The Crucible's Fire

Week 44: Day 3: The City Will Not Fall

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The New Jerusalem

Day 3: The City Will Not Fall

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 46

Key Verse:

“God is within her; she will not be toppled. God will help her when the morning dawns.” (Psalm 46:5, CSB)

Devotional

Psalm 46 has helped me over the years to deal with some really difficult seasons in my life. We visited this passage back in week 7, where we talked about its call to stop fighting, or to be still, and now He is God. Today, we want to take a second look at something sitting right in the middle of the passage, but still easy to miss: a city.

Around this city, everything is falling apart. The earth trembles, mountains topple into the sea, waters roar, nations rage, and kingdoms fall. Then verse 4 turns our attention to “the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High.”

This city isn’t special because of its size or military strength. “God is within her; she will not be toppled.” It’s interesting to note the repetition of the word ‘toppled’. Kingdoms topple, mountains topple, but this city doesn’t. The reason it doesn’t topple is that God lives there. There’s even a river. Jerusalem never had a great river running through it the way Babylon and Egypt did. Its water came from cisterns, so when the Psalmist sings that “its streams delight the city of God,” he’s describing life that flows from God’s presence, not from fortunate geography.

This reality should cause us all to challenge our own hearts and ask, where do we really look for security when things start shaking? It’s sometimes quite easy to tell what it is by what we reach for first; we seek more control, more money in the bank, more information, or simply a way out. Even our hope for eternity can turn into an escape plan, as if the goal were just to get as far away from trouble as possible. Psalm 46 doesn’t promise the city will be lifted out of a shaking world; it promises that God will be in the city, and that’s what holds.

“God will help her when the morning dawns.” The night may be long, but the people who belong to God’s city don’t wait alone. This same God who will one day dwell with His people forever is already “our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.”

Our security has never been the strength of our walls. It’s the One who lives within them.

Reflection

When it feels like everything in your life is shaking, what do you reach for first to feel secure? How does knowing that God’s presence holds you steady and not your circumstances change the way you face fear?

Prayer

Father, You really are my refuge and strength. You know I am prone to reach for control or a way out when things start shaking. Teach my heart to rest in Your presence. I’m grateful that You dwell with Your people and that Your city will not be toppled. Help me trust You through the dark nights of the soul as I wait with hope for the morning. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“The place I most need to remember that God is with me this week is __________________

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Week 44: Day 2: A Sanctuary Among Them Forever

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The New Jerusalem

Day 2: A Sanctuary Among Them Forever

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Today's Reading:

Ezekiel 37:24–28

Key Verse:

“My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Ezekiel 37:27, CSB)

Devotional

These prophetic words from Ezekiel weren’t spoken in a vacuum. He preached to people who had literally lost everything representing God was with them. Jerusalem had fallen, the temple is in ruins, and earlier in the book, Ezekiel watched the glory of the LORD leave the temple. I’m sure the people wondered if God had abandoned them.

In chapter 37, we find God’s answer. As the passage opens, we find a valley full of dry bones that God miraculously breathes back to life, then moves two sticks joined into one, a picture of a divided people made whole again at last. Our Key Verse picks up at the end where all of it comes together. God promises one king, “my servant David,” one shepherd over all His people. Now, David had been dead for centuries when this prophecy was written, so this promise was for David’s greater Son, the Good Shepherd Jesus would later claim to be in John 10.

What’s awesome about this passage is that Ezekiel doesn’t just give one promise; the promises start piling up! He speaks of a covenant of peace, a permanent covenant with God. He says He “will set my sanctuary among them forever.” It’s like Ezekiel can’t stop repeating it: they’ll live in the land forever, David will be their prince forever, and God’s sanctuary will be among them forever. Right in the middle of it all we have verse 27: “My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

As you know, on Tuesdays we see how our passage and the week’s storyline impacts how we see reality … how Scripture sees reality. The goal of redemption is for God to be at home with His people, to live and dwell with them, with US, forever. As we read this passage, I hear the echoes of John’s voice from yesterday as he hears the voice from the throne in Revelation 21:3. He’s hearing the same covenant promise, the one God had spoken over Israel for generations, but finally fulfilled and kept in full.

There’s one more important detail to take note of today. God says that when His sanctuary is among His people, “the nations will know” that He is the LORD. His dwelling place was never meant to be a private blessing; it’s a light for the entire world to see.

Today, you and I live between Ezekiel’s promise and John’s vision. Jesus, the Shepherd King, has come, and by His marvelous Spirit God already makes His home with His people. But the day is coming when His dwelling with us will be complete, embodied, unbroken, and everlasting!

Reflection

Think of a time (it may be right now) when it felt like God has moved on beyond your circumstances? What does it mean for you today that God’s goal has always been to make His dwelling with His people?

Prayer

Father, You have kept Your promises to a people in exile, and You will keep them to me as well. Thank you for sending Jesus, and for giving Your Spirit to dwell with Your people now. When we feel far from You, remind me that Your plan has always been to live among us and let my life help others who know that You are the LORD. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“Knowing God’s plan has always been to dwell with His people helps me see __________________ differently.”

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Week 44: Day 1: God Comes Down to Stay

Mon, 26 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The New Jerusalem

Day 1: God Comes Down to Stay

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Today's Reading:

Revelation 21

Key Verse:

“Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them.” (Revelation 21:3, CSB)

Devotional

As we noted in the introduction from yesterday, many of us grew up with a picture of the end of the Biblical story that goes something like this: one day we die or Jesus returns, we leave this world behind, and we go up to be with God somewhere far away forever. For sure there are elements of truth in that version of the story. Paul says that to be away from the body is to be at home, or present, with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). But when we get to the last chapters of the Bible, John sees something moving in the opposite direction. The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, is coming “down out of heaven from God.” His story doesn’t end with us going up and out, it ends with God coming down to stay.

Then, John hears the great announcement: “Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them.” That is the heartbeat of Revelation 21, of this entire story actually, summed up in a sentence. Going all the way back to week 1, we stood in the garden and saw Eden as the palace where heaven and earth overlapped, where God walked with humans He had made. Rebellion broke that fellowship, and the rest of the Bible tells the twisting and winding story of God making a way back to Eden. He made a tabernacle in the wilderness, the temple in Jerusalem, and ultimately, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, before making us the very temple of the Spirit of God. All these were steps towards this moment John is trying to describe.

He describes details of the city like the equality of its length, width, and height, the same shape as the Most Holy Place in Solomon’s temple. The entire city has become the palace where God’s presence lives. There’s not even a temple in this city at all, because “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” What was once veiled and hidden behind a curtain, only seen and approached once a year, now fills all of humanity for everyone, and everything to enjoy.

More striking to me than what appears is what disappears. In this bright city there are no tears, no death, no grief, no crying, and no pain. God doesn’t remove the earth, or bodies, or the nations He’s been working to redeem. He removes death and everything that has twisted and broken His good creation. Heaven-only thinking assumes the physical world is the problem. Revelation says the problem is sin and death. Thankfully, God deals with both so He can once again live and dwell within His New Creation.

Paul told us we don’t grieve like others, like those without hope. You and I aren’t waiting to be evacuated from a world God has given up on. We’re waiting for the King to finish what He started in the Garden, to set right what we have broken. It has always impressed me how the end of the story looks so much like the beginning. It ends just where God always wanted; with Him at home among His people.

Reflection

When you think of and picture eternity, do you picture yourself going away to God or God coming to dwell with His people? Does the fact that John says He is coming to dwell with us here change how you hope?

Prayer

Father, thank you for not giving up on us or the world You made for your people. Forgive me for when I’ve longed for this world to be something from which I can escape instead of a place You are redeeming. Focus and fix my hope on the day You’ll wipe away every tear and live with Your people forever. Teach me to live like someone who belongs to Your coming city and not like a stranger. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“When I imagine God living with His people forever, I most look forward to __________________.”

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Week 43: Day 5: Giving Thanks to the Judge

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The Final Judgment

Day 5: Giving Thanks to the Judge

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 75

Key Verse:

“When I choose a time, I will judge fairly.” (Psalm 75:2, CSB)

Devotional

In the Bible, someone’s ‘name’ means more than the moniker by which they are called. It represents their authority, their entire being, for lack of a better term, their whole essence. Psalm 75 begins with pure thanksgiving because God’s Name has come near and His amazing works are being proclaimed. As this song unfolds, we hear God promise to judge fairly at whatever time He chooses to do it. He offers reassurance that when the earth, and we its inhabitants, shake with instability, He remains the One who steadies its pillars. (And man, do I feel this place shaking these days!)

This assurance is also joined to a warning. The braggards must abandon their arrogance, and the wicked can’t lift themselves up beyond God’s authority. There’s a cup in His hand which pictures His judgment that they will one day have to drink. Their power has limits, and their wrongdoing will meet His righteous response.

Maybe you’re ending the week with a situation that still feels painfully unsettled. There’s no need to pretend the harm is insignificant or the waiting has been easy. Bring that grief honestly before God and entrust to Him the verdict you cannot secure. Continue the faithful work that belongs to you, including telling the truth and caring for those who have been hurt.

God’s timing remains His own, but His character gives us reason to worship and sing. We can surrender our demand to control any outcomes and place our hope in Him.

Reflection

What is one thing you can thank God for today while you wait for His justice to come? Where do you need to surrender control while continuing the faithful work He has given you?

Prayer

Father, I give you thanks and praise today for Your closeness and faithful love. I have grief I can’t resolve and pride I have trouble seeing. I surrender them both to your righteousness. Keep me faithful in the work you’ve given me to do and teach me to worship as I leave all the outcomes to You. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“Even while this situation remains unresolved, I can thank God for __________________.”

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Week 43: Day 4: Hear Him and Live

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The Final Judgment

Day 4: Hear Him and Live

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Today's Reading:

John 5

Key Verse:

“And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man.” (John 5:27, CSB)

Devotional

38 years! That’s how long the man at the pool of Bethesda had been disabled. That’s where the story of John 5 begins, with Jesus restoring his ability to walk. One would think this amazing act of grace would garner joy and cheers, but this healing provoked opposition. As Jesus answered the critics, He revealed the true authority behind His work: the Father has entrusted judgment to the Son, and it’s the Son who gives life.

In this passage, Jesus makes an astonishing promise: Whoever hears His word and believes the Father sent Him already has eternal life and has crossed over from earth into life. We know the resurrection is yet future, but the life He gives is already received through hearing and believing.

That promise helps us understand His warning about the resurrection of life and the resurrection of condemnation. Our deeds matter before God and Jesus never treats evil lightly. But at the same time, He is inviting us to come to Him as the giver of life now.
This is where our faithful response begins: come to Jesus, hear Him, and believe; let His Word shape what we do with the life He gives. If He exposes or confronts a cherished sin, we should turn from it and seek help. His goodness makes it possible for us to come out of the darkness and into the light of the life He brings.

Sometimes people treat Bible reading or church attendance as a substitute for actually responding to Him and His teaching. If that’s you, pause and obey what you already understand and know to be true. Because of His promise, we can face the coming judgment with confidence and walk today with serious attention to His voice.

Reflection

Are you receiving Jesus’ words with faithful obedience, or keeping them at a comfortable distance? What specific response does His teaching call for today?
Prayer

Prayer

Father, You have given all authority to Jesus to judge and give life. I surrender to You today, trusting in Your promise. Help me to hear Your words with a willing heart and respond in faithful obedience. Let the life You give shape my choices today. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“Today, listening to Jesus will lead me to __________________.”

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Week 43: Day 3: When Wrongdoing Seems to Win

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The Final Judgment

Day 3: When Wrongdoing Seems to Win

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 37

Key Verse:

“Trust in the LORD and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely.” (Psalm 37:3, CSB)

Devotional

St. Augustine famously said, “Love, and do what you will.” His thoughts came from a passage in 1 John 4, implying that actions motivated out of pure love will always be good and on the right path. Psalm 37:3 gives us a similar thought process. It’s a simple admonition to trust in the LORD and do what is good.

It can be difficult to watch someone prosper through dishonesty while you bear the cost of doing what is right. This hits particularly hard during this election season. The injustice really hurts, but there’s another struggle that can grow from underneath it. We can even start to envy the person’s advantages, rehearse their wrongdoing, or wonder whether your own faithfulness is even worth the effort.

David has much to say about this struggle as he calls God’s people to trust Him, continue doing good, and to wait for Him. He also warns against anger that would draw us toward harm. The danger is that another person’s evil can begin to shape our own desires and choices. Unfortunately, we see this all the time in the church with politics and even denominational differences, where the evil others would embrace actually pushes us to embrace our own through bitterness, anger, and condemnation.

This passage repeatedly asks us to look beyond the apparent strength of the wicked. Their flourishing will end, while the Lord sustains those who take refuge in Him and promises them an enduring inheritance. Its wisdom teaches us to measure life by God’s faithfulness rather than by today’s visible advantages. We aren’t given a timetable for every wrong to be made right, and faithful people may still experience painful waiting.

But that time of waiting can become a place of honest surrender. We can name the wrong, seek appropriate help, and keep doing the good God has placed before us. We can also ask Him to uncover the envy or revenge that may be growing in our own hearts.

Generosity, truthful and kind speech, along with patient obedience, are concrete ways to resist being formed by the injustice we resent. Today, bring one troubling situation before the Lord and choose one faithful action you can take within it. The One who loves justice sees what you cannot resolve, and He remains a refuge while you wait.

Reflection

When you see the wicked succeed, what begins to grow within your own heart? What good can you continue doing as you entrust the situation to God?

Prayer

Father, You know the injustice that troubles me and the resentment I sometimes carry. Guard my heart from envy, bitterness, and revenge. Give me wisdom to seek help where it’s needed and the courage to keep doing good. Be my refuge, my strong tower, as I wait for You. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“While I wait for God’s justice, one good thing I can keep doing is __________________.”

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Week 43: Day 2: The Judge Knows His People

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 13:25:39 +0000

The Final Judgment

Day 2: The Judge Knows His People

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 50

Key Verse:

“The heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God is the Judge.” (Psalm 50:6, CSB)

Devotional

Psalm 50 certainly starts off with a bang! God summons the whole earth, calling the heavens and earth as witnesses. Devouring fire proceeds Him, and a raging storm surrounds Him. With that presentation, we might expect Him to first address the nations that oppose Him. Instead, He calls His covenant people before Him. He speaks to people who already know His name and already participate in His worship.

While their sacrifices to Him are bountiful, He isn’t dependent on what His people bring to Him. Every creature is already His. He calls them to a place of thanksgiving, faithfulness to their vows, and complete dependence on Him. True worship begins with recognizing who God is and receiving our lives as gifts from His hand.

Then, from the center of this majestic picture, His accusation gets pretty specific. Some recite God’s commands while practically rejecting His instruction. They welcome wrongdoing and use their mouths for deceit and slander. They have mistaken God’s silence for agreement. They imagine that He shares their willingness to accommodate sin, but instead He promises to lay the case before them.

So many times people think God and His judgment can be managed through religious activity, but He can’t. We think we can hide our disobedient behavior behind the curtain of our faith community membership. But His justice reaches into our speech, wedges into our relationships, and brings light to our hidden agreements with evil. This fact calls us to examine the distance between what we confess to believe and how we live from day to day.

How do we even begin to set things right? We start with one place where we’ve resisted His correction or wounded someone with our words or deeds. We bring it honestly before God, receive His instruction, and take the next faithful step towards Him. The same God who calls His people to account also invites them to call on Him in their trouble.

Reflection

Looking at your own life, where might religious familiarity be keeping you from receiving God’s correction? Is there something in your life right now, in your speech or conduct, that needs to change?

Prayer

Father, only you know the true distance between my words and my ways. Expose the places where I resist Your instruction or assume Your silence means approval. Help me to learn grateful dependence, truthful and kind speech, along with faithful obedience. May my worship express a life that listens and obeys. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“One place where my conduct needs to agree with my confession is __________________.”

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Week 43: Day 1: The Books Are Opened

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The Final Judgment

Day 1: The Books Are Opened

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Today's Reading:

Revelation 20

Key Verse:

“Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:14, CSB)

Devotional

We open Revelation 20 to an emotionally heavy scene in the Biblical story. John sees people killed, martyred, for their testimony about Jesus reigning. The Deceiver who stirred the nations against God is finally defeated, and the dead, both great and small, stand before the throne where books are opened, and all their deeds are judged. Even for the faithful, this is a sobering view.

The rich and powerful of this earth aren’t able to purchase a stacked verdict in this courtroom. The seemingly insignificant aren’t overlooked, and even death and Hades surrender those they’ve held before being cast themselves into the lake of fire. It’s here we find hope that the forces devastating God’s creation since the Garden won’t maintain their grip forever.

As hard as it may be to watch, this is part of what it means for God to set things right. A world that continued to be surrendered to deception, violence, and death could never be fully healed. In this scene we see that the suffering of His people hasn’t gone unnoticed, and those who remained faithful to Jesus haven’t been forgotten.

We must also realize this scene does more than confront the abject evil around us. It confronts us, too. The Book of Life is opened, and exclusion from it carries a terrible and eternal toll: the reality of the second death. We can’t read this chapter as spectators who assume that judgment only applies to everyone else. Our own lives stand open and naked before God. It’s in this moment we realize just how complete and utter our need is for the life Jesus brings.

The fitting response for us is humility, repentance, and an enduring allegiance to Jesus. As this year’s story moves towards its fulfillment, we can face evil honestly and entrust the outcome to God. He will judge righteously and evil will find its ultimate defeat.

Reflection

What unresolved wrong makes you long for God’s justice? How does this chapter also call you to examine your own life before the righteous Judge?

Prayer

Father, You see the evil that wounds Your world and the sin in my own life. Grant me honest repentance and faithful trust in Jesus. Strengthen those who suffer for His name, and help me remain faithful while I await Your righteous judgment. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“Because evil will not persist forever, I can entrust __________________ to God today.”

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Week 42: Day 5: Gathered and Satisfied

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The Healing of the Nations

Day 5: Gathered and Satisfied

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 107:1–9

Key Verse:

“Let them give thanks to the LORD for his faithful love and his wondrous works for all humanity.” (Psalm 107:8, CSB)

Devotional

I love the opening declaration of Psalm 107, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.” Then, the Psalmist calls on those redeemed by Him to tell their story. They’ve gathered from all directions, from wandering through desolate places, in hunger and thirst, unable to find a place to live. From within their distress, they cry out to the Lord, and He leads them by the right path, by His path, to a place where they can dwell.

This week we’ve seen pictures of the renewed City of God, the River of Life, and a return to view of the Tree of Life. People from all nations have found healing and welcome at the table of His goodness. Psalm 107 brings our focus sharply to the needy, to those who cry out as He guides, gathers, and rescues them.

This grand banquet of restoration is rooted in the unfailing character of God. He is the One who will ultimately heal what sin has broken. He hears those in distress and fills the hungry … all because He is good.

As usual, we finish our week with worship. Not because everything around us has already found healing. Nations continue to rage, relationships still end in pain, and people still wander searching for meaning. We give thanks today because the Lord is good, because His faithful love endures forever, and because He is moving us closer and closer to the restoration He’s promised.

You and I, all the redeemed peoples of the earth, are a gathered people with a story to tell. I hope that we can let gratitude become our testimony as we wait for the day when His healing work if finally complete. Maranatha!

Reflection

Think over your life. Are there instances you can identify where God has guided and provided for you when you were unable to see a way forward? How can gratitude keep our present brokenness from becoming our only story?

Prayer

Father, I give you thanks today simply because You are good. Because your faithful love lasts forever. I’m grateful you gather those who wander, those who cry out, and You satisfy those in need. Help me remember this faithfulness as I wait for the complete restoration of your return. Make gratitude the attitude of my heart and the expression of my voice as I wait. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“Today I give thanks for God's faithful love because He has __________________.”

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Week 42: Day 4: A Wider Table

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The Healing of the Nations

Day 4: A Wider Table

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Today's Reading:

Matthew 8

Key Verse:

“I tell you that many will come from east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 8:11, CSB)

Devotional

I don’t know how other people read the stories in the Gospels, but to me they are all pixels in a larger image, like brushstrokes in a painting. Matthew 8 is filled with amazing scenes of restoration. In the King’s presence, the brokenness of the world encounters the authority of its rightful king.

The encounter with the centurion was especially impactful. This man was not only a Gentile, but a representative of Rome’s incredible military power. Yet, he approaches Jesus with amazing humility and confidence in Jesus’ authority. Jesus was amazed by this man’s faith and then opened the scene up to a much broader picture of a large gathering where many will come from east and west and share the Kingdom banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The promise and hope He speaks of should shape the way we, as followers of Jesus, live. We aren’t the ones who heal the nations by ourselves. Jesus is the King, and restoration comes through Him, and Him alone.

Knowing this ought to impact the way we live as someone who believes the King’s table will be filled with people gathered from places you might not expect. It ought to ensure we lay down any and all prejudices and preferences for one group of people over another. We should practice mercy without partiality, welcome fellow believers across barriers that pride would seek to preserve. Trust Jesus to do what only Jesus can do, and rejoice as our life bears witness to the reconciled Kingdom He is bringing.

Reflection

Are the people or groups you instinctively imagine as being farther from God’s Kingdom than maybe you are? What boundary of fear, pride, culture, or preference might Jesus be calling you to cross with faithful love?

Prayer

Father, You, and You alone, are the King whose authority reaches farther than my expectations. Forgive me when pride or familiarity makes me presume upon Your grace or when prejudice causes me to narrow the welcome You have modeled. Teach me to trust Your authority, practice mercy, and receive fellow believers as members of the Kingdom You are gathering from every nation. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“Because Jesus is gathering people from east and west, I want to become more willing to __________________.”

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Week 42: Day 3: Longing for His Justice

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The Healing of the Nations

Day 3: Longing for His Justice

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 96

Key Verse:

“He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his faithfulness.” (Psalm 96:13, CSB)

Devotional

We’ve discussed several times in this series how the earth and all creation are groaning as it waits for its full redemption, for the return of the Creator. Psalm 96 gives us a glimpse into what that will be like as all the earth rejoices and the heavens are glad. Even the trees shout for joy because the Lord is coming to judge the earth.

It seems counterintuitive to place joy and judgment beside one another to some degree. We know human judgment can be biased, corrupt, and at a minimum, incomplete. But the text tells us something about the Judge that’s coming; He judges with righteousness and the peoples with His faithfulness. All His judgments are good because He is good.

While comfort to the hurting is vital and important, lasting healing takes more than comfort. Evil must be confronted, lies exposed, and oppression stopped. Everything crooked must be made straight. We don’t look forward to a day when the Lord simply overlooks everything that’s gone wrong; we hope in a time when the faithful and righteous King will actually put this world right.

This truth pierces the deep parts of our hearts. It’s easy to want justice for others while wanting mercy for ourselves when we stand exposed in the light of His righteousness. Sometimes the evil of this world can become so overwhelming that we quietly wonder whether anything will ever really change at all.

But Psalm 96 breaks through the veil of despair and doubt. We can embrace repentance because He is a righteous Judge. The coming King is good news for all of creation.

Reflection

When you consider the judgment of God, does it instill fear, avoidance, or maybe hope or gratitude? Where do you need to trust that God’s faithfulness is better than your own desire to control outcomes?

Prayer

Father, teach my fearful heart to trust Your judgment. Expose those things in me which need repentance, and give me grace when I want to hide. When the brokenness of the world feels overwhelming, remind my heart that You are faithful. Give me resolve to trust in your character and rejoice in the coming of the King. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“I can entrust what is wrong to God because He is __________________.”

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Week 42: Day 2: When Swords Become Plows

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The Healing of the Nations

Day 2: When Swords Become Plows

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Today's Reading:

Isaiah 2

Key Verse:

“Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war.” (Isaiah 2:4, CSB)

Devotional

What a lovely and glorious picture Isaiah has of the culmination of God’s promise! He sees a future where the nations stream to the mountain of the Lord (Jerusalem) because they desire to learn His ways and walk in them. God will make righteous judgments between the nations, who are actively transforming their weapons of war into implements of cultivation and provision. Those who prepared for war will no longer have need to train for it.

Many view peace as the absence of conflict or fighting, but peace is what comes from living beneath the rule and reign of God, His instruction, and righteous judgment. The One who knows what is good teaches them how to live and brings life where they could only bring destruction on themselves.

In the garden, Eve’s first mistake was deciding for herself what was good instead of trusting the Word of God to define it. We often imagine healing as an instance where people just put their differences aside while everyone continues to define good and evil for themselves. Isaiah gives us a much more beautiful path to follow. Lasting restoration comes as people turn toward the Lord, receive His instruction, and learn His ways.

God’s reconciliation of the division resulting from the events of Babel isn’t endless domination by an even stronger nation. Nor is it the erasure of people into some featureless, monochromatic humanity. Isaiah still speaks of nations as peoples, different, wonderful, but drawn toward the same righteous King.

After the vision, Isaiah’s next line says, “House of Jacob, come and let’s walk in the Lord’s light.” The promised future is transformed into a summons, a call for God’s people in the present. Our hope is shaped by the ways of God, and we, His people, should be walking in those ways now.

Reflection

Where are you subtly tempted to believe that lasting peace can be produced without surrender to God’s rule, but to put your faith in the powers of this world? How could your relationships marked with tension be impacted by walking in the Lord’s ways now?

Prayer

Father, You alone can bring lasting peace and true justice. Teach me Your ways and form me into someone who walks in Your light. Help me remove anger, pride, and fear as they tempt me towards division. Make me a person shaped by Your Kingdom, not the kingdoms of this world. Help me trust and long for the day when weapons are laid down, and the nations live beneath Your righteous rule. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“One place where I need to walk in God's light rather than deepen division is __________________.”

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Week 42: Day 1: The Tree of Life Returns

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The Healing of the Nations

Day 1: The Tree of Life Returns

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Today's Reading:

Revelation 22

Key Verse:

“The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations.” (Revelation 22:2, CSB)

Devotional

I never cease to be amazed by the things God brings together in unexpected ways. The topics and passages of this series were laid out and set last December. Yesterday morning I taught on Genesis 3 and ended with the hope of Revelation 22. Then, in a small group, we discussed verse 2 and the healing of the nations.

Today’s reading takes us to the end of the redemption story, with the river of life flowing from the throne; beside it, the Tree of Life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations and pronouncement there is no longer any curse. It’s a vision of God’s presence filling a world made new.

The Tree of Life harkens all the way back to Genesis, to the Garden of Eden. Humanity was driven out after their rebellion, separated from it and the unhindered life in God’s presence they enjoyed. So much was lost with one fateful act, but God’s purpose was not defeated.

History has done nothing if it hasn’t shown us generations of nations and peoples marked by pride, violence, idolatry, and warfare. God’s restoration of creation doesn’t minimize the seriousness of the rebellion or downplay His judgment, but it does paint a striking image for us: nations are healed beneath the righteous rule and reign of God and the Lamb.

Christian hope points to this spot on the theological map. We don’t wait with expectant hope of cosmic evacuation, but of a complete restoration only God Himself could accomplish. Sin, death, and human division haven’t won the final victory because He is making All Things New. This future for which we wait is one without the curse and a world where He once again dwells fully with His people.

Reflection

Think over your time following Jesus. How have you patterned your hope of future events, that of escaping a broken world or a time of restoration of what sin has broken? How does the hope of Revelation 22 impact the way you view the brokenness you see around you now?

Prayer

Father, thank you for a coming day when the curse is lifted and sin, death, and division are completely gone from our existence. Teach my heart to hope in this future You’ve promised us. Help me live today with confidence in the reign of the Lamb as I long for the day when all things are finally made new. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“My hope grows stronger when I remember that God will __________________.”

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Week 41: Day 5: The World Still Sings

Fri, 09 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Creation Groans

Day 5: The World Still Sings

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 19

Key Verse:

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.” (Psalm 19:1, CSB)

Devotional

I love the juxtaposition of this week’s beginning and its end. We began the week listening to creation groan, but we end it by hearing it sing.

Even from a place of brokenness and groaning, Psalm 19 lifts us upwards and hears a declaration of God’s glory. The heavens speak without words. Day after day, night after night, creation bears witness to the glory of the One who made it. Certainly, the world is wounded, but even in the midst of travail, it has not forgotten its Creator. From underneath the weight of decay, it continues to sing the truth about Him.

It’s also interesting how the Psalmist then moves us from looking at creation to God’s written instructions. The God whose glory fills the heavens has spoken to His people. Nature may awaken our wonder, but it’s the Word of God that teaches, warns, restores, and even exposes the hidden places of our hearts. It highlights the fact that both creation and submission to revelation turn our hearts toward the Creator.

Creation groans because the world isn’t yet what it will be, but it also sings because it knows it belongs to the Creator. It knows that the God whose glory it already declares will one day free it from decay when all things are made new.

You and I have the particular privilege of joining all of Creation in this song it is already singing. We can look to the heavens, receive the Word, confess what God exposes, and ask that our words and our thoughts be pleasing to Him.

This groaning is temporary; the glory belongs to God. Today we can join all of Creation as it declares a great Creator who will not abandon the work of His hands.

Reflection

Where in creation do you most readily recognize the glory and workmanship of God? How is God’s Word correcting or reshaping the way you respond to what He has made?

Prayer

Father, the heavens declare Your glory, and Your Word reveals Your ways. Open my eyes to see Your work and open my heart to receive Your truth. May my worship join the testimony all of Creation is already giving. May the actual words of my mouth and the deep meditations of my heart honor You as I wait for hope for the renewal of all things. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

"When I hear creation declaring God’s glory, I want to respond by __________________."

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Week 41: Day 4: Living Toward Renewal

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Creation Groans

Day 4: Living Toward Renewal

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Today's Reading:

Revelation 21

Key Verse:

“Then the one seated on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new.’ He also said, ‘Write, because these words are faithful and true.’” (Revelation 21:5, CSB)

Devotional

Over the past several years, I’ve been hyper-focused on tying every story, every passage in Scripture into the larger redemption narrative. Revelation 21 gives us one of the clearest pictures of where the overarching story is heading. John sees a new heaven and a new earth. He sees the Holy City coming down and, most importantly, hears the announcement that God’s dwelling is with humanity. Thankfully, things like death, grief, and pain won’t endure forever because the old order marked by death is passing away.

Then, we hear that wonderful statement from the One on the throne: “Look, I am making everything new.”

Those few words change everything about how we live before the final renewal arrives. Discipleship isn’t us preparing to abandon everything God made; it’s us learning to live faithfully within a world God intends to set fully right.

We can’t re-create creation on our own. That work remains God’s, but the certainty of that renewed future means we don’t have to surrender to the cynicism or gloom and doom of the present time.

We can, right now, become a people whose lives bear witness to what’s coming. We practice faithfulness instead of resignation, pursue holiness now because sin is absent from God’s future. Today we can show mercy because suffering will one day be vanquished. We value people as image-bearers, not disposable commodities, because we handle what God has made as gifts rather than inconsequential artifacts.

Only God can, and will, bring about the new creation, but our current obedience points towards it.

The King revealed where this story is going, so while creation groans, we learn to live as a people shaped by hope, by the world God is making new.

Reflection

Where in your own life has disappointment or brokenness tempted you toward cynicism or resignation? What is one area of your life you can improve so that it reflects the future God promises in Revelation 21?

Prayer

Father, You have promised us a world where death, grief, crying, and pain don’t rule the day. Keep me from cynicism while we wait for its completion. Help me form my life around the future You have promised and teach me to practice faithfulness, holiness, mercy, and to live in hope as a witness of the day You will, in fact, make everything new.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

"Because God is making everything new, I want my life to reflect __________________."

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Week 41: Day 3: Receiving the World as a Gift

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Creation Groans

Day 3: Receiving the World as a Gift

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 65

Key Verse:

“You visit the earth and water it abundantly, enriching it greatly. God’s stream is filled with water, for you prepare the earth in this way, providing people with grain.” (Psalm 65:9, CSB)

Devotional

Psalm 65 opens with two important concepts: worship and forgiveness. Then, the picture zooms out, encompassing fields, valleys, flocks, and grain. The very same God who hears prayers and forgives sin is also the One who waters the earth, enriches the soil, and provides what His creatures need.

It’s good from time to time to remind ourselves that nothing is owed to us, not even the rain or any other gifts of creation. According to Psalm 65, all these things are acts of generosity we easily begin to treat as ordinary.

Or, sometimes, we go the other way. In the uncertainty of life, our hearts start grasping for control. We worry there won’t be enough, so we live as though everything ultimately depends on our ability to secure the future.

This beautiful passage gently calls us back to a place of grateful dependence. He isn’t promising our fields will always be watered or that we will never experience scarcity. The Scriptures know drought, famine, and loss. But when provision does come, the Psalm teaches us to stop and pay attention to its source.

As creation groans, God’s generosity hasn’t dissipated. Rain still falls, seeds still grow, valleys still flourish. The world itself has come to bear witness to the kindness of its Creator.
A grateful heart learns to receive without entitlement and to trust without pretending that life is painless. Creation is a gift sustained by God, and every good thing we receive can become another reason to turn our hearts toward Him.

Reflection

What ordinary gift of God’s provision have you recently noticed in your own life? Where does fear of scarcity or the desire for control shape your heart more than it trusts God?

Prayer

Father, you are the God of abundance. Thank you for the many ways You provide for and through Your world. Guard my heart from entitlement when I have plenty and from fear when things are uncertain. Give me a grateful heart that receives Your gifts with humility, and trusts Your goodness and character in every season. Amen

Finish this sentence in the comments:

"Today I want to receive __________________ as a gift from God."

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Week 41: Day 2: The World God Sustains

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Creation Groans

Day 2: The World God Sustains

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 104

Key Verse:

“How countless are your works, LORD! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” (Psalm 104:24, CSB)

Devotional

As you know, Tuesdays are worldview days. It’s where we let the Word and the week’s story impact how we see the world, hopefully through the eyes of the King. Psalm 104 helps us do just that.

The Psalmist looks up to the mountains, down to the valleys, at the springs and trees, the wild animals and people, the moon and sun, the sea and sky, and he sees far more than a collection of natural resources. Everywhere he looks, he sees the wisdom, provisions, and sustaining care of God.

The world is full of His creatures because He made it that way. Everything exists within the world that God created. Springs provide water, plants grow for food and shelter, animals forage for things to eat, and the sea teems with all sorts of living things. Creation is diverse, ordered, alive, and totally dependent on its Creator to sustain it.

It’s sometimes easy for us to treat the material world as spiritually insignificant, like God only cares about invisible spiritual things. But His Word teaches us differently. God cares for this world He has made. The lives of all creation depend on His faithful provision. The earth itself is a canvas on which He paints a portrait of His wisdom and generosity.

This is why it’s important to see God’s redemption in its true cosmic form and not only as personal salvation. God’s promise to renew creation in Romans 8 doesn’t represent some sudden interest He’s developed in the physical world. He’s always cared for His creation … all of it.

Yes, the world is broken and groaning, but it isn’t worthless. It still belongs in the middle of the Creator’s purposes. If we can learn to see creation through the lens of Psalm 104, we can resist any hint of contempt for things God has made and recognize a world continually dependent on Him and His wisdom, His provision, and His care.

Reflection

Which part or parts of Psalm 4 remind you that creation remains dependent on God? Where have you been tempted to treat the physical world as somehow less important than the “spiritual” parts of life?

Prayer

Father, the more I learn of You the more I realize your works and majesty are endless. Your wisdom fills the whole earth. Forgive me when I move through Your world without noticing the care You’ve given to sustain and keep it. Help me to continue seeing Creation as your handiwork and develop my dependence on You while I wait for the day You complete our renewal. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

"When I look at the world as God’s creation, I begin to see __________________."

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Week 41: Day 1: Groaning Toward Glory

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Creation Groans

Day 1: Groaning Toward Glory

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Today's Reading:

Romans 8

Key Verse:

“that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.” (Romans 8:21, CSB)

Devotional

There’s a raw honesty about the way things are that Romans 8 reveals that resonates with me deeply. Paul takes an honest look at the world and says plainly it has been subjected to futility and is in a state of bondage and decay. Something is terribly wrong with the good world God made, and creation itself is carrying the weight of the consequences.

But Paul never indicates that creation, even as broken as it is, is being abandoned or discarded by God. All of creation waits, it longs, and it groans. Paul compares those groans to the sounds of labor pains. The suffering is real enough, but it is a type of suffering, like that of childbirth, that points to a much more joyful future.

The future Paul speaks of is directly connected to what God is doing in His children. We groan, too, waiting for the redemption of our bodies. Humanity is caught, along with creation in general, in this present tension between what has been broken and what God has promised to restore. Thankfully, the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is already at work in His people, giving us a glimpse, a foretaste, of the life that’s coming.

Our hope, then, is much bigger than escaping this hardship or simply going to heaven when we die. God intends to liberate all of creation, us included, from its bondage to death and decay. Our bodies matter. Creation matters and the resurrection matters.

We have no need to deny the fact that groaning exists around us and within us. Scripture here gives us permission to call it out with honesty, but we grieve as people who know where the story is going, not as those lamenting where it’s been. What no groans will not groan forever. The very same God who raises the dead is bringing His creation toward the glory of freedom.

Reflection

Where in your life do you most clearly see the groaning of creation or the effects of decay? How can Romans 8 impact the way you understand Christian hope in the middle of that groaning brokenness?

Prayer

Father, it’s hard not to notice the incredible brokenness of this world. I feel it in my own life. Thank you that You have not abandoned what You’ve created. Teach my heart to groan honestly but to do so without losing hope. Fix my eyes intently on the freedom and rescue You’ve promised. Let the resurrection of Jesus shape the way I wait for the renewal yet to come.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

"Because creation’s groaning is not the end, I can __________________."

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Week 40: Day 5: Hope That Keeps On Singing

Fri, 02 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Living in the Middle

Day 5: Hope That Keeps On Singing

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 71

Key Verse:

“But I will hope continually and will praise you more and more.” (Psalm 71:14, CSB)

Devotional

It’s a strange phenomenon, but sometimes as people walk with the Lord over a long period of time, they somehow think they actually need God less and less each day. Psalm 71, however, gives us the words of someone who’s been long in the saddle with the Lord and still needs Him just as desperately as always. He remembers trusting God from his youth, yet now faces enemies, declining strength, and the fear of being abandoned in old age. Apparently, years of faithfulness have not produced a trouble-free life. I’d be lying if I hadn’t occasionally thought about these things, too, as I’ve gotten older.

But buried deep in the middle of this passage, we find a true signpost of real spiritual maturity. He says, “But I will hope continually and will praise you more and more.” The Psalmist’s worship isn’t built on everything being resolved already, but grows from remembering who God has been throughout the years.

Over and over again, the psalmist speaks about God’s righteousness, salvation, strength, and mighty works. He asks God not to forsake him so he can continue declaring God’s power to another generation. His hope, as ours, looks backward at a lifetime of God’s faithfulness while also looking forward in trust and hope.

Living between the times means we will sometimes pray from unresolved conflict and from less than ideal circumstances. Our strength may indeed fail, and trouble may come. Though we won’t always understand every part of how our story fits into what God is doing, hope allows us to worship now in hope!

We can praise God today because His character has not changed; He is good, and His faithfulness has no expiration date. Until the day when every promise is completely fulfilled and fully seen, we keep remembering, hoping, speaking, and praising.

In the almost sacred words of the old hymn, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing:
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
The waiting is real, but so is the God for whom we wait!

Reflection

What evidence of God’s faithfulness from your past do you need to remember today? How could your testimony of God’s faithfulness strengthen someone else?

Prayer

Father, You have carried me through so many dark days I couldn’t navigate alone. Help me every day to remember Your faithfulness when things feel uncertain. Give me the words to tell others about the good You’ve done for me and my family. Until every promise is fully seen, teach me to praise You more and more each day. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“Because God has been faithful, I can keep hoping as I __________________.”

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Week 40: Day 4: Walking by Faith

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Living in the Middle

Day 4: Walking by Faith

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Today's Reading:

2 Corinthians 5

Key Verse:

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7, CSB)

Devotional

2 Corinthians 5 is packed full of deep and rich theological truth; most notably, for our journey today, is the theme he lays out for us of hope. Paul speaks openly about the reality of groaning, mortality, and a deep longing for what God has prepared (or maybe is preparing). We know our present bodies are fragile, and life in this present time remains marked by weakness. However, believers are not left without hope or left with our longing alone. God has given us the Spirit of Christ as a “down payment” of what is yet to come.

Paul says we can face our days living in the middle with incredible courage because we know the future belongs to God. It’s not a courage mustered in our own energy as we pretend things aren’t the way they are, or that we have it all figured out. If it were, it would make little sense for him to say, “we walk by faith, not by sight.” Faith in Jesus orders our lives around the faithfulness of God even though the fulfillment of His promises isn’t yet fully visible or realized.
As Paul often does, he then takes this concept to an incredibly practical level. “Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him.” (v. 9) Waiting for God to complete His plan doesn’t minimize the importance of our current obedience; it makes faithfulness now even more meaningful. We’re not just killing time until Jesus finishes His work; we’re learning to live as people who already belong to Him.

The love of Christ then compels us to no longer live for ourselves, but the reconciliation God has accomplished through Him reshapes how we live and move among others. This is the way of life between the times. Sure, we can’t see everything that’s coming, but we know the One who controls it, the One who has promised it. So, we keep waking, serving, reconciling, obeying, and seeking to please Jesus.

Hope becomes visible through our faithfulness to His way.

Reflection

Are there areas in your life where you are allowing what you can see to determine what you believe god is up to? What act of ordinary faithfulness could you embrace today, or this week, to demonstrate that your life is being shaped by God’s promised future?

Prayer

Father, teach me to walk by faith. Thank you for Your Spirit being the guarantee of what You’ve promised is coming. Make it my heart’s desire to please You with my ordinary choices today. Help my love for You shape the way I live among others. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“Today I can walk by faith by faithfully __________________.”

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Week 40: Day 3: Waiting in the Depths

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Living in the Middle

Day 3: Waiting in the Depths

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 130

Key Verse:

“I wait for the LORD; I wait and put my hope in his word.” (Psalm 130:5, CSB)

Devotional

There’s a raw quality we see in Psalm 130 that most of us can identify with. From the midst of the depths of trouble, he cries out to God, “Lord, listen to my voice.” So often we wait to turn to the Lord after all our own attempts to solve the problems have been exhausted, but this passage cries to Him while the days are still dark and the waters deep.

As with many of the Psalms, this one quickly moves beyond observable circumstances and on to things more fundamental. If the Lord were to keep an account of guilt, no one could stand before it. Before he speaks of deliverance, he anchors his hope in the only place to give lasting hope: the character of the God who forgives and can be trusted.

From the deep darkness of night, the watchman waits for the sun to rise. He can’t shorten the night by worrying harder or staring more intensely into the void. He just waits because he knows, in due time, the morning will come.

So the Psalmist waits for the Lord from the depths of his trial, placing all his hope in God’s Word.

Waiting exposes the deep things of the heart. We all want answers, resolution, or even control. But when they don’t come as quickly as we’d like, we can begin to treat delay as if God were absent. This Psalm helps us rest on the nature and character of God, on who He is and what He has promised, whether circumstances change or not.

Living between the times, in the Already, Not Yet, requires the same kind of heart. Sometimes we have to wait from the depths, but we must remember we wait with a promise. The God of redemption has given us reason to hope.

Reflection

What unresolved situation is making it difficult for you to wait on God? Are you presently placing your hope in a particular outcome, or in the God whose word can be trusted?

Prayer

Father, sometimes waiting feels long and the depths are deep. Teach my heart to hope in you while I wait. Thank You for forgiveness and redemption found only in You. Guard me from treating delay like abandonment. Give me the patient confidence of a watchman who knows that morning will one day come. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“While I wait, I need to place my hope in God rather than __________________.”

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Week 40: Day 2: Numbered Days, Lasting Hope

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000

Living in the Middle

Day 2: Numbered Days, Lasting Hope

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 90

Key Verse:

“Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.” (Psalm 90:12, CSB)

Devotional

It puts things in perspective to compare our brief lives to the eternity of God. Generations come and go, mountains rise, and we return to dust … but God remains “from eternity to eternity.” Our lives are defined by time, but His is outside of it.

One thing I love about this Psalm is its raw truthfulness about the limits of our earthly existence. Our days are limited, and our sins are exposed before God. Even a long human life is a flash in the pan. We spend our days and enormous amounts of energy in self-protection, extending our influence, and trying to control whatever comes next. But the Psalmist reminds us we are creatures whose days are gifted to us.

Though we might expect this reality to elicit a response of despair, he instead asks for wisdom. “Teach us to number our days carefully.” He knows life is brief, but it isn’t meaningless. It teaches us to receive our days as a gift, entrusted to us by the eternal God.
At its close, the Psalm wraps up by asking God to show His favor and establish the work of His people’s hands. For a people living between times, this is an important prayer. We can’t in any way make our lives more permanent, but we can faithfully use the days God gives us and trust Him with their lasting significance.

Trusting God with our days and with their fruitfulness frees us from frantic and pressured living. We don’t have to complete every task we think is in front of us. We need His wisdom to remain faithful with the time God has actually placed in our hands.

Reflection

How can the awareness of the limited nature of our days produce anxiety rather than wisdom? How have you experienced faithful stewardship of the days God has given you?

Prayer

Father, I know my days are limited, but you aren’t. Forgive me for living as though everything depends on my ability to control time and outcomes. Teach me to number my days wisely and establish what is pleasing to You as I put my hands to work. Help me to entrust to You everything both within and beyond my reach. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“One way I can use the days God has given me more faithfully is __________________.”

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Week 40: Day 1: We See Jesus

Mon, 28 Sep 2026 07:15:54 +0000

Living in the Middle

Day 1: We Do See Jesus

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Today's Reading:

Hebrews 2

Key Verse:

“As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him.” (Hebrews 2:8, CSB)

Devotional

Every believer who’s even halfway paying attention eventually feels it: the tension of living redeemed in a world not fully rescued. God has already declared that everything has been brought under His authority and rule, but it’s hard to escape the fact that much of the world still appears resistant to that reality. Suffering, death, and evil still exist; people made in His image are still wounded, and even our own lives often feel less ordered and more chaotic than we’d like them to be. Hebrews 2 gives us language for this reality we find ourselves in.

The writer reaches into Psalm 8 and extracts familiar words about humanity’s God-given calling to exercise faithful rule over creation. But we can all agree that we haven’t yet fulfilled this divine vocation. But then, Hebrews turns our attention to another thought. We may not be able to see everything’s subjection fully; however, verse 9 says, “but we do see Jesus.”
He stepped into our human condition, suffered the death of a mere mortal, and was crowned with glory and honor. His death and resurrection have broken the power of death and all those who oppose Him.

Nowhere in Scripture are we admonished to pretend like things aren’t still broken around us. It does tell us that what we presently see isn’t the entire story. Jesus’ passage through death and into glory has already established the clear direction this story is moving.

Faithful endurance starts by holding both of these truths together. We can’t see everything made right just yet, but we can look on Jesus, our King. Our hope in Him fixes our gaze and attention on the One whose victory has guaranteed this tension won’t last forever.

Reflection

Think of some areas where you are tempted to measure God’s faithfulness only by what you can presently see. How can “keeping your eyes on Jesus” change the way you endure trials and hardships that remain unresolved?

Prayer

Father, there are lots of things I know I can’t make right. I can’t ease Brynna’s physical suffering; I can’t bring Eli back to life, and I can’t guarantee the ones I love will all find you on their journey. Keep me from confusing what is unfinished with what is uncertain. Help me to trust Your victory when my circumstances remain difficult and teach me to endure faithfully until what You have begun is finally brought to completion. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“When I cannot yet see how God is working, I want to keep looking to Jesus by __________________.”

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Week 39: Day 5: Blessing That Travels

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The Kingdom's Witness

Day 5: Blessing That Travels

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Today's Reading:

Psalm 67

Key Verse:

“So that your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.” (Psalm 67:2)

Devotional

Once again, we visit Psalm 67 and find ourselves opening with a prayer for blessing. But this blessing isn’t one for us to consume for ourselves. This Psalm asks God to be gracious to us, to bless us, and to make His face shine on us … so that … so that His way may be known on earth and His salvation to all nations. His blessing has purpose.

I once heard a saying that we should “get all we can then sit on the can!” But that’s not how the Kingdom works. His grace and blessing to us should turn us outward to others.

As the passage moves along, it opens up into a much wider vision of joy. All the nations are invited to rejoice because God judges with fairness and guides us here on earth. His reign is good news because the King Himself is just, attentive, and worthy of our faith.

You see, in this text, grace and worship take the shape of missions. Scripture has promised us a future where peoples from all over the world find gladness beneath the canopy of His rule and reign.

So, today, let your worship become intercession, thanking God for His grace. Then, ask Him to use you to make His Way known in all the nations, starting with your family, your neighbor, and your city.

We may never know this side of eternity how God will use our simple obedience, but we do know where all this is heading. The nations are being invited into joy, and the people of God have the distinct privilege of singing, serving, praying, and bearing witness for our King all along the way.

Reflection

Where are you tempted to privately enjoy blessing rather than allow it to turn you outward towards others? What person can you bring into your prayer life today as part of the mission to the nations?

Prayer

Father, I’m grateful for your generous gifts of grace and abundant blessings. Use me to make Your ways known among the nations. Teach me to pray beyond my own concerns, to worship with the whole earth in mind. Use my life to point others towards the King. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“Today I praise God that His salvation reaches __________________.”

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Week 39: Day 4: Results Belong to the King

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000

The Kingdom's Witness

Day 4: Results Belong to the King

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Today's Reading:

Acts 13

Key Verse:

“For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 13:47)

Devotional

When I was a young minister, I somehow developed a belief that if I just presented Gospel message well enough, clear enough, people would almost magically respond in faith and if they didn’t, then it was my fault for not communicating it well; but Luke tells a different story.

In Acts 13, we see what Kingdom Witness looks like when it leaves the safety of familiar ground to find its way through a dark world in more need of hope than it can realize. Paul and Barnabas arrived in Antioch Pisidia, opened the scriptures, and proclaimed the Good News of Jesus. The responses to their words was mixed, just as I learned the responses would be when I did the same. Some received it with joy while others resisted it. The same witness wrought extremely different responses.

As I’ve said many times, dealing with tension like this is vital to understanding and living under the Kingdom Rule of Jesus. Being faithful to the mission isn’t measured by whether or not everyone approves or whether or not everyone responds in a favorable way. We are called to speak the Word truthfully, remain humble, and stumble forward in obedience. Sometimes we make smooth strides and others we barely get one foot in front of the other, even when the message of Jesus is welcomed by some and rejected by others.

It’s easy to slip into a pattern of self-protection or even defensiveness when the message we know is really Good News is met with often passionate opposition. But Paul and Barnabas did what they always do, they turned to the calling God had given them, using the language from Isaiah to show themselves as a light to the Gentiles in order for salvation to reach the ends of the earth.

Reading this gives us an incredibly clear pattern. We look for opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus, we serve those in front of us, and we refuse to manipulate the outcome with fear or emotional pressure. When opposition and rejection come, and they will come, we intentionally refuse to confuse that rejection with personal failure .

The Kingdom advances because the risen King is busy doing His work not because His people are awesome or skilled at “closing the deal”. Our task isn’t completion, our task is faithfulness.

Not many of us will find ourselves sharing the Gospel in a church or synagogue like Paul. It most often looks like a simple conversation, a meal, an act of courage, or patiently walking through life in friendship. Wherever Jesus sends us, our path is the same: bear witness clearly, love people well, and leave the results to Him.

Reflection

Where has God already given you an ordinary opportunity to speak, serve, or show someone the nature and character of Jesus? Have you ever been tempted to control another person’s response instead of just being faithful?

Prayer

Father, teach me to be faithful like Paul and Barnabas. Give me courage to speak without harshness or anxiety over the outcome. Help me love people well whether or not they respond to the message. Help me see the current opportunities you’ve already given me and new ones that will come. Guard my heart from measuring my obedience by visible results. Help me to trust You with every outcome on this journey. Amen.

Finish this sentence in the comments:

“This week I can bear witness to Jesus by __________________.”

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Further Study

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