ll do it if You say so.” Boom! That’s the point. It’s the key point for a disciple in your day, too. There are some religious sounding people in your day who have found ways to make themselves sound smarter about truth than what I said when I was among you. They haven’t learned the lesson of Peter. Second, Peter admitted in front of his rough, tough, fishing partners that he needed My grace and forgiveness. This response is not easy for anyone, but it was especially tough for a guy like Peter. He recognized that he had to surrender control of his life to Me or he was going to make a mess of things. In fact, he was pretty sure he was not worthy to be around Me because he had made a mess of things in the past. Of course, My grace has something much more profound to say about this presumed lack of worth. In simple words, I told him, “Peter, I’ve got bigger fish for you to catch than you are fishing for now!” Verses to Live Once again, while a miracle is involved in the following account from Luke’s gospel, this whole series of events grows out of My teaching. We’re about to spend some time with My teaching. So I want you to open your heart to receive My truth and to make a commitment — like Peter — to say, “I’ll do it if You say so!” Picture these events: On the banks of Gennesaret Lake, a huge crowd, Jesus in the center of it, presses in to hear His message from God. Off to the side, fishermen are washing their nets, leaving their boats unattended on the shore. Jesus gets into one of the boats and asks its owner, Simon, to push off and anchor a short distance from the beach. Jesus sits down and teaches the people standing on the beach. After speaking for a while, Jesus speaks to Simon. Jesus: Move out into deeper water, and drop your nets to see what you’ll catch. Simon (perplexed): Master, we’ve been fishing all night, and we haven’t caught even a minnow. But… all right, I’ll do it if You say so. Simon then gets his fellow fishermen to help him let down their nets, and to their surprise, the water is bubbling with thrashing fish — a huge school. The strands of their nets start snapping under the weight of the catch, so the crew shouts to the other boat to come out and give them a hand. They start scooping fish out of the nets and into their boats, and before long, their boats are so full of fish they almost sink! Simon’s fishing partners, James and John (two of Zebedee’s sons), along with the rest of the fishermen, see this incredible haul of fish. They’re all stunned, especially Simon. He comes close to Jesus and kneels in front of His knees. Simon: I can’t take this, Lord. I’m a sinful man. You shouldn’t be around the likes of me. Jesus: Don’t be afraid, Simon. From now on, I’ll ask you to bring Me people instead of fish. The fishermen haul their fish-heavy boats to land, and they leave everything to follow Jesus. (Luke 5:1-11) Response in Prayer Father in heaven, I thank You for coming to our world as Jesus and telling us heaven’s truth. I confess that I want to call the shots in my life when I think I know best how to do things. However, I realize that I need Your grace and guidance, Your words and wisdom, or my life will never be all that You have made me to be. I offer myself to follow Jesus because I know that You are God, and I am Your creation. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2026, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
13 Jan 2025
Faith is one of the most common sermon topics. That should also show how important it is. May we grow in our understanding of faith as guided by the Lord. May He show us where to invest our trust and may there be results that glorify His name. I pray that this will help us and others grow in our walk with God. Matthew 21:18-21.
Today’s Verse – Galatians 3:26-29
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. —Galatians 3:26-29 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… When we become Christians through faith and our baptism into Christ, the Holy Spirit makes us one with all other Christians around the world. Race, gender, and social status are not what matter in our lives. In fact, those things don’t distinguish us from each other. We are brothers and sisters in Christ living for Jesus with those we love. Our lives are his, and thus the Spirit connects us and makes us one (1 Corinthians 12:13). Our destination is the same: heaven. Our family is the church. No barriers. No closed doors. We are one in Christ Jesus! My Prayer… Abba Father, thank you for adopting me into your family. May we, your children, truly be one on earth now, as we will be when we are all together around your throne in heaven. I pray for our unity among all those who call upon your name and share your Spirit so the world may know there is a solution to the conflict, strife, and division it experiences through all its different prejudices. Through Jesus, our uniting Savior, in whom we are one, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
12 Jan 2026
The heroes of faith were commended for their faith and obedience. Because they believed, they followed what God asked them to do, even if they did not see what they were promised. May we hear from God and obey. May our faith increase and may the Lord show Himself faithful. Hebrews 11:1-2 & 13.
Today’s Verse – Psalm 118:5-6
In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? —Psalm 118:5-6 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… The beginning of the year is a trying time for people I care about. Maybe it’s been that way for you or those you love. My prayer for you, and for them, is that they may know the comfort of God’s presence. Whether it’s the popular little poem “Footprints in the Sand” or the familiar “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me…” (Psalm 23:4 KJV). The presence of the LORD is absolutely vital to us if we are going to stand up for him and stand firm in the face of trial. The LORD does long to be with us, especially in those moments when we feel most alone and abandoned. He told us that by experiencing anguish himself and being alone on the cross. You can lean in, call upon, and have your hope in Jesus because he has been in the places you were hurting and came through to give us a way to God’s steadfast presence. My Prayer… I am thankful, O God, that you refused to be God from a safe distance. Because you came and felt what it was like to be abandoned, forsaken, and alone in Jesus, I know I can trust that you will never forsake me. Please give me a clearer sense of your presence with me in my life today, however, because I need to feel you close to me in these trying times. I pray through Jesus, and because of his assurance. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.