Pastor Travis-“Retreaded”

09/10/2026

09/10/2026

From:first15.org

9/10/2026

An Unveiled Lifestyle

Living an Unveiled Lifestyle

May you hear and take the invitation of God to live differently, to live closer, to abide and rest in his presence in all you do today.

SCRIPTURE

“But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.”

2 Corinthians 3:16 ESV

INTRODUCTION

As we continue our series on living an unveiled lifestyle today, we’re going to look at the essence of what an unveiled lifestyle is. May you hear and take the invitation of God to live differently, to live closer, to abide and rest in his presence in all you do today.

DEVOTIONAL

By the grace of God the veil that represented our sin and shame has been replaced with shameless, limitless, and face-to-face encounters with our heavenly Father. Scripture says,

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:12-18).

God longs for us to live an unveiled lifestyle. He longs for us to behold his glory and be transformed into the same image: a reflection of his glorious Son, Jesus. The idea of looking like Jesus used to seem utterly impossible. How could I ever look anything like Jesus? In my sin and shame, how could I ever resemble the perfect, sinless Son of God? But God has an enjoyable and perfect process by which he transforms us. As we seek out all that God has for us in an unveiled lifestyle, God longs to renew our minds to his plans for our transformation.

2 Corinthians 3:18 makes it clear that in “beholding the glory of the Lord” we are transformed. Just as Moses went into the tent of meeting and came out with his face shining (Exodus 33:7-11), we are to go into our own tent of meeting and come out having met with God with unveiled face. Allow the truth of Scripture to define what spending time with God is meant to look like for you. When we spend time alone with God, the Holy Spirit longs to lead us into direct, tangible, and transformative encounters with the glory of God. Christian spirituality is all about direct connection with our heavenly Father and not about engaging in religious practices just because we feel we should. The death of Christ has made unveiled encounters with God completely available to you whenever, wherever. We enter into our tent of meeting clothed with Christ, washed completely clean of our sin by the power of his blood.

And 2 Corinthians 3:18 also makes it clear that when we see God’s glory we are “transformed into the same image,” the image of Jesus. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” God’s intention was always for us to represent him well. When sin entered into humanity that image became grossly distorted. But through the death of Jesus and encounters with our heavenly Father that image is being restored. We can now be reflections of God to a world that is desperately searching for relationship with its Creator. We now bear the image of the one who has saved and redeemed us.

Living an unveiled lifestyle is simply encountering our heavenly Father and living our lives as a response to his love for us. Every encounter with God changes us and makes us more like him. Every taste of his presence fills us with his love and equips us to love others. To live an unveiled lifestyle is to experience the abundant life Jesus came to bring us. May you behold the glory of your heavenly Father and be a reflection of his love to a lost and dying world today.

Spend time in prayer practicing what 2 Corinthians 3 describes for us: beholding and being transformed by the glory of God.

PRAYER

1. Meditate on the availability for you to encounter God face-to-face, unveiled.

“But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” 2 Corinthians 3:16

2. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into the tangible presence of your heavenly Father. Ask God to make his nearness known to you.

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

3. Spend time in God’s presence being transformed by his love. Ask the Holy Spirit to make you more like Jesus. Ask God to reveal himself in a way that would mold and shape you into his likeness.

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:29

GO

How incredible is our God that he would make transformation such an accessible and enjoyable process. Fully letting go of our sin and shame is difficult to be sure, but the depth of grace, love, and relationship he offers us in return makes it all worthwhile. Allow God to continue to heal any areas of your life where you feel brokenness and shame. Open up your heart to him completely today in faith and allow him to create in you a new foundation in him on which you can live freely and healed.

09/10/2026

Amen-and Have a Wonderful and Blessed Day

09/09/2026

From: first15.org

9/9/2026

The Tearing of the Veil

Living an Unveiled Lifestyle

May we gain a deeper knowledge and experience of God’s closeness today as we study the tearing of the veil.

SCRIPTURE

“And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.”

Matthew 27:51 ESV

INTRODUCTION

As we continue our series on living an unveiled lifestyle, we’re going to take time today to look at the tearing of the veil at Jesus’ death. While all things are not yet restored, today we’re going to discover that the closeness humanity was missing with God has been restored. You and I are the temple of the Spirit, his presence is with us. May we gain a deeper knowledge and experience of God’s closeness today as we study the tearing of the veil.

DEVOTIONAL

Matthew 27:45-54 says,

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

At the death of Jesus, God turned what was the world’s greatest tragedy into our greatest triumph. With every crack of the whip, the bonds that entangled you and me to the sin and darkness of this world became a little looser. And with Jesus’ final breath the earth shook and the rocks split under the magnitude of the power of Christ’s sacrifice. Only God could take the greatest injustice and turn it into the world’s greatest good. Only God could take death and produce abundant life for all.

Out of everything that resulted from Jesus’ final breath, none was more important than God’s tearing of the veil. The veil that signified the necessary separation between God and man was ripped in two from top to bottom, from God down to us. The great chasm over which no man could cross was now covered by a bridge created by God’s wrath poured out on Jesus. The tearing of the veil represents the very purpose for Jesus’ death: that God could now once again have restored communion with his people. No matter how many or how horrendous our sins might be, Jesus’ death gained victory over it all.

Just as the saints who had fallen asleep were raised at Jesus’ death, you and I have been raised to newness of life. We are caught up in the glory of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. God has made unveiled, face-to-face relationship with him available to us once again.

If God would pay the price of Jesus’ death to have restored relationship with us, encountering him face-to-face must be the absolute best way for us to live. If God considers restored relationship with you worth the death of his only and blameless Son, he must place his highest value on total communion with you.

Maybe the concept of having real, tangible encounters with your heavenly Father is new to you. Maybe he feels distant. Maybe you come in and out of his presence day-to-day. Wherever you are in relation to God, know that nothing can separate you from him any longer. The death of Jesus was more powerful than any sin, lie, or belief. His death paid the entirety of your debt. There is nothing left to pay. Seek out a revelation of what it looks like to encounter your heavenly Father unveiled in prayer. May the Holy Spirit guide you into a lifestyle of continual, face-to-face, unveiled encounters with the living God.

PRAYER

1. Meditate on the chasm that separated you from God as the result of sin. Reflecting on your status prior to salvation will give you a greater appreciation for what Jesus has done for you.

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Romans 5:12

2. Now meditate on the power of Jesus’ sacrifice. With his death on the cross, Jesus carried you across the great chasm that separated you from your heavenly Father.

“He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:12

3. Worship Jesus for the newness of life available to you through him. Give him thanks and praise for his love. Allow your affections to be stirred up towards him by the truth of Scripture.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

GO

Never doubt the grace of your heavenly Father toward you. Jesus has paid the price for every sin you will ever commit. He bore the weight of all of our sins on the cross. God poured out the entirety of his wrath over our sin on Jesus. All that’s left for you to do is live out the abundant life to which you have been called. Enjoy God and glorify him in response to his great love. May you be a child of God overcome by the goodness of your Father in heaven.

09/09/2026

Blessings and Prayers that Everyone has a Wonderful Day; because of Jesus

09/08/2026

From: first15.org

9/8/2026

The Example of Moses

Living an Unveiled Lifestyle

May God draw us closer to him, and give us eyes to see his face today.

SCRIPTURE

“Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.”

Exodus 34:29 ESV

INTRODUCTION

In our second day of looking at how to live an unveiled lifestyle, we’re going to apply the example of Moses to our own lives. Specifically, we’re going to look at the closeness he had with God, because it is the same God who loves you and I today. May God draw us closer to him, and give us eyes to see his face today.

DEVOTIONAL

We find in the character of Moses a man transformed by a face-to-face, unveiled encounter with the living God. Exodus 34:29-35 says:

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Moses serves as an important example for you and me. Moses was a man chosen to go before God on behalf of his people and relay the will and heart of God back to them. And by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we are now chosen and transformed to live out the same calling. In 1 Peter 2:9 Peter declares that we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light.” We are to operate in the same capacity that Moses did. We are to be children of God that bear the image of our heavenly Father and declare his grace, love, power, and goodness to a world in desperate need of relationship with him. What happened to Moses in Exodus 34 holds true for you and me today: when we meet with God we take on the image of his glory. The difference is that the glory of God now dwells internally rather than externally by the powerful sacrifice of Jesus. As Moses’ face shone with the glory of God, our new nature is now meant to shine, declaring the immeasurable grace and power of Jesus’ sacrifice.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:6-7, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” The glory of God now dwells within us. And we are to contain his glory as water in jars of clay, that we would pour out his love and grace for all to see. Just as the people of Israel saw the face of Moses and knew he had met with God, we are to meet with our heavenly Father face-to-face and be transformed by his presence for all to see. Jesus’ death has paved the way for you to meet with God face to face–unveiled. Take time in prayer to see the face of God and allow him to transform you into the likeness of Jesus.

PRAYER

1. Meditate on Exodus 34:29. Allow Scripture to stir up your desire to meet with your heavenly Father face-to-face.

“Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” Exodus 34:29

2. Renew your mind to your new calling in Jesus. Allow Scripture to fill you with faith to encounter God unveiled.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

3. Spend time meeting with your heavenly Father face-to-face. Ask him to reveal his nearness to you. Rest in his presence and allow it to lay a new foundation for you. Ask him to make you more like him. Ask him to show you how to be a reflection of his glory to the world around you today.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-7

GO

May Jesus’ declaration about you in Matthew 5:14-16 serve as a constant reminder of your new calling here as a child of the living God:

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

09/08/2026

Amen---September 8th and Have A Wonderful Day Everyone

09/07/2026

G.M.M. September 7, 2026 Romans 12:9-21 The Work of the Christian Life