First15 Devotional

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 l...

This week on the First15 podcast we'll spend time stirring up our affections for God through the renewing of our minds. Your mind is the gateway to your affections. What you think is worthy of your affections is what will receive them. So, as we grow in our understanding of God’s overwhelming goodness we will naturally give him our hearts. May you be stirred by the unconditional love of your h...

As we wrap up this week looking at the longings of the human heart we all share, we’re going to look today at the longing to make a deep and lasting impact.  God has a plan to use you in ways far beyond what you could ask or imagine, a plan for you to make a deep and lasting impact in the world.  As we make space for God to speak and lead today, may he give us a deeper sense of purpose and calling...

In today’s podcast, we’re going to explore the longing we all share to be wholehearted.  Everyone of us desires to give our lives to something, our passion to something that truly matters. And God has given us all that desire with a perfect plan to satisfy it in a unique way, a way he’s perfectly wired each of us for.  May each of us get a greater sense of how we can live more wholeheartedly in hi...

In today’s podcast we’re going to look at the longing we all share for intimacy without shame.  You and I were made to be fully known, and fully loved. And pursuing that sense of knowledge and love from the world has left so many of us wounded.  But the good news is that God has a path for healing, relationship, and love that’s void of shame, and wants to guide us down that path today as we create...

I'm thrilled to share one of my favorite conversations I've had with one of my favorite pastors, Pete Yoshonis from All Shores Wesleyan Church in Spring Lake, Michigan. In this conversation we talk about worship, the value in life of spiritual disciplines, and how his church is using First15 to go deeper in relationship with God and each other as a community. I hope that this podcast will...

Today as we continue our series looking at 7 longings of the human heart, we’re going to take time to recognize and satisfy our longing for greatness.  The longing for greatness within the heart of man has produced tremendous and terrible things. It’s produced peace and war, advancement and destruction. And as we look at this longing today, I pray that God reveals the purity and power of it as wel...

As we continue our week-long focus on 7 longings of the human heart, today we’re going to look at the longing we all share for beauty.  God has created beauty all around us, beauty we can see and beauty we can feel. And in a world so inundated with false notions of beauty, today my prayer is that God reveals the purity within this longing that resides within each of our hearts, and his perfect pla...

We serve an absolutely fascinating God – a God who has created a whole world to fascinate us.  May we set our eyes on him today by the power of the Holy Spirit, that our longing for fascination would be satisfied in relationship with our powerful and good God. The titles and main concept for this week are all derived from  The Seven Longings of the Human Heart  by Mike Bickle and Deborah Hiebert....

All of us have insatiable longings that can only be satisfied in communion with our heavenly Father. The longing to be enjoyed, fascinated, to gaze upon beauty, and to be someone great are driving forces within each of us. The longing to experience intimacy without shame, to be wholehearted, and to make a deep and lasting impact resound within each of us at the foundation of who we are. God create...

As we wrap up this week-long focus seeking to answer the important question, why should we spend time alone with God, today we’re going to look at how God provides freedom through simply enjoying him.  I hope and pray that chains weighing you down to the cares and sins of the world fall of of you today as we follow the Spirit down a path to more fully enjoying God. Our Scripture for today comes fr...

As we near the end of our week long focus of why spending time alone with God is so important, today we’re going to look at the value of living in surrender.  Every day there is an opportunity to hand over the burdens and cares of this world that we might pick up the peace and joy of relationship with God. And for me, that opportunity has presented itself most often in the rhythm of spending time...

As we continue our week-long series looking answering the important question, Why should we spend time alone with God, we’re going to look today simply at the value of having time alone. In a world where we’re inundated with media, people, stress, and work from the moment we wake up, God has a better beginning to every day in store for us if we’ll follow him. Our Scripture for today comes from Luk...

In today’s podcast, we’re going to look at how spending time alone with God every morning provides a daily opportunity to renew our minds to the goodness of God, the goodness of this life, and the moment by moment potential of living in real relationship with God. I pray that after today’s time, your mind is clear and focused on truth, and that your emotions and actions are marked by abundant life...

In today’s podcast, we’re going to look at what it means to live for love, to build our lives on the foundation of giving and receiving love. Y ou and I were made in God’s image, and his very nature is love. So may he guide us into a deep discovery of who we are in him, and how we can live our lives filled with the passionate pursuit of love. Our Scripture for today comes from Mark 12:30-31 , and...

As we continue our series looking at the heart behind spending time alone with God, today we’re going to look at the daily opportunity to store the treasure of our hearts in heaven.  May God guide us into a passion for investing our lives in his kingdom, that we would have the most joy and peace possible here on earth as well as in heaven. Our Scripture for today comes from Matthew 6:19-21 , and t...

Why should we spend time alone with God? Why is meeting with God in the secret place so important? Until we gain an understanding of the immense value and availability of encountering God, we will never consistently engage in this foundational, vital practice. As we discover God’s heart to meet with us in order that we might experience the depths of his love, I pray that your life would be marked...

In our last episode focusing on getting back the basics of a quality time alone with God, we’re going to focus on what it means to meditate as a Christian.  There is so much life to be had in the practice of meditation. And there is so much history within Christianity around this wonderful practice of meditating.  May the encouragements of Scripture and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit lead each...

As we near the end of our week getting back to the basics of a quality time alone with God, we’re going to take time today to look simply at the presence of God.  As mysterious as it may sound, God’s presence is meant to be a regular part of all our lives. Just as we experience the nearness of those we do life with every day, and the fruit of them simply being with us, God wants us to experience h...

Today on the podcast we’ll explore what I hope is the fruit of every day’s devotional, communion with God.  We serve a God who is simply after being with us. Every moment of every day is a chance to let God in, to live in real restored relationship with him.  May God guide us ever closer to him as we create room for him to fill right now. Our Scripture for today comes from John 15:4-5 , and today&...

Today we’re going to look at what I believe is the most life-giving aspect of daily time alone with God, prayer.  There are so many ideas out there about what prayer should be. Today my hope is to clarify what prayer can mean for you and me in this space we’re creating for God’s presence by looking at Scripture together. And then ultimately, making space today to really pray.  My hope is that toda...

Today in our week-long focus on the foundations of a quality time alone with God, we’re going to look at the devotional piece of our times together. I’m so excited to share with you my heart behind writing what you hear every day, and I know that our time together will help you get even more out of this space for God’s presence. Our Scripture for today comes from 1 John 4:16 , and today's wors...

On today’s podcast we’ll continue our week looking at the foundation of a quality time alone with God by looking at the value of worship.  Worship is perhaps the most foundational part of a quality time alone with God. It takes what can so often be a self-centered time, and empowers us to put God, with all his love and goodness, right at the center of our time instead.  May God stir each of our he...

As we start a new year, this week we’ll spend time breaking down the individual components of First15 by sharing God's desire for each of them. The majority of First15 is dedicated to encountering God and learning about his character, but every now and then we will cover some teaching and tools that will help in pursuing God to greater depths. This week we will get back to the basics and learn...

In the last podcast of this year, we’re going to take time to simply make space for God to fill.  Whenever we make a little room in our day, and in our hearts for God, it always amazes me how he can fill us with exactly what we need. So today, simply make room for God for whatever you need most, and allow him to fill that space with his good and perfect nearness. Our Scripture for today comes from...