Daily Devo

Listen to today’s devo!

“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” (John 14:20)

Expanded Passage: John 14:19-20

I live as an alien, a pilgrim, and a stranger in a foreign land. I live in North Carolina. I lived in Chapel Hill, the home of the Carolina Tar Heels, and then I moved to Kernersville, to the corner of Tar Heel Trail and Tar Heel Lane. The problem is, I am a Kentucky Wildcat fan. I flew my Kentucky flag proudly in Chapel Hill and I fly it proudly on this corner (right next to Cynthia’s Carolina flag). I get no love from my Tar Heel fan neighbors.

I also live as an alien, a pilgrim, and a stranger in a foreign land spiritually. I am a member of another citizenry. I live in Christ and Christ lives in me. For now, I live bodily in the United States. While I love this foreign land, pay taxes, and am very patriotic, really, I live in Christ and Christ lives in me.

Uncle Sam may be my uncle, but God is my Father.

I have no problem loving this nation and appreciating all I receive as a benefit of being born in this country. But my heart belongs to Jesus. I am here for now, but this is not my forever home. I'm on a journey, just passing through. I live here temporarily, but my life is in Christ because he lives in me.

I do not want to get that mixed up.

Consider your dual citizenship, living in Christ as Christ lives in you.

Dan LeRoy is a retired Wesleyan pastor, church planter and district superintendent. He and his wife Cynthia live in Kernersville, North Carolina.

© 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!

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:16–17)

Expanded Passage: John 14:16-18

The best advocates, counselors, and guides do what they do because they love people, and they know their “stuff.” Howard Clinebell, a Christian counselor from an earlier generation, was one of those people. Fifty years ago, when I entered pastoral ministry, a statement by him grabbed me and has guided me even to this day: “Care plus confrontation equals growth.” If people know you love them, they will hear hard truth from you, and grow. It takes both love and truth working together.

There are people in your life who will be happy to tell you the “truth” in a heartbeat, and go merrily along their way—leaving you in shreds. There are other people in your life who cannot bear to tell you the truth because they “love” you too much. They wouldn’t hurt your feelings for the world, bless their hearts.

But there is One in your life who loves you enough to tell you the honest truth, always. His name is Jesus, and he is full of grace and truth. His character is love. His Word is truth. He is present in your life by the Holy Spirit, your advocate, counselor, and guide. He embraces you and enlightens you, enabling you to be the bearer of good news to your world, speaking redeeming truth in love to any and all around you.

Listen to the truth Jesus offers you and trust him.

Dan LeRoy is a retired Wesleyan pastor, church planter and district superintendent. He and his wife Cynthia live in Kernersville, North Carolina.

© 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!

I will sing of your love and justice; to you, Lord, I will sing praise. (Psalm 101:1)

Expanded Passage: Psalm 101

I recently heard this quote from a popular animated movie as my daughter was watching it on a road trip: "It’s hard to love your job when people hate you for doing it.” As a local church pastor and community leader, it struck me as one of those phrases that is a bit of an exaggeration with a kernel of truth in it. When good leaders make difficult decisions, they consistently attempt to balance love (care and concern for the individual) with justice (what’s right for everyone). This struggle is found in every kind of leadership situation—in parenting, relationships, organizations, or communities.

God does not struggle to balance love and justice like we do. God is at once perfectly loving toward his creation while also remaining perfectly just in his statutes and commands. If you’ve ever had to lead something you know how difficult this is! The psalmist loudly praised God for being our perfect example of leadership, deserving of praise.

When you recognize what God has done for us, we can praise him for his love; when we see how God deals with us graciously, we can praise him for his justice. I look forward to the day when Jesus returns and establishes his reign and rule of love and justice forever.

Follow God’s example of balanced love and justice.

Chris McFadden is pastor of Cherry Street Wesleyan in Ottawa, Kansas. He is married to his beautiful wife Suzanne and has two wonderful daughters.

© 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 reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3:8)

Expanded Passage: 1 John 3:4-10

“Just call the carpenter.” My wife’s words stung my ego a little, but I had to admit she was right. No matter how many YouTube videos I watched or blogs I scoured or hours I spent staring at my limited carpentry tools, I just couldn’t figure out how to fix the wooden gate on our deck. Unfortunately, in my attempts to repair the thing, I managed to damage it even further. My best intentions to save money ended up costing more time and effort than I could’ve possibly planned for.

We just don’t have the expertise or training to fix some of the problems that life throws at us. Thankfully for us, God never planned for us to fix the damage that sin did to our hearts and souls. God had a plan from the beginning, a plan to send his Son, Jesus, to put a once-and-for-all end to the war against humanity that the devil was raging since Eden.

Don’t try to fix yourself; the truth is that you simply can’t. When you’re wrestling with a sin problem you can’t solve, call on the name of the one who put sin, death, and the devil in their places for eternity—the name of Jesus! There’s no shame in reaching out for help and, in this case, it’ll save your soul.

Ask God to solve the problems only he can solve.

Chris McFadden is pastor of Cherry Street Wesleyan in Ottawa, Kansas. He is married to his beautiful wife Suzanne and has two wonderful daughters.

© 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!

Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. (1 John 3:10)

Expanded Passage: 1 John 3:10

He was the most eccentric neighbor we ever had. It started when I was mowing our lawn for the first time and I decided—being helpful—to mow a strip of grass on the other side of my fence that terminated at his driveway. He came screaming out of the house for me to get off his property . . . But that wasn’t all. He told me an elaborate story about his connections to secret federal government programs and how, if I set off a hidden alarm, a helicopter would be dispatched to this location for his evacuation.

I really didn’t know what to make of my neighbor. However, I did know that I was called to love him no matter his quirks. In John 14:15, Jesus tells his disciples, “If you love me, keep my commands.” When we know what Jesus is asking of us but we choose to do otherwise, we demonstrate that our life is out of harmony with God’s intention. Our lives must be marked first and foremost by love for those that God has graciously put in our paths to love—our family, our friends, and even all of our neighbors.

Being a child of God means adopting his posture of love for others. Hearts full of love enable hands to serve well. Who do you need to demonstrate the love of God to today?

Find someone to love just as God demonstrated his love for you.

Chris McFadden is pastor of Cherry Street Wesleyan in Ottawa, Kansas. He is married to his beautiful wife Suzanne and has two wonderful daughters.

© 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!

No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. (1 John 3:9)

Expanded Passage: 1 John 3:9

When I was a child, I used to wake up feeling thirsty in the middle of the night. Often, I’d make my way to the kitchen and, with sleep-filled eyes, grab for the nearest carton I could find. Without pouring anything into a glass (a bad habit I’ve since conquered) I would take a drink and then go back to bed. On some occasions, I would grab a carton thinking it was one kind of liquid only to take a drink and find out it was another. When you think you’re drinking milk and you end up getting a mouthful of orange juice, you get a rude awakening!

Christians can experience victory over sins in their lives when they remember what’s really inside of them. The beauty of God’s redeeming mercy is that it actually transforms our hearts! The saving grace of Jesus isn’t a bandage to stop the bleeding in our hearts; it’s a heart transplant in the hands of the best surgeon in the universe.

Take a moment today to realize that, in Christ, you are no longer the same person that you once were, lost to sin. You bear the seed of God and have been born of God through the wonderful work of Jesus. He has given you the power to say no to sin and to walk fully in his grace.

Consider how what’s inside you has changed because of Jesus.

Chris McFadden is pastor of Cherry Street Wesleyan in Ottawa, Kansas. He is married to his beautiful wife Suzanne and has two wonderful daughters.

© 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!

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. (1 John 3:7)

Expanded Passage: 1 John 3:7

My four-year-old daughter Nora went to the county fair to see the prize cow that a family friend was showing. She saw how the cow was being gently brushed and lovingly cleaned before judging and remarked, “Someday I’m going to be a real cow farmer!” Not ten seconds later, another participant was walking an even bigger cow back to its pen when it vocalized a loud and thunderous “MOO!” Poor Nora jumped and screamed and ran away as fast as she could!

What we say we want to do, or would do, or would hope to do means very little in comparison to what we actually do. We must be careful to walk in the footsteps of spiritual guides who have proven their righteousness by doing what is right. Our actions prove who we really are and they speak louder than our words can. When we let the grace of God inhabit us through obeying and living out the words of Jesus, our actions truly can line up with the words of righteousness he speaks over us.

Don’t be fooled by those who say they are something that they’re not—and don’t let that be you. Instead, rely on the transforming power of the Holy Spirit to work his righteousness through your life, so that others might see Jesus in you.

Let your actions speak righteousness.

Chris McFadden is pastor of Cherry Street Wesleyan in Ottawa, Kansas. He is married to his beautiful wife Suzanne and has two wonderful daughters.

© 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!

No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. (1 John 3:6)

Expanded Passage: 1 John 3:6

I’d like to say I was a natural at trap shooting—but that would be stretching the truth like saltwater taffy. My friend and instructor, John, gave me a few pointers while setting up the clay pigeon thrower. One stood out: “As you are holding the shotgun, point to where you want it to go with your forefinger. Whatever you point at is what you’ll hit.” For whatever reason, it didn’t feel that simple for me, but I did manage to clip a few clay pigeons nonetheless.

Experiencing victory over sin in our lives requires focusing our attention on the right goal. The goal is not to be sinless for the sake of being sinless. The goal is to know and see Jesus. When we become Christians but continue to sin, we prove that we are not focused on God. Fixing our eyes and our hearts on Jesus sets us on a long path of healing from the wounds and scars of sin in our lives.

When our relationship with Jesus becomes the most important part of our life, sin begins to lose its appeal. Grounding our lives in Jesus means that sin has no place to take root. They say when you aim at nothing, you’ll hit nothing. Spiritually speaking, aim at Jesus and see what he can do with a life focused on him.

Focus on Jesus and you won’t waste time focusing on sin.

Chris McFadden is pastor of Cherry Street Wesleyan in Ottawa, Kansas. He is married to his beautiful wife Suzanne and has two wonderful daughters.

© 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!

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. . . . In him is no sin. (1 John 3:4–5)

Expanded Passage: 1 John 3:4-5

My dad has always been a fan of Westerns. Leave it to him to choose a movie and it will certainly be something set in the Old West. One trope in Western movies is that of hapless townsfolk, inhabitants of a lawless frontier town overrun with bandits, who call for the help of a brave sheriff to restore order. Despite this trope being rehashed with different characters and alternate locations, it has held up surprisingly well over the years.

We can all relate to the townsfolk in an old Western because each one of us finds ourselves powerless to win the battle over sin. We are all in need of a hero to step into our story and restore law to the lawlessness of our hearts. The good news is that Jesus is the hero we need, and he’s already dealt with the bandits in our hearts. He conquered the power of sin and the whispers of temptation from the enemy that plagues our spirits. He could do this because “in him is no sin.”

Jesus is the “good sheriff” we’ve longed for, the one we’ve needed all along. He rescues us from sin and restores God’s law in our hearts. We can’t live free from sin on our own power! We can trust in the One that loves us and came to free us.

Allow Jesus to chase the lawlessness of sin from your life.

Chris McFadden is pastor of Cherry Street Wesleyan in Ottawa, Kansas. He is married to his beautiful wife Suzanne and has two wonderful daughters.

© 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!

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. (Ps. 100:1)

Expanded Passage: Psalm 100

Believers shouldn’t wait to see miracles in their lives to praise God. Believers should praise God in any situation, whether he answers our prayers or not. Praise can change people’s situations, it can be a source of healing, and it can make a way when things are hard. Praise brings a new hope and peace, and makes our faith in Jesus Christ grow. Those who know the secret behind praising God in all situations will lead by example, praising always. Praising God makes those who are weak strong, those who are poor rich, and those who have no hope hopeful.

All through the Psalms, God’s people praised him not only when things were good but even when they weren’t. We should make a choice to do exactly as David did, praising the Most High God. Praise is a shield from God when Satan wants to devour God’s people.

It is up to us to commit ourselves to praise God and let him provide for us. We shouldn’t just praise because we want God to do something, but praise him in any condition, and teach our hearts to rejoice in Christ.

Be thankful to God and he will shower you with uncountable blessings.

Irene Semu Ndosi is from Tanzania and holds a diploma in education with religious studies and a degree in biblical counseling.

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