The Drive - A Daily Devotional by Pastor Mike Sternad

Send us Fan Mail The way to spiritually flourish is to forge ahead in the faith.  Do you want to grow in the faith and be passionately on fire for God? Consistently seeking the Lord is the way to go and to have a revived heart that longs for more of Him. God gives you all the tools you need to thrive in the faith and to progress in your one-on-one relationship with Him. You can forge ahead by stay...

Send us Fan Mail It’s about depth over width.  The more you focus on the things of God, the deeper you will go in your relationship with Him. You are not called to strive through a spiritual checklist in order to make God happy. You are called to grow deeper in your relationship with your heavenly Father so that everything you do flows from connecting with Him on a consistent basis. You’ve never b...

Send us Fan Mail Rest in reality.  Once in a while you attempt to find rest in this world because you forget that God is the only One in whom you can find rest! You tried and it didn’t work. The reality is that it is an amazing character trait to run to the Lord and depend upon Him for life. People who don’t understand may think you are weak and you should just do it all yourself with the help of...

Send us Fan Mail Comfort comes from your Creator.  There have been times when you have needed comfort and you did not get it. You attempted to find comfort and rest in a person and realized that is not possible. Sure, temporary solace is there and God uses people to console you and me. But the fact is the true source of comfort from Whom we are to take in and give out is the Creator of the univers...

Send us Fan Mail  You are loved.  Sometimes you forget the amaz- ing fact that God is love and His deep love is directed toward you perpetually. Sometimes you don’t “feel” loved by God and you question His love for you because you feel like a failure. Please abandon those thoughts and lies. God thought about you before He knit you in the womb; your life matters to Him because He created and crafte...

Send us Fan Mail God has a beautiful purpose for you in this life.  You do not exist randomly. You are not here just to live out your life and do nothing of value or pur- pose. God has a purpose and divine plan for your life. He wants to use you mightily for His glory, and there is nothing more amazing than that! To walk in the middle of God’s mission for you is completely beautiful because you ar...

Send us Fan Mail Believe and be free.  Living by faith is so easy for you to say verbally, but at times so difficult for you to live out. Those times when you feel restricted and limited are most likely the times your faith is faltering. Without faith it’s impossible to please God—but without faith it’s also impossible to live in freedom. As you walk by faith from day to day and on a continual bas...

Send us Fan Mail Tomorrow is no reason for you to worry. It’s a reason for you to worship.  So often you think about what might happen tomorrow when the Lord is calling you to be thankful today. You can praise God if you wake up tomorrow because He’s given you another day to live. But don’t forget to praise God for your life and for leading you presently. At this moment you are in the midst of ans...

Send us Fan Mail Reality can only be seen if you are seeking God.  People today want to follow something or someone that is actually genuine. They don’t want the drama and the fake faith that comes from those who are living shallowly. They want to live for deep, meaningful and purposeful things. When you are seeking God on a daily basis, you will truly see reality. You will understand why you were...

Send us Fan Mail Sit down and seek God.  One of the best ways you can seek the Lord is to sit in a quiet place and pray. When was the last time you did that, distraction free? If it’s been a while, it’s time to do it again! Only then will you be able to hear His voice rather than just your own. It’s easy to talk and talk when there are voices all around because you simply have to talk a little lou...

Send us Fan Mail You can’t follow the Lord from the front.  It is ridiculous to think you can actually lead God in this life. Yet, sometimes you act like you can and are the one in charge calling the shots. You are not; the Lord is. If you jump ahead of God, life truly becomes foggy and confusing. But when you let God go before you, life becomes clear and you understand He is in control. And when...

Send us Fan Mail Don’t forget to wait on the Lord.  Sometimes we forget that God’s timing is way better than our timing. Your timing is imperfect. Mine is too. The reality is none of us have the right timing apart from the Lord! His timing is the absolute best! Being rash is never a good thing. When you forget to wait upon Him, you get ahead of Him and you make yourself out to be wiser than Him. T...

Send us Fan Mail Lean into the storm and watch God calm it.  There are life moments when you know you are going to be in the midst of a storm. There are life events you just cannot control. During these very moments, keep going forward and know that the road of God’s will is not going to be problem free. Your tendency may be to run at every sign of trouble, but sometimes God allows a storm so you...

Send us Fan Mail Faith won’t falter as long as you consistently feed it.  Those moments when your faith breaks down are a result of not living out God’s Word. You don’t want your faith to waver nor do you want it to crumble because of the pressures of this world. Your faith will flourish as you stay active living for Jesus and you’ll keep inspired as you both hear and heed Him. When the core of wh...

Send us Fan Mail The future is bright if you embrace the present.  You will live your life fully when you aren’t stuck in the past or obsessed about the future. Live for today because the time is now. You may have procrastinated and put off the work the Lord has for you, but may that stop today. You have heard the saying, “Live for the present,” but I say, “Live for God presently.” He is not looki...

Send us Fan Mail Belief opens up the infinite.  When you sincerely and genuinely believe what God says in His Word, it will open more than just your spiritual eyes. It will also open the whole eternal realm and you’ll begin to see things from a brand new vantage point! This is both amazing and sobering. Amazing because the Lord has allowed you to peer into eternal things and clearly understand wha...

Send us Fan Mail The Bible is your basis of truth, your blueprint for life, and your instruction manual before leaving earth.  You have the most amazing resource at your disposal whenever you want it. The Bible is the most sold, most stolen, and most overlooked book in the entire world. As you read it, it gives you all the information you need to lead you through a steady transformation in your li...

Send us Fan Mail Live out what you’ve taken in.  Talk is useless if it doesn’t line up with your actions. You can say something one minute, but then turn around and do something contrary the next minute. As believers we don’t ever claim to be even close to perfect, but we do want to live out what comes out of our mouths. Un- believers already believe we are hypocrites; we do not want to feed that...

Send us Fan Mail Know the truth and tell others.  When you are excited about something, you can’t help but to tell someone! You’re bursting at the seams to relay the information to anyone who would listen. You know that God’s Word has transformed your mind, changed your life and set you free. You know that nothing is more exciting than that. So you are so blessed to relay that to others so that Go...

Send us Fan Mail Yesterday’s actions don’t define today’s triumphs.  Don’t live in past victories, because the past is over and God has new victories for you to walk in. Some believers are still talking about that one time years ago when they shared the gospel with that person and they got saved. That is amazing but God has new adventures for you to walk in and even more people to share the gospel...

Send us Fan Mail Your past is simply a tool to testify of how God is incredibly gracious.  Don’t despise the testimony of how God has saved you and set you apart for Himself. Use it as an avenue to share the heart of God to people who do not know Him. You don’t have to share every detail of your past. Only share what you are comfortable with. I have used my past a ton of times to bring encourageme...

Send us Fan Mail Whether you like it or not, you influence a lot of people.  You have the blessing of being an imperfect influence who inspires others to follow a perfect God. So as you live your life for the Lord and walk out your faith, know that you are having an impact on more people than you think! If your goal and aim is to please God, others will see it and want to emulate that. This is an...

Send us Fan Mail Your reaction can either be a great witness or a missed opportunity.  People will say and do the craziest things sometimes. Your reaction to the craziness actually matters. Just by how you react to a certain joke, comment or ungodly action by another can either reinforce or ruin your witness. It makes me think of those bracelets from the 1980s with the letters WWJD. What would Jes...

Send us Fan Mail Wisdom has never come from what is ahead. It comes from Who is above.  Life may bring you some experiences that help you for future moments, but the wisdom you need to navigate presently, as well as in the future, is straight from God. Look up on a regular basis especially when you must make decisions and have no clue what to do. The average person makes thousands of decisions eac...

Send us Fan Mail Now is the time to live out your purpose, be- cause yesterday is over.  The past is overrated and focused on entirely too much. The fact is your past is over. The only things you should bring with you from the past are those moments where the Lord worked radically and came through in your situation. You have those turning points in your life where the Lord broke through your situa...