First15 Devotional

In today’s First15, we’re going to spend time reflecting on how worthy God is of our devotion. Life is never better than when God is fully at the center of our lives, and fully at the center of our hearts. May we authentically give God our devotion today as we take time to discover how holy and worthy he is. Click to request your copy of Who Am I? today!  More from First15 Read today's devoti...

In today’s First15, we’re going to take time today to simply focus on how trustworthy our heavenly Father is. Our trust is always meant to be a response to God’s trustworthiness, an act of love given as we receive the unconditional, life-changing love of God. May our hearts be filled with greater measures of trust as we make space for God to fill.  More from First15 Read today's devotional or...

Every day we experience fear in some way. Whether it’s fear over the opinion of others, fear of the future, or fear over the ways and plans of evil, we’re in need of comfort and faith. Today we’re going to spend time focusing to protection God offers us every day in his goodness and love. May our hearts be comforted and our hands filled with strength as we make space for God to fill. Click to requ...

It’s vital to the Christian life that we as sons and daughters of the most high God allow our affections to be stirred by the loving, powerful nature of our heavenly Father. Too often we feel that God is distant or separated from us. Too often we allow misconceptions or lies to place a rift between us and experiencing God. So as we spend time this week focusing on God’s character, allow who he is...

In the last day of this week where we’re seeking to stir up our affections for God, today we’re going to look at God’s faithfulness. You and I can have faith, because God is faithful. His faithfulness lays the foundation we need to love him, follow him, and walk with him. May God draw us closer to him, and give us a greater measure of faith today as we focus on his steadfast love and faithfulness....

In today’s First15, we’re going to stir up our affections for God by looking at what it means, when Scripture calls us his children. As a child of God, you are adopted into the family of the Creator of all. And you have a good, and loving Father, filled with grace, mercy, and compassion. May God give us eyes to see who we are to him today, and the courage to abide in him in life-giving relationshi...

In today’s First 15, we’re going to stir up our affections by looking at God’s invitation to us in Revelation 3:20 to share a meal with him. This metaphor, this image of sitting across the table from God, especially in the context of the author of Revelation, John’s, culture, creates a pathway for you and me to journey down that leads to real, close relationship with our Creator and Savior. May we...

In today’s First15, we’re going to stir up our affections for God by looking at his wisdom. Not only is our God wise, but he longs to share his wisdom with us as his people. Living with true wisdom, true perspective, knowing how to order our desires and our days is one of the real keys to living an abundant life. May we praise God for his wisdom, and ask him with boldness and confidence to share t...

In today’s First15, we’re going to continue our series seeking to simply stir our affections toward God, by looking at his boundless grace. On a daily basis, it’s God’s grace that always draws me close first. His forgiveness, his loving compassion, his gaze changes everything. May God open our eyes and hearts in a special way today to receive his grace in every corner of our hearts.  More from Fi...

In today’s First15, we’re going to continue our pursuit of stirring up our affections for God by looking at how God exchanges our burdens for his peace. As a society, we are more continually stressed now than ever. Stress has become our new normal. But in God, we have the opportunity to live with a peace that surpasses our understanding. May God guide us down his path to peace today as we make spa...

This week we’ll start a new series, making space to simply stir up our affections for God every day. Today, we’re going to look at the reality that our God loves to give us good gifts. May God empower us to live with open hands and an open heart, ready and willing to receive all that he longs to give. More from First15 Read today's devotional or listen to today's worship song at First15.or...

Today we’re wrapping up our week-long series of stirring up our affections for God by looking at what it means to have friendship with the Holy Spirit. The nearness of God’s Spirit, the reality of his voice and leadership, is our deepest connection to God on this earth. And like any other relationship, any other connection, it takes time to develop a true friendship with the Spirit. So today we’re...

As we near the end of our week, creating space every day to simply have our affections stirred up for God, we’re going to take time today to look at God’s heart to forgive us. God’s forgiveness is as constant as our need for his forgiveness. And today, I hope and pray that he reveals his heart to forgive us completely and immediately when we confess our sin to him, and his heart to constantly rest...

On today’s First15, we’re going to look at the reality that God loves to heal hearts. As we continue this series allowing who God is and what he does to stir up our affections for him, may his desire to heal us emotionally, to bind up our wounds to draw us closer to him in meaningful ways. More from First15 Read today's devotional or listen to today's worship song at   First15.org/today Do...

As we reach the middle of our week-long focus on stirring up our affections for God, today we’re going to create space to simply delight in God’s love. Oftentimes focusing on the simple, foundational aspects of our relationship with God will produce more fruit than trying to journey beyond them. And I pray that God reveals his love in a tangible and fresh way today for you and me as we open our he...

In the third day of this week-long series, taking time every day to stir up our affections for God, today we’re going to look at all it means for him to be our Father. Out of all of the metaphors used for our relationship with this eternal, transcendent God, the concept of him being a Father today has been most meaningful. May he draw us closer as he reveals what a good Father he is to us. More fr...

As we continue our focus on simply stirring up our affections for God this week, today we’re going to take time to focus on the fact that God is present in our lives. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, God is with you in and through it all. And his presence, his nearness is the foundation on which we are meant to live as his people. May we develop a greater sense of his nearness today and le...

As we continue our focus on simply stirring up our affections for God this week, today we’re going to take time to focus on the fact that God is present in our lives. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, God is with you in and through it all. And his presence, his nearness is the foundation on which we are meant to live as his people. May we develop a greater sense of his nearness today and le...

As we finish this week of looking at different ways God speaks, today we’re going to look at the role of taking action in hearing God. One of the most powerful ways to discover what God thinks and how God feels is joining him where he is at work in the world around us. My prayer today is that God opens our eyes and ears to discover fresh parts of how he declares his heart to us, and that we’re emp...

In today’s First15, we’re going to look at the value of solitude in making space to hear from God. In all the noise of our world, solitude is more important now than ever. We need quiet to tune our ears to the still, small voice of God. We need the type of peace that only comes from quieting our hearts and minds. We need the type of relationship with God that can only be formed in solitude. May Go...

In today’s First15, we’re going to look at the role of meditation in hearing from God. Meditation for many reasons, seems to have found its way out of our Christian context. But the reality is that meditation has been central to our faith throughout its history. And the Bible is chocked full of encouragement to meditate on who God is, on his word, allowing space for God to fill in our daily lives....

As we arrive in the middle of this week-long focus on hearing from God, today we’re going to look at the role of Creation in God speaking to us as his children. Throughout human history mankind has gone to nature to get a deeper sense of the divine. And I believe that when we open our ears to hear what God is declaring to us through that which he’s made, we’ll find a wonderful avenue to stay in co...

As we continue this series looking at different ways God speaks to us as his children, today we’re going to look at what it means to hear God’s voice. The idea of hearing the voice of God is something I get asked about all the time. And I think it’s because, honestly, it sounds kind of crazy! But Scripture and Christian History tell us clearly that God loves to communicate with his people. So may...

As we continue our series looking at different ways God speaks to us as his children, today we’re going to look at the role of Scripture in hearing God. The pages of Scripture contain so many amazing stories of how God spoke to his people. Within these stories we see the power of a people focused on following God’s leadership, and the destruction that takes place when people go their own way. May...

You and I have been given the invaluable gift of communication with God. Last week we learned about the process of making the soil of our hearts soft and receptive to God. This week we’ll learn some different ways to receive the seed of his word. May your communion with God flourish as you engage in continual conversation with your loving, present heavenly Father. More from First15 Read today'...