Daily Devotional

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. – Luke 9:23 (NLT)

Have you noticed how easy it is to be selfish? You can do it without even trying. It’s so natural to want to look out for yourself and make sure you get what you need out of life. And while looking out for yourself isn’t always bad, when we allow it to consume our lives to the point where we don’t think of others, it isn’t godly.

Jesus tells us in Luke that if we are followers of Jesus we need to turn from our selfish ways and follow Him.

That might look like stepping out of your comfort zone to tell someone about Jesus. It might be thinking of others more or serving someone you know that needs help.

Today’s Challenge: Live your life to help others

Following Jesus isn’t always easy, but it does have rewards. When you choose to live your life to help others rather than always helping yourself, you’ll find that you’re happier and more rewarded. So challenge yourself to live your life to help others.

“So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.” – Romans 5:11 (NLT)

We’ve been talking this week about knowing Jesus. Part of knowing Jesus is experiencing a real and wonderful relationship with Him. This relationship isn’t based on your parent’s faith, or your youth pastor’s. Instead, it’s based on getting to know Jesus in a real way.

It is so amazing that the creator of the universe wants a relationship with you. He loves you in such a real and personal way. He cares about you and wants to be involved in your life each day.

So today, take some time out to get to know Him better. Realize that nothing will make you fulfilled except for getting close to Him.

Let Him be the one to tell you your value. Let Him guide your decisions. Get to know Him, and experience how good a relationship with Jesus truly is!

“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; – Matthew 23:5 (NIV)

We’ve been talking a lot this week about our relationship with Jesus. It’s easy during the christian life to fall in love with doing good. Perhaps you love helping at the food pantry, or volunteering at your church’s nursery.

And in all that doing good things, it’s easy to forget about the main thing: your relationship with Jesus.

We can often get so busy in doing good that we forget what all of this is about. It’s about knowing Jesus. It’s about having a deep and fulfilling relationship with Him.

Do I love doing good things more than Jesus?

So today, if you’ve been guilty of loving doing good things more than loving Jesus, make any necessary heart adjustments. Choose to make Jesus your priority and focus. Work on developing a close and thriving relationship with Him!

“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” – Psalm 46:10 (NLT)

It’s easy to get so wrapped up in all the things going on. Your social media thread is probably full of issues, problems and friend’s drama. It’s easy in all the busyness to not make any time for God.

Knowing God doesn’t just come from going to church on Sunday. It certainly doesn’t come from reading a few Bible stories or hearing what your parents have to say about God.

Knowing God comes from spending time with Him. You’ve got to get still and get to know Him. Let Him speak to you.

To get to know Him, you’ve got to get still. Turn off your phone, the TV and all of the distractions and get quiet. As you’re still begin to listen to what He would speak to you.

God wants nothing more than a deep and fulfilling relationship with you.

I want to know Christ–yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, – Phil 3:10 (NIV)

Do you have those friends who only want to talk about themselves? They are the ones that the minute you start talking about something that’s going on in your life, it’s obvious they’ve dismissed you and checked out.

We all have friends like that.

The tough question is, do you treat Jesus like that?

This week we’re going to spend some time looking at our relationship with Jesus. Because our relationship with Jesus should be the most important thing in our lives.

Today’s Challenge: Are you interested in Jesus who will never ignore you?

The truth is, your friends may dismiss you. They might find someone more exciting to hang out with. Jesus never will. He will never stop wanting to hang out with you and listen to you.

So today, ask yourself, have you taken time out of your busy life to spend time with Jesus? Have you made knowing Him a priority? Or have you spent your time seeking the approval of friends, or other interests instead of seeking after the one who loves you and will never dismiss you?

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. – Proverbs 4:23

Have you noticed that if something is important, you guard it? If you have a wallet, you don’t leave it out where anyone can take it. If you cross the street, you look both ways to be sure no cars are coming. We spend lots of effort each day keeping our bodies and possessions safe.

In today’s verse, we’re encouraged to guard our hearts above all else. That means that we should make it a priority. We should make guarding our heart important. Just like we would guard our wallet or another important possession, we should guard our heart.

However, when it comes to our heart, many times we throw caution to the wind. We don’t pay attention to the people we date or the friendships we make. We should be taking care of our heart and making it a priority also.

If you haven’t, choose to put some effort into guarding your heart. Don’t just date any person that comes your way. Be selective and take any necessary precautions to guard your heart.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. – Psalm 46:1 (ESV)

Have you ever been trying to tell a friend something and they were on their phone? And instead of paying attention to you their attention was focused on their phone and they didn’t hear a word you said? It can make you feel really bad when you need a friend to listen and your friend isn’t mentally present in the conversation.

God isn’t like people you know that get distracted and don’t listen. Instead, He is present and attentive when you face difficulty. He is there ready to be your refuge and strength and to help you through whatever you’re facing.

Even if you’re in the midst of something really difficult, don’t stop. Keep pressing through knowing that God is there to help and strengthen you.