Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. – Psalm 62:8 (NIV)

Have you noticed how easy it is to make the Bible not a major part of your life? It’s so easy to get busy and not even realize that you haven’t made a place for God’s word in your life.

The Bible isn’t just another subject to be studied. It’s woven into our whole lives. Every minute, every hour, every day God’s word applies to our lives.

God is relevant to every aspect of our lives. When you’re making decisions, you can go to God’s word. When you don’t know what to do or where to turn, God’s word can be the anchor you need to survive the storm.

In every season of your life, God’s word is truth. God’s word will always be what you need and have the answers you need for life every day.

So don’t be afraid to get into God’s word. Get to know the God of the Bible and see how great it is getting into His word and get to know Him more.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28 (NLT)

Right now, you probably are tired. Whether it’s from all the talk of COVID, future school plans, or just the stress from relationships, it’s easy to get weary.

Jesus, however, doesn’t want us living our lives stressed out. Instead, He wants us to find rest and relief from stress in Him.

Jesus promises that we can find rest in Him.

What has been causing you stress? Take those things to Jesus. Put the concern of it on Him. You don’t need to carry it. Instead, rest in Jesus. Let Jesus carry those things, and be your source for whatever you need.

Pray: Jesus, today I choose to look to you. I choose to let peace rule in my heart. I choose to practice rest. I won’t worry about the things going on around me, but rather put my hope and trust in you. In your name, Amen.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. – John 2:7 (NIV)

Jesus asks a bunch of guys working at a wedding to fill up some jars with water. Those workers probably thought Jesus was crazy. Here was this guy telling them to fill up jars with water when what they needed was more wine at the wedding.

Have you noticed that many times when God does something miraculous it feels really ordinary? These guys were filling jars with water. Water is so ordinary. Hauling water is hard work. Here they were being asked to do something that was hard and felt ordinary.

Often when God does something really big, it doesn’t feel big at the moment. It often feels ordinary. Maybe you’ve been believing God for more money and an opportunity to work a few extra hours at work turns up. It’s hard work and it feels ordinary, but it’s was the answer to your prayer. Maybe you were praying for a chance to help someone out and the lady across the street from you needs her house cleaned. It feels ordinary and like work, but it’s actually God wanting to use you.

So today, don’t get discouraged if it feels like the thing that God is asking you to do seems ordinary. It’s often in the ordinary things that we find out God did something miraculous.

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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!