A Conversation About Growth, Fruit, and the Grace That Carries Us

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him…” – Colossians 2:6

A Grace-Centered Conversation on the Heart Behind Surrender

“We love because He first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19
“I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice…” – Romans 12:1

A Grace-Filled Conversation About Obedience, Effort, and Christ Within

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” – John 14:15
“I have been crucified with Christ… and the life I now live… I live by faith in the Son of God.” – Galatians 2:20

A Conversation About Purpose, Pressure, and the Privilege of Union

“Come to Me… and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28
“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works… which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10

A Grace-Filled Conversation About the Real Source of Christian Living

“Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” – John 15:5
“To them God has chosen to make known… this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” – Colossians 1:27

A Candid Conversation About Change, Mental Patterns, and Spirit-Led Renewal

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” – Romans 12:2
“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:6

A Conversation on Sanctification, Self-Effort, and the Power of Yielding to Christ

“Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” – Galatians 3:3
“But we all… are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18

A Grace-Centered Dialogue on Surrender, Self-Identity, and the Life of Christ in You

“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” – Luke 9:23
“You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” – Colossians 3:3

A Conversation About Spiritual Practices and the Exchanged Life

“Abide in Me, and I in you… apart from Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:4–5
“Train yourself for godliness.” – 1 Timothy 4:7

A Grace-Oriented Conversation on Discipleship, Effort, and Union

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 11:1
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” – Galatians 2:20

For many believers, the idea of imitating Christ seems noble—read the Gospels, observe Jesus, and try to copy Him. After all, didn’t Paul say, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1)? Shouldn’t we strive to walk as Jesus walked, love as He loved, speak as He spoke?

Today’s reading takes us deeper into what it really means to have been justified by faith. Bob Hoekstra reminds us that justification is not simply a legal declaration—it is a resurrection. We weren’t just forgiven; we were made alive. In God's eyes, when we placed our trust in Jesus, something supernatural occurred. We were united with Christ—not just in His death, but also in His burial and resurrection. This wasn’t symbolic; it was spiritual reality.

In today’s reflection, Oswald Chambers draws a sharp distinction between being interested in Christ and being identified with Him. Paul doesn’t say he admires Christ or intends to model his life after Him. He declares that he has been crucified with Christ. This isn’t metaphorical—it’s positional and spiritual reality. Paul understands that his old self, with all its independence and self-ownership, was put to death on the cross.

Today’s devotional speaks to the divine sequence of our transformation: crucifixion comes before consecration. The Cross is not just the place where Christ died for us—it is also the place where our old self was put to death in Him. We are not called to consecrate the flesh, nor to bring our uncrucified selves before God for use in service. Instead, it is the new creation—alive from the dead, joined with Christ in resurrection life—that is called to present itself to God.

This morning’s devotional guides us into a deeper understanding of spiritual progression. In Acts 13, Paul encouraged new believers to continue in the grace of God—meaning to remain in the enjoyment of the Triune God as their source of life. But by Acts 14:22, the message matures: Paul and Barnabas now entreat these same believers to continue in the faith.

Paul flips the boasting of his opponents upside down. They flaunt their triumphs, their spiritual experiences, and their strength, but Paul boasts in his sufferings and weaknesses. He recounts a remarkable vision of paradise but refuses to exalt himself over it. Instead, he shares how God humbled him through a "thorn in the flesh," a torment that kept him from pride. He pleaded three times for the Lord to remove it, but God’s response was not to remove the affliction but to give Paul more of Himself.

Luke 22 draws us into the final hours before Jesus' crucifixion, revealing both the darkest intentions of man and the most radiant obedience of Christ. The religious leaders are thrilled to have found a traitor in Judas, allowing them to arrest Jesus quietly. Yet Jesus is no victim. He arranges the Passover, controls the details, and transforms the old covenant meal into a new covenant celebration—His body and blood given for us.

E. Stanley Jones offers a grace-filled lens through which to view humility—not as a degrading attitude of self-effacement, but as a natural outflow of knowing one’s true greatness in Christ. The world often confuses humility with inferiority. But Scripture shows us something altogether different: true humility flows from inward security. Jesus, fully aware that everything had been given into His hands, stooped to wash feet. His greatness wasn't diminished by menial service—it was expressed through it.

Paul’s transformation wasn’t just about conversion; it was about losing all confidence in the flesh. He had every reason to boast—his ancestry, his morality, his religious zeal—but none of it made him effective for Christ. Even after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul spent years still clinging to fleshly confidence, though now directed toward Christian service. His effectiveness didn’t come until he abandoned all reliance on self and stepped into the fullness of Christ’s life within him.

Many believers find themselves in an exhausting cycle of striving for righteousness, especially when they face temptation or feel distant from God. The battle intensifies when they attempt to regain their footing through self-effort, trying to obey the law as a means of restoring their sense of closeness to God. The harder they try, the more condemnation weighs on them, and discouragement sets in like an unshakable burden.