05/25/2026
🌱✝️DIG DEEPER✝️🌱 Start your week with Bible verses and devotion questions for further reflection on this weekend's message ... “Thriving Families: Further Still"
Key Scripture: Matthew 26 and the Garden of Gethsemane
1. Where in your life are you realizing the journey is taking longer than you expected?
Jesus’ ministry had already changed lives, healed the sick, calmed storms, and revealed the Kingdom of God—yet there was still a cross ahead. Gethsemane reminds us that sometimes the hardest stretch comes after we thought we had already given enough.
Scripture: “Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane…” — Matthew 26:36
Reflect: What season of your life feels longer, heavier, or more demanding than you expected? How is God meeting you there?
2. What voices are speaking to you in your “further still” moments?
Some voices encourage perseverance. Others whisper fear, shame, defeat, or exhaustion. Jesus Himself heard the cries of betrayal, rejection, and abandonment—but chose to listen to the Father instead.
Scripture: “This is my beloved Son … listen to Him.” — Matthew 17:5
Reflect: Which voices pull you away from hope? Which voices draw you deeper into trust and faithfulness?
3. What “Gethsemane” are you walking through right now?
Gethsemane means “oil press”—a place of crushing pressure. Yet olives release their richest oil only when pressed. Often our deepest spiritual formation happens in the very places we would never choose.
Scripture: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” — Matthew 26:38
Reflect: How might God be forming compassion, wisdom, endurance, or surrender in the pressures you are facing?
4. What relationships or supports can no longer carry you where God is leading you?
The disciples could only go so far with Jesus. Eventually He walked deeper into the garden alone. There are sacred moments in life where no human companion can fully enter with us.
Scripture: “He went a little farther…” — Matthew 26:39
Reflect: Where are you being invited to depend more deeply on God than on the approval, understanding, or presence of others?
5. What still needs surrendered to God?
Surrender is rarely a one-time event. Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” True surrender is not passive resignation—it is active trust.
Scripture: “Yet not what I want but what You want.” — Matthew 26:39
Reflect: What are you still trying to control? What outcome, fear, relationship, or certainty are you being asked to place into God’s hands?
6. How is God preparing you in hidden places?
Before Golgotha came Gethsemane. Before the public cross came the private prayer. Spiritual strength is often formed quietly—in silence, tears, waiting, and unseen faithfulness.
Scripture: “Whenever you pray, go into your inner room and shut the door…” — Matthew 6:6
Reflect: What hidden spiritual practices or quiet moments with God are strengthening you for what lies ahead?
7. What would it mean for you to keep walking “further on” with Christ?
The Christian life is not merely surviving hardship—it is continuing the journey with Jesus. Even when shadows fall, we are never abandoned.
Scripture: “And remember, I am with you always…” — Matthew 28:20
Reflect: What is one faithful next step God may be inviting you to take today?
Closing Prayer:
Lord Jesus,
You walked further still into the garden, into surrender, into suffering, and into love for us.
When our road feels long, stay near.
When we feel pressed and weary, meet us in our Gethsemane places.
Teach us to trust You in hidden prayers, difficult surrender, and uncertain journeys.
And when the shadows fall, remind us again:
we do not walk alone.
Amen.
