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05/29/2026

Waiting on God

Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14

As a little girl, I got so excited when I’d see special signs appear on the side of the road. I thought colorful signs meant my family had arrived at the popular amusement park we were driving to. I’d joyfully start gathering my things, only to be disappointed to see more signs and have to wait even longer before we reached the park. Eventually I realized those signs announced that visitors were getting closer but were still miles away.

Like an excited child wondering “are we there yet?” we can also be impatient and anxious to arrive at our next destination.

Waiting for God to move in our lives, or to rescue us from our trials, can be challenging. David was facing much adversity, which he mentions throughout Psalm 27. Yet he still placed his hope and trust in God and waited for Him to respond. David didn’t know how long it would take for God to act, but he knew God would help him. “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (v. 13).

It may take longer than we’d like to experience our breakthrough, but let’s take courage in these words: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (v. 14). As we turn to the Psalms and the rest of Scripture for encouragement, we can take comfort in knowing God is working even while we wait.

By Nancy Gavilanes
REFLECT & PRAY
Why is it hard sometimes to wait for God’s answer? How can you remain hopeful as you wait?

Dear God, thank You that You’re working even while I wait.

05/28/2026

It Was Me

If [Israel] will confess their sins . . . I will remember my covenant with Jacob. Leviticus 26:40-42

In an old movie comedy, a bumbling but brilliant programmer is chosen for the first manned mission to Mars. Constantly making foolish mistakes, the programmer has a habit of blurting out, “It wasn’t me!” When the crew lands on Mars, the programmer slips from the top of the ladder and falls to the planet’s surface—just before his partner sets foot on it. The first words spoken on Mars are, “It wasn’t me!”

It’s a farcical story, but that programmer’s phrase is hauntingly realistic. Whenever there’s blame to go around, our response can sound a lot like, “It wasn’t me!”

God desires our obedience. But He also knows we’re prone to disobey Him. In Leviticus 26:1-13, God outlined His plan for Israel. If they obeyed His commands, He said, “I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers” (v. 9). But habitual disobedience would bring curses and afflictions designed to bring the people to repentance. Then God said that if disobedient Israel would “confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors” (v. 40), He would remember His covenant with them.

The key to restoring relationship with God is our admission of what we’ve done wrong. Blaming others keeps us trapped in the guilt cycle, powerless to vindicate ourselves.

Feeling far from God? A good place to start is by saying, “It was me.”

By Tim Gustafson
REFLECT & PRAY
What is your reflexive reaction when you might be to blame for something? Think of a time when you’ve been truly honest with God. What did it look like?

Loving God, I want to be honest with You about _______.

05/27/2026

Joy from Jesus

I will continue to rejoice. Philippians 1:18

Nancy’s cancer treatment caused so many ulcers in her mouth and throat that she couldn’t even swallow a piece of bread. She had to rely on milk to fill her stomach for many painful days. The only thing that brought a smile to the sixty-year-old’s face was the joy of knowing Jesus—and her grandsons. Being with them each week helped her to not dwell on her situation. “If not for the boys, I would have given up,” she said.

The apostle Paul also found joy in Jesus and others despite his difficulties. His joy came from Jesus and living for Him. Despite being imprisoned (Philippians 1:13), he found strength to encourage others. He spoke of the joy that came from partnering in sharing the good news about Jesus, and from knowing what awaited him upon death (vv. 3-5, 18, 20). That confidence enabled him to say, “To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (v. 21).

Paul could rejoice because Jesus was his life. His sense of contentment and security didn’t come from any possession or situation but from knowing he belonged to Christ. Thus, in a letter written in the worst of circumstances, he could say in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

May we find joy in Jesus, who loves us, cares for us, and gives us strength to rejoice in any circumstance.

By Leslie Koh
REFLECT & PRAY
What challenging situation are you facing now? What difference does it make to know Jesus is always with you?

Please grant me the strength to press on and keep my eyes on You, dear Jesus, for Your presence brings me joy.

05/26/2026

Acting with Integrity

The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy. Proverbs 12:22

In a moment of distraction, Sarah unknowingly dropped her diamond engagement ring into a homeless man’s cup. Billy Ray, the panhandler who was given the ring, had it appraised and considered selling it. But he chose honesty and returned it to Sarah when she came back a few days later. Sarah and her husband set up a fund so donations could be made to help Billy Ray, which led to an outpouring of generosity from others. Billy Ray received financial and legal counsel and was eventually able to buy a home. He was also reunited with his long-lost family.

When we practice integrity, we please God and inspire others. Solomon says God delighted in his integrity: “The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy” (Proverbs 12:22). He uses strong language to describe God’s view of dishonesty—He detests it. When God’s people lie or “deceit is in [their] hearts” (v. 20), it defies Him and goes against His character. In contrast, when His people have “truthful lips” (v. 19) and deal faithfully, it brings Him joy. So treating others well is more than just telling the truth—it reflects God’s own character. And in a world where deception can seem profitable, our integrity is something He “delights in” (v. 22).

Let’s commit to act with integrity as God helps us. Even if the world doesn’t notice, He’s delighted when we walk in His ways.

By Marvin Williams
REFLECT & PRAY
How does being trustworthy reflect God’s character? How will you live out integrity today?

Dear God, please teach me to live out integrity before You and others.

05/25/2026

Finding Rest

I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. Psalm 3:5

“Tactical napping” is a series of guidelines for soldiers for effective, ten to thirty minutes of sleep. While experiencing a rush of adrenaline, loneliness, or anxiety, sleep-deprived soldiers may not be able to relax. Tips include using earplugs and reading before bed. They’re even offered military-grade, caffeinated chewing gum to reduce grogginess after a nap.

It’s when we most need rest that it’s often difficult to find. King David experienced this after fleeing into the wilderness to escape his son Absalom’s treason. David and his followers wept aloud at his betrayal with their heads covered in mourning (2 Samuel 15:30-31). In fact, “the whole countryside wept aloud” (v. 23). It was around this time that David cried out, “Lord, how many are my foes!” (Psalm 3:1). Perhaps thinking about past troubled nights, however, David continued, “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear” (vv. 5-6). David realized that God, not Absalom, was in charge of his situation. David even sent the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem, acknowledging that the future was fully in God’s hands (2 Samuel 15:25-26).

Sleep feels especially fleeting when we’re facing adversity in our waking hours, but it’s a good reminder of how many things are outside our control. Yet God sustains us and, as we trust Him, He can help us lie down in peace.

By Karen Pimpo
REFLECT & PRAY
What keeps you from true rest? How can your surrender to God produce peace?

Dear God, thank You for keeping watch while I sleep and when I wake.

Final session with Prophet Tevaun Brown
05/25/2026

Final session with Prophet Tevaun Brown

Session two Caribbean Revival Gathering
05/24/2026

Session two Caribbean Revival Gathering

Day 1 of the Caribbean Revival Gathering
05/24/2026

Day 1 of the Caribbean Revival Gathering

05/22/2026

Seeking God’s Face

I will set . . . the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know . . . the Lord has done this. Isaiah 41:19-20

Those who drive along Highway 18 in western Oregon each fall are greeted with a delightful surprise from the tree-covered hillside flanking the road: a giant smiley face. The cheerful face is only visible in the autumn when the Larch tree needles turn yellow, contrasting with the surrounding, dark green Douglas fir trees (which create the eyes and mouth). A lumber company planted the three-hundred-foot-diameter face in 2011 as part of an effort to replenish the timber they’d harvested.

Isaiah invites us to know God as the one who brings life to desolate places. He reminded the Israelites during the barrenness of their captivity that God “[makes] rivers flow,” can “turn the desert into pools of water,” and grow “the cedar and the acacia” in the desert (Isaiah 41:18-19). God does these things not solely for His (and our) delight; He plants junipers, fir, and cypress “so that people may see and know” (v. 20) that He authors all and will ultimately redeem all—even those places thought to be a “wasteland” (v. 19).

Though we may not glimpse a face smiling back at us from a hillside, all of creation can remind us of God’s redemptive power over our world and our individual circumstances—even in the wake (or fear) of devastation. Let’s seek His face as our source of hope and joy amid our struggles.

By Kirsten Holmberg
REFLECT & PRAY
When has God brought joy or hope to a place of sadness in your life? How does creation direct your focus to Him in times of hardship?

Thank You, dear Father, for Your creative and redemptive work in the world.

05/21/2026

Longing for Home

If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth. Psalm 137:5-6

Ethel and Ed live in the high desert area of the Rocky Mountains. As our family visited them on their ranch filled with memorabilia, the conversation turned to childhood stories of riding horses on the grasslands of North Dakota and herding cattle in Montana. They’re on in years now, and I could hear in their voices a longing for home.

Psalm 137 captures a similar emotion. The Israelites had been forced into captivity and longed for home. “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept,” they said. “There our captors asked us for songs” (vv. 1, 3), prompting the Israelites to ask, “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” (v. 4).

The longing to return from exile is a common theme throughout the Old Testament prophets. Eventually the Israelites did return. They rebuilt Jerusalem and resettled in the land, but it was never the same. When the temple was rebuilt, those who remembered its former glory wept because it was a shadow of the first (Ezra 3:12).

Old age may feel as if we’re in exile from our former selves as time takes a toll on mind and body. For those who know Jesus, this longing points not to the past but the future. That’s where my conversation turned with Ethel and Ed—a longing for our future home, where everything is made right and is far better than anything we can imagine.

By Matt Lucas
REFLECT & PRAY
What do you miss from the past? How might this longing help you anticipate the future?

Father in heaven, thank You that You’re with me in every stage of life and that You’re preparing a bright future for me.

05/20/2026

Joy in Jesus

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12

Do you ever long for something you see glimpses of but can’t quite grasp? C. S. Lewis longed for joy. He wrote, “Our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is . . . the truest index of our real situation. And to be at last summoned inside would be . . . the healing of that old ache. . . . The whole man is to drink joy from the fountain of joy.”

Lewis writes of the joy we’ll experience in full when we see Jesus face-to-face. As believers in Jesus, we have the joy of Christ through our relationship with Him and the work of His Spirit inside us. But sadly our joy is hampered by sin and death, the forces of evil, and the world’s brokenness. Paul writes, “Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). In verse 10, Paul talks of the coming “completeness.” This is when we’ll know and experience joy fully because we’re with Jesus.

Although we wait expectantly for that day, He gives us a small foretaste now of the overflowing, unhindered joy of heaven!

By Alyson Kieda
REFLECT & PRAY
What do you think it will be like to see Jesus? What do you most look forward to in heaven?

Heavenly Father, thank You for the moments of joy I experience here on earth. I’m anticipating the day when I can know it in full.

Address

621 Beverly Rancocas Road Uint 1D
Willingboro, NJ
08046

Telephone

+13472949449

Website

http://beyondthe4wallsministries.com/

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