For the past several months, our pastoral team has partnered with a sister church to develop a daily journal designed to deepen our relationship with Jesus. This journal, based on With by Skye Jethani, lays out daily spiritual practices for 45 days, encouraging detachment from recreational phone use, contemplation of Scripture, intentional prayer, and acts of service. The goal is simple: to cultivate a greater awareness of Jesus’ presence in our lives.

📖 "For you have not come to a material object all ablaze with fire, and to gloom and darkness and storm and trumpet-blast and the sound of words." —Hebrews 12:18 (WEY)

The contrast between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion is a striking picture of the difference between life under law and life under grace. Mount Sinai represents the old covenant—a place of terror, trembling, and impossible demands. The people of Israel stood before it, overwhelmed by God’s holiness, yet utterly incapable of meeting His standard. Every command given at Sinai pointed to their inability, exposing their desperate need for something greater.

Paul concludes his letter to the Corinthians with practical guidance on financial giving, travel plans, and final exhortations. His instructions on generosity, spiritual vigilance, and submission to godly leadership highlight essential principles for the church’s growth and unity. Through this passage, we see a call to steward resources faithfully, stand firm in truth, and love one another as Christ loved us.

Luke 9 is a pivotal chapter where Jesus begins preparing His disciples for the reality of following Him. The chapter unfolds in three key movements: the disciples are sent out with power, they witness Jesus' provision and glory, and they are confronted with the cost of discipleship. Through these events, Luke highlights that Jesus is not merely a prophet but the promised Messiah—one who must suffer, die, and be raised. The call to follow Him is not about personal glory but about surrendering to God's greater plan.

📖 "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." — Galatians 5:16

During World War II, nations spent years uncovering hidden enemies—spies, infiltrators, and saboteurs—who worked in secrecy to undermine their efforts. In the same way, a hidden enemy dwells within every believer, working in the shadows: the flesh. Though our old man was crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6), the flesh—our old coping patterns and independent ways of thinking—remains a subtle yet persistent adversary.

I never thought much about dying. I lived with the assumption that it was far off, something to be dealt with later. But when the doctor sat across from me, his words turning into an indistinct hum in my ears, later suddenly became now.

"Stage four. Aggressive. I’m sorry."

"For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." —Romans 8:38–39

E. Stanley Jones brings out the boldness of Christian faith—it does not shrink from the hardest realities but meets them head-on. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, does exactly this in Romans 8. He begins with the one thing most people fear: death. If anything could sever us from God’s love, surely it would be that. And yet, Paul declares with absolute certainty—nothing, not even death itself, can touch our union with Christ.

The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.
— Isaiah 50:4-6

Jesus lived every moment in complete dependence on the Father, listening intently, responding in obedience, and embracing the path set before Him without resistance. He knew what lay ahead—the suffering, the humiliation, the rejection—but He did not turn away. Instead, He willingly endured it all, fully assured that the Father’s will was perfect

Alice sat in the old wooden pew of her church, hands clasped tightly in prayer. The sanctuary was quiet, save for the occasional creak of a shifting floorboard. She had spent years coming here, laying her burdens before God, but for the longest time, her prayers were full of desperate pleading.

"Lord, please fix this."
"Please take this struggle away."
"Why aren’t You answering?"

📖 “For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His.” — Hebrews 4:10 BSB

So many live as though the Christian life depends on their effort—striving, worrying, working as if everything depends on them. But Christ calls us to something entirely different. He invites us to exchange our burdens for His, to cease from our own striving and rest in the sufficiency of His finished work.

“It is the Spirit who gives life”…[God] also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
—John 6:63; 2 Corinthians 3:6

There is no true life apart from Christ. Before we knew Him, we were spiritually lifeless, moving through this world without the vitality of His presence. Our best efforts to be righteous led only to exhaustion, for the law could never impart life—it could only expose our need. But God, rich in mercy, breathed His life into us through the Holy Spirit, uniting us with Christ and making us alive together with Him.

Alex stood at the hospital bedside, gripping his wife’s frail hand. The steady rhythm of the heart monitor was the only sound filling the room, punctuated by the occasional shuffle of nurses in the hallway. Sarah, his wife of twenty-five years, lay motionless, her body weakened by an unexpected and aggressive illness that had taken hold just weeks before. The doctors had spoken in measured tones, their words laced with sympathy: “We’re doing everything we can, but her body isn’t responding the way we hoped.”

📖 “Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

Oswald Chambers speaks of spiritual tenacity—not mere endurance, but endurance fused with the unwavering certainty that God will accomplish what He has promised. True tenacity does not come from clinging in fear but from resolute trust in the One who cannot fail. When circumstances seem to contradict His promises, we are not called to shrink back in doubt but to stand firm, knowing that Christ’s victory is never in question.

📖 "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." —Psalm 37:7

We are often tempted to act in haste when faced with uncertainty. The pressure to resolve a crisis or secure an outcome can feel overwhelming, just as Saul felt when he saw his army scattering and chose to act apart from God’s command (1 Sam. 13:11-12). But Scripture reminds us that waiting is not inactivity—it is trust. Jesus did not rush to His disciples in the storm but came to them in the fourth watch of the night, at precisely the right moment (Matt. 14:25).

Jotham's reign is an unusual one in Judah’s history. Unlike his father Uzziah, who ended his days in disgrace, or his son Ahaz, who would plunge Judah into deeper apostasy, Jotham walked faithfully before the Lord. The text makes it clear that he “ordered his ways before the Lord his God” (v. 6), meaning he sought to live in alignment with God’s will, not merely in outward religious observance but in his whole life.

A man stood at the entrance of a vast desert, holding a well-worn map in his hands. The map had been passed down for generations, drawn by a master traveler who had crossed the desert countless times. It detailed every oasis, every hidden danger, and the only safe route to the other side.

Yet, as the man prepared to begin his journey, voices called to him from the edges of the path.

"That map is outdated," one voice whispered. "The desert has changed. Trust your instincts."

Another voice spoke with confidence, "Here, take my map. It’s easier. No need to follow such a difficult path."

A third voice, softer and more alluring, suggested, "Why struggle at all? Stay here where it's comfortable. No need to cross at all."

Truth is precious, and when it is distorted—especially by those claiming to speak for God—the consequences are severe. In Ezekiel 13, the Lord speaks through the prophet to expose both male and female false prophets in Judah. These individuals spread lies in God's name, reassuring the people with promises of peace when destruction was imminent. Their deceit did not merely mislead; it actively harmed the nation, leading many away from true reliance on the Lord.

Eliphaz’s second speech in Job 15 is marked by increasing hostility. No longer offering even a hint of comfort, he condemns Job, accusing him of arrogance and undermining true piety. His rigid belief that good things happen to good people and suffering only comes upon the wicked blinds him to the larger reality of God’s sovereign purposes. In this chapter, we witness a tragic misunderstanding of suffering—one that leaves no room for the undeserved affliction ultimately fulfilled in Christ’s suffering on the cross.

📖 “In Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

The world throws its fiercest battles at us—trials that test the mind, emotions, and will. But the battle is not ours to fight. It has already been won. Jesus did not merely promise victory in the future; He declared, “I have overcome the world.”That victory is already accomplished, and for those who are in Him, it is already theirs.

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."
— Isaiah 49:15-16

The weight of discouragement can feel overwhelming, especially when circumstances whisper that God has forgotten us. In times of loneliness, failure, or regret, it is easy to assume that His love has waned, that our missteps have distanced us beyond His reach. But God’s love is not like human love. It does not waver with emotions or change with circumstances. His commitment is eternal, and His devotion is unwavering.