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Day 2 — Not My Will, but Yours Scripture: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” —Luke 22:42 Reflection: Have you ever told God that you surrendered something to Him, only to take it back when His answer did not match your expectations? I can recall many situations when I attempted to bargain with God. Whether it involved whom I…

Day 1 — When Strength Looks Like Surrender Scripture: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” —Matthew 5:5 Reflection: What comes to mind when you hear the word strength? We often picture someone influential, confident, or firmly in control. Our culture tends to admire those who assert themselves, defend their rights, and refuse to let anyone stand in their way. Strength is…

Day 5 — Mourning Will Give Way to Morning Scripture: Revelation 21:3–4 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor…

Day 4 — The Savior Who Weeps with Us Scripture: John 11:33–36 “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’” Reflection: “Jesus wept” is the shortest verse in the English…

Day 3 — The Difference Between Regret and Repentance Scripture: 2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” Reflection: Have you ever apologized because you were truly sorry—or because you simply wanted the consequences to go away? There is a difference between regretting what happened and repenting…

Day 2 — When We See Ourselves Clearly Scripture: Isaiah 6:5  And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Reflection: Have you ever cleaned a room that looked fine until the sunlight came through the window? Suddenly, the light revealed dust floating through the…

Day 1 — When Sorrow Becomes a Blessing Scripture: Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Reflection: Have you ever received news that suddenly changed everything? Perhaps it was a difficult diagnosis, the loss of someone you loved, the end of a relationship, or the discovery that someone you trusted had betrayed you. In those moments, we do not feel blessed.…

Day 5 — The King Who Became Poor Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” Reflection: How do we normally determine whether someone is rich? We look at what they possess—their income, home, investments, influence, or opportunities. The more someone…

Day 4 — Empty Hands Can Receive Grace Scripture: Isaiah 66:1–2 Thus says the Lord:“Heaven is my throne,    and the earth is my footstool;what is the house that you would build for me,    and what is the place of my rest?2 All these things my hand has made,    and so all these things came to be,declares the Lord.But this is the one to whom I will look:    he who is humble and contrite in…

Day 3 — The Danger of the Spiritual Résumé Scripture: Luke 18:9–14 9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners,…

Day 2 — When the Account Is Empty Scripture: Romans 3:22–24 “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Reflection: Have you ever logged in to check your bank account, only to discover that it was not merely empty, but overdrawn? Your heart sinks as you begin…

Day 1 — A Different Kind of Blessed Scripture: Matthew 5:1–3 “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’” Reflection: What comes to mind when you hear the word blessed? We often connect blessing with pleasant…

Day 5 — From the Cave to the Cross Scripture: Ruth 1:16–17 16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from…

Day 4 — Judgment and Mercy Meet at the Cross Scripture: Romans 5:8–9 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  Reflection: Genesis 19 reminds us of a truth our culture often ignores. God is holy. His justice is real. Sin…

Day 3 — Don’t Look Back Scripture: Luke 17:32 “Remember Lot’s wife.” Reflection: Have you ever been driving and realized you were paying more attention to the rearview mirror than to the road ahead? You glance back to check what’s behind you, but if your eyes stay there too long, you’re headed for trouble. You cannot safely move forward while being consumed with what is behind…

Day 2 — Mercy That Pursues Scripture: Genesis 19:16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. Reflection: One word stands out in this verse: He lingered. Even after hearing that judgment was coming, Lot hesitated. How often do we do the same? God calls us to…

Day 1 — The Slow Drift of Compromise Scripture: Genesis 19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom.  Reflection: During a recent vacation, Jenn and I went kayaking. At one point, the wind kept pushing me into an area where the current would swirl around. I had to paddle against both the current and the increasing wind just to break free. The…