First15 Devotional

Prayer is so simple, but often times our minds convolute and complicate it. Today we’re exploring how to encounter God through prayer, and I pray you take away a simplified, childlike approach to spending time with your heavenly Father. May your heart and mind be at peace today as you encounter the living God.   Our Scripture for today comes from Jeremiah 33:3 , and today's worship is House of...

  Having consistent and transformational encounters with God while on earth is meant to be foundational to the Christian life. Our God has not left us. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we’ve been filled with the very Spirit of God who longs to reveal to us daily the nearness and love of our heavenly Father. We are never alone. There is nowhere we can flee from the presence of our God. May this week...

In our final devotional of this week-long series on the marks of a true Christian, today we’re looking at God’s command to overcome evil with good. May God show us the pathway to his power today, and illuminate specific ways we can overcome evil with good today.   Our Scripture for today comes from Romans 12:21 . Today's worship is The Thief and the Friend by Jason Upton. -- A First15 reader,...

As we near the end of our series on the marks of a true Christian, today we’re going to explore together what it means to live in harmony with one another. There’s hardly a better feeling than being in harmony with those that are close to you. We were created for close, thriving relationship with God and others. And God in his power and love wants to equip us to build and keep harmony, even in the...

In today’s devotional, we’re going to continue our series on the marks of a true Christian by looking at Paul’s encouragement to rejoice and weep with others. One of the most powerful acts of love we can make is to follow the way of empathy and compassion. Jesus allowed himself to be burdened by others burdens, pained by their pain. And may we follow the way of our Savior today as we spend time in...

In the middle of our week on the marks of a true Christian, today we’re looking at Paul’s command to bless those who persecute you. Truly blessing those around us that seem to be against us is an incredible act of love, producing fruit not only in the lives of others, but in our lives as well. May God give us insight into his heart for this command today, as well as the courage to live it out. Our...

In our third devotional in this week-long series on the marks of a true Christian, today we’re going to explore together what it means to rejoice in hope. In a world that can so often bring us down, so often appear to be without hope, today we have the opportunity to make room for God to give us his perspective, that we might rejoice in his hope. May God give us wisdom, joy, and eternal perspectiv...

As we continue this week on the marks of a true Christian, today we’re going to look at what it means to be fervent in spirit. You were made to live with a fervent faith, zealous in response to God’s passionate love for you. May God fill all our hearts with his love in a meaningful, authentic way. And may we find the courage in him to live our faith passionately.   Our Scripture for today comes fr...

This week in First15 we’re going to take a look at seven principles found in Romans 12 that describe the marks of a true Christian. The intent of studying this passage is not to condemn or lead you to comparison. Instead, let Paul’s teaching fill you with a deep, transformative longing to wholeheartedly pursue the life God intends for you. Ask God to help you see yourself as he sees you, to see th...

Today we’re wrapping up our week on faith by looking at the power of faith. Trusting in God changes things. Faith is powerful. As we’re going to discover today, when we choose a lifestyle of faith, our life shifts and comes in greater alignment with God’s desires, his kingdom. May God fill our hearts with faith, and may our lives be filled with the fruit of trusting in our good and able God.   Our...

Today we’re looking at a topic I think all of us can relate to: how to have faith in the midst of trials. All throughout Scripture we see examples of God’s people struggling with faith in the midst of challenges. Doubt is something so natural, so human. And the world teaches us that when things get tough, we need to take this life into our own hands and sort it out. But God has a better way for us...

In today’s devotional, we’re going to look together at the marriage of faith and works. One of my greatest struggles is working with God rather than for God. God cares deeply about our work, our impact in this life, but not because he needs us to serve him or work for him, but because he wants to work with us. He wants to give us a picture of his goodness and love at work in the lives of others, a...

In today’s First15 devotional, we’re going to look at what it means to pray in faith. We have a good Father who listens to every word we pray, and knows every need of our hearts before we even ask for it. May God’s goodness become the foundation of our prayer, that we would learn to pray out of a place of belief instead of begging, and hope instead of doubt. Our Scripture for today comes from Mark...

We’re in our third day in our series on faith. Today we’re going to look in greater depth at how we can actually live by faith, experiencing the incredible fruit that comes from trusting in the faithfulness of God in every moment. God is with you, and his heart is filled with love for you. May you find the strength and courage to trust in him today with all that you are. Our Scripture for today co...

  In this week of devotionals, we’re focusing on faith. Living with our faith stirred up is absolutely foundational to living an abundant life. God is faithful no matter what. But faith allows us to have trust in that faithfulness, producing a peace and sense of calm in the midst of challenges that we desperately need. I pray that your faith would be stirred today as we look at the biblical princi...

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith is the undercurrent of everything we do as followers of Jesus. Without faith we lose all that Christ died to give us while here on earth. It is by faith we access the peace, joy, guidance, love, and purpose that comes from restored relationship with our heavenly Father. In this week of dev...

As we wrap up our week on loving people, we look today at how we can love the Church as God does. Jesus says we will be known by the way we love each other. Would people know you’re a Christian by the way you love your brothers and sisters? People are messy, it’s true. We all are. And yet Jesus saw our worth and loved us in the midst of our messiness. How can you mimic that same love today as you...

As we near the end of our series on Love Does, today we’re going to look at the role of hope in putting our faith into action. You and I need hope more than ever. We need God to give us fresh vision for the work he’s doing and will do in the world around us. And we need him to empower us to share that vision with others, that our perspective would be grounded in his goodness. May God fill us as hi...

In today’s podcast, we’re going to look at the role of forgiveness in putting our love into action. In God we have forgiveness for every sin we can commit. And that forgiveness not only washes us clean, but empowers us to become like our great Forgiver. Every day we’re wronged in some way. And every day is an opportunity to show others forgiveness, not because they deserve it, but because loving f...

In today’s devotional we’re going to look at the role of encouragement in putting our love into action. In a world that constantly seems to beat us down, we’re in need of some real encouragement. God has an encouraging word to speak to everyone around you. And if we’ll make space to listen, he longs to share that word with us that we might see his kingdom advancing in the heart of another.  May Go...

In our third day of this series exploring how to put our faith into action, we’re looking at how we can love others by simply making time for them. The busier our schedules get, the harder it can be to make time for the needs of others. But we see in Jesus someone who while holding the power to save and heal the world, made time for the one. May God grant us his perspective and fashion us into his...

As we continue this week’s focus, seeking to put love into action, today we’re going to look at how simply being present can make all the difference in the life of another. As our world becomes more and more distracted, and takes less time to notice what’s happening in the life of another, may God empower us as his people to simply be present today.   Our Scripture for today comes from Psalm 139:7...

James 2:26 tells us, “Faith apart from works is dead.” If we are going to experience the fullness of life offered to us through our faith we must be those who put our words into action. We must not profess to love God on Sunday and live as if he isn’t present, real, or good on Monday. May your faith come alive this week as you seek to be a doer of the word. Our Scripture for today comes from James...

As we wrap up our week on loving people, we look today at how we can love the Church as God does. Jesus says we will be known by the way we love each other. Would people know you’re a Christian by the way you love your brothers and sisters? People are messy, it’s true. We all are. And yet Jesus saw our worth and loved us in the midst of our messiness. How can you mimic that same love today as you...

As we near the end of our week on loving people, today we shift to loving those we don’t know. We are all so busy, and most often unaware of those around us, becoming too focused on ourselves to notice others. Perhaps today God would shift our focus upward to see the faces we pass on the streets or on the elevator. How much could a kind word or smile help someone out having a rough day? Let’s try...