First15 Devotional

God’s grace is the foundation of our freedom, a sure gift made available to us again every morning. Every mistake we make is covered. Every sin is forgiven. And my hope is that as we center our hearts and minds around God’s grace, that his forgiveness and mercy open a pathway to true freedom for us today. Our Scripture for today comes from 1 Corinthians 15:56–57 , and today's worship is Sails...

Grace is a gift most of us don’t know how to receive. We’ve been so inundated with the earthly systems of give-and-get and work-and-earn that grace is a concept few ever fully grasp. Yet it’s grace alone that has the power to transform lives. Grace alone has the power to bring freedom to the captives. By grace alone we are saved. Today we’re launching a new series, taking time every day to discove...

For the last day of our weeklong focus on being the child of God, we’re looking at how our status as God’s child can never been taken away from us. May God give you confidence and joy today in your new identity in him. And may you see how powerful his sacrificial love is today as we make space to see and live out our identity as eternal children of a good God. Our Scripture for today comes from Jo...

Have you ever felt like you were drowning? Not in the physical sense, but spiritually or emotionally–simply spent and burnt out on religion.  Today’s guest, Aaron Niequist felt just that while serving as a worship pastor at a prominent megachurch in Chicago, IL. When the limits of his own faith experience left him feeling spiritually empty, Niequist determined God must have a wider vision for wors...

As we near the end of our weeklong focus on being children of the most high God, we’re going to take time today to create space to discover and receive the blessings of our Father. Our God is good, and loves to bless us in countless, wonderful ways. May we taste and see God’s goodness today as we open our hands and hearts to receive the gifts of his love. Our Scripture for today comes from James 1...

Today we continue our weeklong focus on being a child of God, by looking at how God guides us throughout our life. All of us long for, a need a guide through this life. In this journey, there are so many twists and turns, so many unknowns, so many roads we can take, we need a good, omniscient, and omnipotent guide to help us know which way to go. May you sense the leadership of your loving Father...

In the heart of our week on being the child of God, we’re going to take time today to look at how we can position ourselves to receive the wealth of Fatherly affections God has for us. God’s love changes everything. Wherever you need a sense of his love, wherever you have need, I pray that the Father gives you a profound revelation of his love there today. Our Scripture for today comes from Psalm...

In our third day focusing on what it means to be the child of God, we’re going to look at how we can live with childlike faith. One of the wonders of being children of the Creator and Sustainer of all, is our ability to let go of fear, and live with trust. May you experience peace and courage today as you allow God to take burdens off of your shoulders, and live with childlike faith. Our Scripture...

In our second day looking at what it means to be the child of God, we’re going to take time today to look at a new bloodline of freedom we’ve inherited as God’s children. May we live unchained to the terrible effects of sin today as we learn to walk out our new identity in Christ. Our Scripture for today comes from 1 John 3:2–3 , and today's worship is No Longer Slaves by Bethel Music feat. Jo...

As children of the Most High God, we have been granted access to unconditional, tangible, and perfect love. All we need we have in relationship with our Father in heaven. He longs to reveal himself to us as a loving, real Father. He longs for us to live in the fullness of restored relationship with him. He longs for us to experience his vast and limitless affections. May we grow in our understandi...

As we end our week on knowing God’s heart for us, we’re going to focus on the call to action that God’s heart doesn’t just stop with us, but is meant to be carried through us into the lives of those around us. When you are operating out of God’s love daily secure in his affections for you, God can do miraculous things through you. Just imagine how God could use you to bless and enrich the lives of...

God is such a good, loving Father that he wants us to live with a foundational understanding of his affection toward us. He wants the knowledge of his unconditional love for us to be so deeply rooted within us, that all striving ceases and we live in total freedom as his children. Today we’re going to further explore that concept as we begin to finish up our week on knowing the heart of God. Our S...

One of the most influential ways I believe God wants to reveal himself and his heart is through others. No one is perfect like him, of course. But we all carry unique aspects of our Father’s character. God wants to use others in your life to show you more about himself on a daily basis. If we’ll open our hearts to those around us, the possibilities are unlimited to what God can do. Our Scripture f...

Today we’ll explore who the Holy Spirit is, and what that means for knowing the heart of God richly in our daily lives. The concept of God’s Spirit is often seen as elusive, but it’s my hope today we’ll come to know him as a person—just as we have Jesus. The Spirit longs to have a beautiful, deep friendship with you. And all it takes is opening our hearts to him. Our Scripture for today comes from...

As we seek to know the heart of God this week, today we’ll look to his word as a steady, ever-present guide to God’s feelings toward us. If you’re ever feeling lost or confused about his heart, look no further than his word. May we begin to turn to the Bible as our source of truth and direction first and foremost, rather than the world around us. Our Scripture for today comes from Hebrews 4:12 , a...

As we continue our week on knowing God’s heart, today we’ll explore the idea of continually seeking God in our day to day lives, rather than living off of one-time experiences. God is always available to us, and as his children, we have his Spirit speaking to us as all times, in all places. May we walk away today more inclined to listen and more open to finding God in unexpected ways. Our Scriptur...

One of the greatest privileges as a child of God is that we can have the heart of our heavenly Father. We don’t have to wonder how he feels about us. We don’t have to wonder if he will guide us. We don’t have to question whether he loves us or cares about us. Through the Holy Spirit we have continual, free access to the heart of God. May your relationship with God go deeper and become freer as you...

In the final devotional in our series on experiencing God’s promises, today we’re going to look at what it means to live for God’s glory. There is a wealth of promises that can only be experienced when we choose to lay down our own glory, and live for the glory of God instead. We weren’t created to live for our own advancement, and attachment to advancement only breeds pain and suffering. But if w...

As we near the end of our week long series on experiencing the promises of God, today we’re going to look at how living with faithful action, being the hands of feet of Jesus, position us to experience more of God’s promises. May God guide us to into a work birthed from the place of abiding in him, that our lives would be marked by the fruit of God’s promises coming to fruition every day. Our Scri...

In today’s devotional, we’re going to look at how being wise with our time, and investing it in the place of meeting with God face to face, positions us to more fully experience God’s promises every day. May God open our eyes to see the true value of our time, and how deeply he cherishes when we choose to spend it on him. Our Scripture for today comes from Psalm 37:7 , and today's worship is M...

As we continue our series looking at how we can position ourselves to experience the fullness of God’s promises, today we’re looking at how we can cast off negativity, so that we, right here and now, can experience to greater depth the joy that’s available to us in God. May God grant us the courage and perspective to choose life over death today as we seek to live the abundant life wholly availabl...

In today’s devotional, we’re going to go deeper into the place of trust, seeking to open more of our hearts to our good and loving Father, so we can experience more of his promises, moment by moment. Without trust, we’ll miss out on so many of the gifts God wants to give us every day. Without trust, our hearts will be closed off to the fullness of what this life has to offer us. May we as God’s ch...

In our second devotional positioning ourselves to more fully experience God’s promises, today we’re going to look at the role of renewing our minds in opening our heads and hearts to receive all God longs to give. May God do a mighty work today as we make space for him to fill. Our Scripture for today comes from Romans 12:2 , and today's worship is Just Jesus by Mark & Sarah Tillman. Check...

In today’s devotional, we’re launching a brand new series seeking to position ourselves to receive more of the reality of God’s promises every day. There is so much available to you and to me in God that we fail to tap into. And today we’re looking specifically at how waiting on the Lord, sitting patiently and intentionally at his feet, positions us to receive God’s promise of strength. May God gu...

In the last devotional of this series on God’s promises, today we’re looking at the promise of his return. The suffering and pain we’re experiencing right now is not for forever. There is a conclusion to this story, to all of our stories. And that conclusion is being written by a God so good, so loving, and so powerful, that we know this story of humanity ends triumphantly. So may God fill us with...