Daily Devo

Listen to today’s devo!

Jesus . . . cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true.’” (John 7:28)

Expanded Passage: John 7:28-32

When I was in sixth grade, my teacher made a trip to California to visit her cousin, who was the star of the Wyatt Earp TV show. She was so proud of him! Did she think of him as a famous TV star? She may have remembered him when they played together as children. He was her family, her blood. It is difficult to honor someone when they have known the person from the beginning. It is hard to think of them as “famous.”

Jesus recognized this fact, so he defended himself and his authority. It was the truth. He truly was the Son of God, sent here to earth for a specific purpose: to die for our sins and to rise again so that we may have eternal life. The people of Jerusalem, familiar with Jesus’ earthly origins, could not see him as the famously foretold Messiah.

We have a unique opportunity today to both know Jesus personally and to recognize him as the one and only, larger-than-life Son of God of history-shaking fame. Sometimes we can struggle to see him as a personal friend, even though he wants a relationship with us. Other times, we can feel too close and neglect his identity as our Lord and Savior. Let’s lean into Jesus’ dual identity, choosing to see him as both “famous” and a personal, beloved friend.

Seek to see Jesus as both a friend and Son of God!

Jeannette Carroll is a retired Wesleyan pastor’s wife, a God-called teacher, writer, and musician. She resides in Florida.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

“But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” (John 7:27)

Expanded Passage: John 7:25-27

Have you ever “people-watched”? Sometimes my husband and I watch people at a store. We notice how they are dressed, how they act, and sometimes how they talk. However, we truly do not know these people we observe. We do not know them inside—their goals, dreams, fears, strengths, weaknesses. We just look at the outward appearance, perhaps even drawing conclusions based on outward appearance alone!

Jesus came late to the Feast of Tabernacles. Upon seeing Jesus, different groups of people were sizing him up and making quick decisions about who he was. They could not figure out why the authorities in the temple did nothing about him. Surely, he was not the Messiah, because they believed that no one would know where the true Messiah is from.

Just like participants in people watching, the people in Jesus’ day were making assumptions about him without the truth, without knowing him truly. If they had waited to know who he was, what his goals were, and where he really came from, they may have come to an entirely different conclusion.

First Samuel 16:7 tells us, “People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Let’s be sure we do not jump to wrong conclusions or assumptions about Jesus or our neighbors; instead, take time to learn the truth.

Don’t just watch; get to know someone’s heart today.

Jeannette Carroll is a retired Wesleyan pastor’s wife, a God-called teacher, writer, and musician. She resides in Florida.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

They cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. (Psalm 107:6)

Expanded Passage: Psalm 107

As a pastor, I spend my days—and many of my nights—discussing the predicaments of life with people who are searching for meaning. Those who choose to seek God’s will find wholeness and fulfillment on their journey. Those who rebel against him instead experience the pain of aimless wandering and the despair of darkness outside of his light. They self-inflict needless misery and force themselves to endure agony God never intended for them to experience.

However, all who cry out to him can be set free!

You may ask, couldn’t he prevent us from ending up in trouble in the first place? Wouldn’t a loving God want to spare us from pain? Like any parent, it hurts God to see his children in distress. However, God will allow us to reap the consequences of our actions if there are lessons to be learned. He doesn’t wait for us to ask for help because he’s cruel; he wants us to realize that his way for us is best. The more we learn to trust him, the more often (and sooner) we will rely on him for help. If that means we need to find ourselves in uncomfortable situations to learn to trust him, he will let that happen! So why not ask him for help before we end up in trouble? Why not ask his will before we act?

Look for ways to trust God by asking him what he wants!

Jareb Collins is a senior pastor in Warrenton, Missouri, in the Tri-State District of The Wesleyan Church, and the author of Handbook for the Broken Hearted.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” (John 5:11)

Expanded Passage: John 5:1-15

Of all those gathered at the pool of Bethesda, why did Jesus choose him? His situation was certainly dire. With health and hope deteriorating, he lay by the waters with no means to enter them.

Why would Jesus heal him on the Sabbath, which was against Jewish law? The Pharisees—whose intentions had originally been to keep God’s people from falling away from him again—had instead burdened those people with numerous rules and regulations to keep.

The beauty of this story is that it demonstrates Jesus’ heart. He shows that it’s not laws and restrictions that bring us close to him. In fact, it’s nothing we do at all—it is his prevenient grace, the “grace that goes before,” that rescues us.

We are healed because the Lord wants to heal us. Sometimes, our healing happens physically, such as the paralyzed man in this story. There are other times it will be an emotional or spiritual healing. He will touch us with his Spirit and bring restoration and wholeness we never thought possible. But in every case, he will do so on his own terms, and he won’t be bound by the limitations that we, or anyone else, put on him.

Jesus gives us the opportunity to be made complete in him, to be made whole. We need only to ask him for help and surrender to his will.

Ask yourself what restrictions you’ve given God—and toss them out!

Jareb Collins is a senior pastor in Warrenton, Missouri, in the Tri-State District of The Wesleyan Church, and the author of Handbook for the Broken Hearted.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well. (John 5:15)

Expanded Passage: John 5:15

Every year, my wife and I like to take a small vacation for ourselves, just a few days away without the kids. We never thought it was possible—until we saw an ad for Costco Travel Services. How did they convince us? Marketing! An ad with testimonials from regular people, just like us: mothers and fathers, able to leave their responsibilities (and kids) behind for just a few days for a nominal cost. It was far more affordable than we’d ever dreamed, and the return on investment was amazing. In short, we’ve become repeat customers. More importantly, we tell all of our friends that they should check it out as well. Many of them have since booked vacations because of our experience.

The transforming power of the gospel is the same. Few stories are as powerful as our own, because people can see their own lives in ours. They believe that if God can change our lives, he can change theirs as well.

You are the truth of Scripture come alive! People want a gospel story they can believe in—and you are the change they can see.

Irenaeus, the early church father, said “The glory of God is man fully alive”—which means that when our hearts are fully surrendered to God, we are transformed by the gospel, and that inspires people. Our healing can become their healing too.

Tell your story to someone who needs to hear it.

Jareb Collins is a senior pastor in Warrenton, Missouri, in the Tri-State District of The Wesleyan Church, and the author of Handbook for the Broken Hearted.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

“Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away. (John 5:12–13)

Expanded Passage: John 5:10-14

In a moment, his entire life had changed.

It was impossible—he’d been paralyzed for almost forty years.

It was against the law—healing wasn’t allowed on the Sabbath.

In fact, the One who healed him didn’t even have a name—at least, not one that he knew. He’d slipped away into the crowds, but not before disrupting the religious system and changing the very fabric of the crippled man’s life.

He was no longer the paralyzed man by the pool, the one who couldn’t walk or move or even help himself into the waters that were supposedly able to heal him. He certainly wasn’t the man who was forbidden to enter the temple because of his infirmities. He’d headed straight there as quickly as his restored body could take him.

Now, he was the man who stood (stood, praise God!) before the religious leaders, the “authorities” of the day, who simply couldn’t believe the temerity of Jesus. “Who did this,” they asked. “Who said you could be healed?”

The man had no idea. He didn’t know who it was, where he had come from, or where he had gone. What he did know was he had been lame, but now he could walk. He’d been wasting away; now, his body and his faith were made whole.

All because the Healer, a man with no name, came and found him.

Thank God for finding you before you ever knew him.

Jareb Collins is a senior pastor in Warrenton, Missouri, in the Tri-State District of The Wesleyan Church, and the author of Handbook for the Broken Hearted.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. (John 5:8–9)

Expanded Passage: John 5:8-9

Have you ever sensed that what you needed was just a moment—or a decision—away? Many years ago, a friend offered me a job selling custom cabinets installed over media niches in homes. It was innovative, it was exciting—and it was commission-based! I turned him down to take a safe, nine-to-five job instead. The rest, as they say, is history.

I ran into him just a year later, and the update he gave me about his new company was devastating (for me, anyway)! His new sales rep was making more money than he knew what to do with—the cabinets were practically selling themselves. The average commissions paid more in one month than I was making in four. Needless to say, my fear had really cost me a great opportunity.

Consider the healing of the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. Imagine if, when Jesus told him to get up and walk, the man had replied: “Jesus, I’d really like to—but I’m afraid! I’ve been crippled for so long. I just can’t.” His story would have a much different ending.

We will never have a shortage of reasons to not trust God. Fear has a way of convincing us we can’t, or we shouldn’t, or we’ll fail, or ____? If God is calling us, will we trust him and seize the moment? Our healing awaits!

Ask God where you haven’t trusted him—but need to.

Jareb Collins is a senior pastor in Warrenton, Missouri, in the Tri-State District of The Wesleyan Church, and the author of Handbook for the Broken Hearted.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

“Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6)

Expanded Passage: John 5:5-7

To a man who’d been suffering for thirty-eight years, this might seem like a ridiculous question, but Jesus asked it with a deeper purpose. When the Lord asks us a question, it’s not because he doesn’t know the answer. He is not short on details, and he doesn’t need our help clarifying things! No, the reason he asks is because he wants us to consider our response. Why? Because it reveals the condition of our hearts.

The pool of Bethesda was reported to have healing properties. Supposedly, when the waters stirred, the first person to enter them would be cured of their afflictions. This paralyzed man had been suffering for almost four decades and had spent many years beside the waters—yet healing had eluded him.

Jesus asked him directly, “Do you want to get well?” The man’s response exposed an even greater affliction: “I have no one to help me into the pool” (v. 7). He sat by the water, alone. Even after years of languishing, he had a hope of healing, but no actual plan to get it. His response wasn’t eagerness, but excuses.

When the Healer stands before us, ready to restore broken bodies, hearts, or spirits, we must be willing to accept his help. No explanations are needed, and no excuses are warranted. We need only reply, “Yes, Lord, I want to be healed.”

Reach out your hand, say “Yes, Lord,” and see what happens!

Jareb Collins is a senior pastor in Warrenton, Missouri, in the Tri-State District of The Wesleyan Church, and the author of Handbook for the Broken Hearted.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. (John 5:3)

Expanded Passage: John 5:1-4

My wife and I recently returned from a trip to Israel. Over a ten-day period, we visited dozens of sites, many considered to be “holy” or “sacred” because of their proximity to Christ in the days of antiquity. They were breathtaking, certainly—but not inherently “blessed.”

The pool at Bethesda was a place where the frail, the sick, and the lame could gather with the hope of receiving healing. In those days, you would travel to where the healing could (hopefully) be found. It could have been a priest in some town, or a man of God passing through a nearby village. There are multiple accounts in Scripture of Jesus traveling through regions, the roadways filled with people hoping to catch a glimpse of him, to receive a blessing or a curative touch.

Today, we don’t need to go anywhere special to receive God’s healing, because he has left us with everything we need. We have the church, the gathered body of believers, where the Spirit of God dwells. We have the Word of God, which is the voice of God speaking actively to us. We also have the Holy Spirit that lives inside every believer, whom Jesus sent to take his place. With all the access we have to God, we need only to bring ourselves near to him, and he will give us all that we need.

Take a moment to meet God right where you are.

Jareb Collins is a senior pastor in Warrenton, Missouri, in the Tri-State District of The Wesleyan Church, and the author of Handbook for the Broken Hearted.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.

Listen to today’s devo!

Then they believed his promises and sang his praise. (Ps. 106:12)

Expanded Passage: Psalm 106

There is a comedian who closes each joke with “Here’s your sign.” After explaining that people without common sense should have to wear signs, he tells stories of interactions with people who make unexpected comments, or product packaging with ridiculous instructions, ending each anecdote with his catchphrase punchline.

“Here’s your sign” isn’t a punchline in the Bible. Moses performed signs for the Israelites, and they believed (Ex. 4:30–31). In the New Testament, signs are miracles that demonstrate divine authority. John described seven signs that proved Jesus’ divinity. Psalm 106 asks, “Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise?” (v. 2). Here, David lists many of the signs and miracles God performed on behalf of the Israelites and their response of belief and praise. He is honest about their sin, grumbling, and disobedience, but every time God showed himself to be faithful to his promises, they remembered his faithfulness and sang his praise.

That “while we were still sinners” we were offered “the gift of God [which] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 5:8; 6:23) is a miracle! Our salvation and sanctification experiences are miracles and can be a sign to others of the gift of God that they can receive if they will only believe. Will you share your testimony so that people can believe his promises and sing his praise?

Let this week’s devotionals be your sign to share your testimony.

Priscilla Hammond is an ordained pastor and associate professor in the Benson School of Business at Southern Wesleyan University (SC).

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.