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10/02/2026

Persevering into Joy

Blessed is the one who perseveres. James 1:12

Nestled in a corner of the brick steps leading up to our front door is a hardy little scarlet begonia. We didn’t plant it—it must have grown there from a seed that fell out of a hanging basket. But we’ve let it remain. Year after year it’s a cheerful reminder to my wife and me that perseverance is a beautiful thing.

James offers even more beautiful encouragement to persevere, especially to those facing opposition for their faith in Jesus: “Consider it pure joy . . . whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3).

Pure joy? We balk at those words, but the apostle is looking forward to the truth that God is over everything and is able to bring good out of even difficult circumstances. James completes the thought: “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because . . . that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (v. 12). The word blessed is the same word Jesus uses in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12), and it carries the meaning—among other things—of “happy.”

Whatever we face, including spiritual battles and life’s hard challenges, God will sustain us in His love and will one day mercifully reward us with the beauty of His joy.

By James Banks
REFLECT & PRAY
How does it help you to know that God is able to �bring good out of our most challenging circumstances? �What do you most look forward to from Him today?

Thank You for persevering to the cross for me, dear Jesus. You bring the greatest happiness of all!

10/01/2026

Gentle Answers with God’s Help

A gentle answer turns away wrath. Proverbs 15:1

“Close it up. I’ve seen enough.” Those were the words of an older, experienced beekeeper to me one afternoon when I was learning how to tend a hive. My movements had been quick and forceful, causing vibrations that alarmed the bees and resulted in a growing swarm around my head. Even though I was trying to care for them, I was only making them angry. My friend proceeded to show me the importance of moving “softly,” using gentle motions that were less likely to disturb the bees. Today (years later), when I go into a hive, my motions are so much smoother that my wife tells me it almost looks like I’m dancing.

Sometimes difficult conversations are like dancing with bees. When others are upset and emotions are tense, reacting angrily only makes matters worse. As King Solomon observed, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). Responding kindly and peacefully to those who are irritated or unreasonable may take time to learn. But because gentleness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit at work within us (see Galatians 5:22-23), with God’s help we can make progress in it.

These days I’m learning to pray for wisdom and gentleness whenever I go into a hive or a difficult conversation. When we walk with God into tense moments, our “help in trouble” is never far away (Psalm 46:1).

By James Banks
REFLECT & PRAY
How can God help you react gently to someone who’s angry? What will you say to someone who needs a gentle response from you today?

Dear Jesus, please help me to gently share Your love in the ways I respond to others today.

09/30/2026

Listening to God

After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2 nlt

In a TED Talk, Celeste Headlee outlines “10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation.” One of those might appear to be counterintuitive: In order to have good conversation, we need to listen. Often when the other person is talking, we aren’t really listening to them but forming in our minds what we next want to say. Headlee quotes author Stephen Covey: “Most of us don’t listen with the intent to understand. We listen with the intent to reply.”

Scripture has much to say about listening, especially when it comes to God. Ecclesiastes is rather blunt: “Keep your ears open and your mouth shut” (Ecclesiastes 5:1 nlt). It reminds us that God knows a whole lot more than we do—“God is in heaven” (v. 2)—so it’s wise for us to listen to Him. A verse in Proverbs seems to resonate with the quotes from Headlee and Covey: “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions” (18:2).

What does this mean for us? As we come before God in prayer, we would do well to make time to actually listen to Him, not just rattle on with our lists of concerns and worries. And as we find ourselves in conversations with others today, we might be surprised at how our relationships deepen when we’re really listening to them, not just figuring out what we want to tell them.

By Kenneth Petersen
REFLECT & PRAY
When it comes to listening, how might you think �differently about your prayer time with God? �How can you take more time to listen to Him?

Dear God, please help me to truly listen to others. I want to make time in my prayers to really listen to You.

09/29/2026

Eternity with God

Whoever lives by believing in me will never die. John 11:26

On England’s south coast, two women who are both named Kate run the Coffin Club. They created this place for people to prepare for their eventual death through selecting and decorating their coffins. Kate’s dad died when she was thirteen, and she said, “It was horrendous. No one wanted to talk about death.” Their club is a way to normalize an experience we will all go through one day.

Death may be “normal” because it will happen to everyone. But those who love and serve Jesus can prepare for their death without fear, as we see in Jesus’ conversation with His beloved friend Martha after her brother had died. Jesus promised her that Lazarus would “rise again” (John 11:23). He told her that He is “the resurrection and the life” and that “the one who believes in [Him] will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in [Him] will never die” (vv. 25-26). Martha responded by making one of the few professions in the New Testament that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God (v. 27). She believed.

We may or may not be keen to decorate our own coffins, but we all can prepare for death by placing our hope in God, trusting in the salvation Jesus offers. Knowing that we will continue to live after we die gives us true comfort, hope, and peace. We can join Martha in believing that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who saves.

By Amy Boucher Pye
REFLECT & PRAY
How do you react to the idea of a “Coffin Club”? What could you do today to celebrate life and eternity with God?

Dear Jesus, You’re the Messiah. Please help me to trust in You now and always.

09/28/2026

God’s Rescue Plan

He will crush your head and you will strike his heel. Genesis 3:15

When a father learned his five-year-old daughter had fallen overboard from the fourth deck of the cruise ship they were on, he plunged into the ocean forty feet below to rescue her. He held on to his daughter while treading water for more than ten minutes before the ship’s rescue team brought them safely back on board. As soon as the father heard his daughter was in trouble, he risked everything to save her.

All throughout the Bible, we read how our heavenly Father’s love compelled Him to give His all to rescue us from drowning in our sin. God first declared His divine rescue plan in the garden of Eden. After Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent and sinned, God cursed the serpent and said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). This verse refers to the spiritual battle between Satan and God’s children and how at His appointed time God would send His Son, Jesus, to redeem the world through His Son’s sacrificial death and resurrection.

God has been ready to save us long before we realized we needed His help. Whenever we feel like we’re sinking in an ocean of sin, we can be encouraged that Jesus is our divine lifeline. We can cry out to Him. He will rescue and restore us.

By Nancy Gavilanes
REFLECT & PRAY
When have you experienced God’s forgiveness? How does it feel knowing He loves you?

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving and rescuing me.

09/25/2026

Acts of Devotion

The other events of Josiah’s reign �and his acts of devotion . . . are written �in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 2 Chronicles 35:26-27

Like all early departures from this life, Joe’s death shocked those who knew him. Just before he died, he’d begun making poor decisions. Now this husband, father, coach, and youth leader would no longer be there for those who’d relied on him.

It’s easy to focus on Joe’s recent bad choices. Yet when his daughter spoke at his funeral, she rightly highlighted how her dad, though flawed like all of us, had served Jesus with his life.

We find something similar in the story of Judah’s King Josiah. When Egypt’s King Necho mounted a military offensive against Babylon, Josiah foolishly “marched out to meet him in battle” (2 Chronicles 35:20). Necho had no intention of attacking Judah (v. 21), and Josiah’s intervention ignored “God’s command” (v. 22). It cost him his life (vv. 23-24).

Though Josiah finished unwisely, the prophet Jeremiah “composed laments for Josiah” (v. 25). The story concludes, “The other events of Josiah’s reign and his acts of devotion . . . are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah” (vv. 26-27). Acts of devotion. A timely epitaph for an untimely death.

It’s good to ponder the apostle Paul’s words: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). As we consider how our heavenly Father sees us in Christ, it’s easy to recall the acts of devotion done by His children who’ve left us.

By Tim Gustafson
REFLECT & PRAY
Who have you lost to death? What acts of devotion might you recall in memory of them?

Thank You, heavenly Father, that You see Your children in Christ.

09/24/2026

Words from Friends

[None of Job’s friends] said a word to him, �because they saw how great his suffering was. Job 2:13

As I sat in a Bible class at the age of twenty-six, I was baffled. � Some of my classmates’ comments were discouraging. They � seemed to have so many problems. I responded by asking, “If we’re Christians, why are we so down? Don’t we know how this thing really ends?” I was referring to the promise of eternal life in Christ but also to the many promises in the Bible of God’s care for His people. The instructor simply smiled and moved on. But my comment has stuck with me for years.

Eventually life hit me. Job loss, bereavement, illness, and more led me to feel discouraged. Yes, God’s promises are comforting and true, but they don’t promise an easy life. Jesus said we “will have trouble” (John 16:33).

Quite naturally, we feel the impact of such troubles, just as a man named Job did. He was tested, and it hit him hard: He lost his children, his property, and his health (Job 1:13-20; 2:7). His friends came to visit him to console him (2:11-13). In the beginning they simply supported their friend quietly, noting “how great his suffering was” (v. 13). But then they began asking unhelpful questions, not too dissimilar to the one I posed in Bible class.

As we encounter others going through trouble, the Holy Spirit can help us respond with love and compassion. And as we experience sorrow, we can remember the comfort of God’s promises.

By Katara Patton
REFLECT & PRAY
How has a friend helped you during a rough time? �How can you help others by using sensitivity and discernment?

Loving God, please teach me to use wisdom when sympathizing with others.

09/23/2026

Children of God

If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 1 John 3:20

One of my favorite books of optical illusions always astounds me as the pictures deceive my eyes—like one with two lines of the same length appearing to be different sizes, or the famous “impossible staircase” in which four flights of stairs seem to link in a continuous loop. It can also be a little disconcerting to realize we don’t always see things as they truly are.

But it’s not only our eyes that deceive us. We can sometimes believe illusions about our identity as God’s children when we’re bombarded daily with the world’s deceptive claims. Author Henri Nouwen wrote, “Jesus came to announce to us that an identity based on success, popularity and power is a false identity—an illusion!”

Our true identity, possible because of God’s lavish love, is that when we receive Jesus as our Savior we become “children of God” (1 John 3:1). As the apostle John recognized, sometimes “our hearts condemn us” (v. 20), and we begin to doubt God’s love or even question if we truly belong to Him. However, “God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (v. 20). Instead of being deceived by damaging illusions, we can believe the truth that we are God’s beloved children.

Whatever illusions you may encounter about your identity today, hold fast to the truth that you’re God’s beloved child.

By Lisa M. Samra
REFLECT & PRAY
What illusions about your identity have you encountered? How does the truth that you are God’s child encourage you?

Heavenly Father, even when I can’t see or feel it, please help me remember the truth of Your love for me.

09/22/2026

The Warmhearted Church

Every day they continued to meet together. Acts 2:46

When I was a child, I gladly accompanied my family to church every Sunday morning and evening. Our pastor exuded joy and always included the children in the service—and even encouraged my writing. My Sunday school teachers and pastor instilled in me a love for Scripture. And Sunday nights often meant a guest speaker or missionary who stirred my heart toward missions. Our church truly earned the slogan our pastor created: “The warmhearted church on Coldwater Road.” It wasn’t perfect, but we were a family. Since that day, I’ve continued attending church (even when it was hard to find the right one), and I’ve been encouraged and have grown in my faith as a result.

Just as we do today, believers in Jesus in the early church needed support and encouragement, and they understood the importance of meeting together with fellow believers (Acts 2:46). They were a family. Together they built each other up when doing life and serving God became difficult. They gathered to pray, study Scripture, praise God, enjoy fellowship, and eat meals together (v. 42). As a result, God caused their numbers to grow (v. 47).

Finding a like-minded church may take time, but it’s vital. Life is difficult to face on our own, and that’s why God gave us families and communities. A church is a great place to build community.

By Alyson Kieda
REFLECT & PRAY
Why do you think it’s important to have a church community? How might participating in church activities encourage you?

Dear God, thank You for giving me Your church, where I can learn more about You and be encouraged.

09/21/2026

The Heart of the Matter

People look at the outward appearance, �but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

On a teaching trip to Moscow, I decided to take the subway to get lunch. Standing in the subway car, I started whistling simply because I felt good after an enjoyable morning teaching and the day was pleasant. The passengers stared at me like I was insane. When I got back to the school, I told one of the office workers that the people were so discouraged and downhearted they stared when I whistled. She politely informed me, “Yes, their lives are very hard, but that isn’t why they stared. They stared because it’s rude to whistle in public here.”

When we make assumptions, we base them on external factors that may not have any bearing on the moment. It’s helpful to recall the story of David’s selection as future king of Israel. As the prophet Samuel considered Jesse’s eldest son, he thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord” (1 Samuel 16:6). But God told Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (v. 7).

Basing judgments on appearances will lead to wrong conclusions. We do well to let God do the judging. He sees the heart of the matter.

By Bill Crowder
REFLECT & PRAY
How do you feel when someone makes wrong assumptions �about you? Why is it so easy to make assumptions about others?

Wise Father, please forgive me for judging people’s motives when I don’t know the truth about their hearts. Help me to entrust such judgments to You.

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