First15 Devotional

Today we’re looking at a topic I think all of us can relate to: how to have faith in the midst of trials. All throughout Scripture we see examples of God’s people struggling with faith in the midst of challenges. Doubt is something so natural, so human. And the world teaches us that when things get tough, we need to take this life into our own hands and sort it out. But God has a better way for us – the way of faith. May God empower us with revelation today that would bear the fruit of steadfast faith, even in the midst of trials.

Our Scripture for today comes from James 1:2-4, and today's worship is Coming Through by First15 Worship (feat. Jeremiah Brinkley). 

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This month kicks off an extremely important season at First15 — a time when your partnership and prayers are deeply needed.

First15 has just launched a $216,584 Summer Initiative with the goal of connecting thousands more people to God and igniting their hearts for him. And today we’re asking for your support to make that possible.

Support the Summer Initiative

You know the power of daily time connecting with God — the hope, clarity, and peace we find in his presence. And we’re so grateful for the opportunity to encourage you in your faith with First15’s free devotional resources.

But to keep these resources freely available and take them to more people than ever before requires a fresh outpouring of support from friends like you.

That’s why we’re really excited to share that some amazing friends who know the power of a deepening relationship with God have offered to match your gift today, up to a total of $20,000.

This means your gift will now DOUBLE to have an even greater impact!

And the impact you can have in people’s lives is what excites us the most, because we’re sure you agree that changed lives can change our culture.

So please give generously to help meet the $216,584 Summer Initiative need — and lead more people into God’s presence each day.

Because when he gets a hold of our hearts, God always changes lives!

In today’s devotional, we’re going to look together at the marriage of faith and works. One of my greatest struggles is working with God rather than for God. God cares deeply about our work, our impact in this life, but not because he needs us to serve him or work for him, but because he wants to work with us. He wants to give us a picture of his goodness and love at work in the lives of others, and he wants to deepen our relationship with him by identifying and empowering us in our unique calling.

May we gain revelation today that would stick, that would transform our understanding and deepen our experience of the connection, the relationship between faith and works.

Our Scripture for today comes from James 2:26, and today's worship is 

For Your Splendor by Christy Nockles.

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This month kicks off an extremely important season at First15 — a time when your partnership and prayers are deeply needed.

First15 has just launched a $216,584 Summer Initiative with the goal of connecting thousands more people to God and igniting their hearts for him. And today we’re asking for your support to make that possible.

Support the Summer Initiative

You know the power of daily time connecting with God — the hope, clarity, and peace we find in his presence. And we’re so grateful for the opportunity to encourage you in your faith with First15’s free devotional resources.

But to keep these resources freely available and take them to more people than ever before requires a fresh outpouring of support from friends like you.

That’s why we’re really excited to share that some amazing friends who know the power of a deepening relationship with God have offered to match your gift today, up to a total of $20,000.

This means your gift will now DOUBLE to have an even greater impact!

And the impact you can have in people’s lives is what excites us the most, because we’re sure you agree that changed lives can change our culture.

So please give generously to help meet the $216,584 Summer Initiative need — and lead more people into God’s presence each day.

Because when he gets a hold of our hearts, God always changes lives!

In today’s First15 devotional, we’re going to look at what it means to pray in faith. We have a good Father who listens to every word we pray, and knows every need of our hearts before we even ask for it. May God’s goodness become the foundation of our prayer, that we would learn to pray out of a place of belief instead of begging, and hope instead of doubt.

Our Scripture for today comes from Mark 11:22-24, and today's worship is Where You'll Find Me by First15 Worship feat. Mark Alan Schoolmeesters. 

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This month kicks off an extremely important season at First15 — a time when your partnership and prayers are deeply needed.

First15 has just launched a $216,584 Summer Initiative with the goal of connecting thousands more people to God and igniting their hearts for him. And today we’re asking for your support to make that possible.

Support the Summer Initiative

You know the power of daily time connecting with God — the hope, clarity, and peace we find in his presence. And we’re so grateful for the opportunity to encourage you in your faith with First15’s free devotional resources.

But to keep these resources freely available and take them to more people than ever before requires a fresh outpouring of support from friends like you.

That’s why we’re really excited to share that some amazing friends who know the power of a deepening relationship with God have offered to match your gift today, up to a total of $20,000.

This means your gift will now DOUBLE to have an even greater impact!

And the impact you can have in people’s lives is what excites us the most, because we’re sure you agree that changed lives can change our culture.

So please give generously to help meet the $216,584 Summer Initiative need — and lead more people into God’s presence each day.

Because when he gets a hold of our hearts, God always changes lives!

We’re in our third day in our series on faith. Today we’re going to look in greater depth at how we can actually live by faith, experiencing the incredible fruit that comes from trusting in the faithfulness of God in every moment. God is with you, and his heart is filled with love for you. May you find the strength and courage to trust in him today with all that you are.

Our Scripture for today comes from 2 Corinthians 5:7, and today's worship is Oceans by Hillsong. 

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I hope that today’s podcast helped you get a fresh glimpse of what life can look like when you live it with true, moment by moment, faith.

 If you’d like to explore a new way of consuming First15 every day, we also have a free mobile app and email subscription. You can go to First15.org to learn more. 

Have a wonderful rest of your day, and may God bless you as you seek him!

In this week of devotionals, we’re focusing on faith. Living with our faith stirred up is absolutely foundational to living an abundant life. God is faithful no matter what. But faith allows us to have trust in that faithfulness, producing a peace and sense of calm in the midst of challenges that we desperately need. I pray that your faith would be stirred today as we look at the biblical principle that faith comes by hearing.

Our Scripture for today comes from Romans 10:17, and today's worship is Speak to Me by Kari Jobe. 

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Thanks for listening to today’s First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I’m a part of the First15 Team. If you haven’t downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today’s show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide! 

In today’s First15 Podcast we wanted to give you a preview of a new Guided Prayer that our friend RaeAnn Beckham wrote titled, “Safe Place.” RaeAnn does a beautiful job of reminding us about God’s desire to make us new and to do so gently and with unending kindness. Her prayer helps us remember that life with Jesus is a journey, one that he takes with us every step of the way.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Faith is the undercurrent of everything we do as followers of Jesus. Without faith we lose all that Christ died to give us while here on earth. It is by faith we access the peace, joy, guidance, love, and purpose that comes from restored relationship with our heavenly Father. In this week of devotionals, we’re going to seek an increase in faith in response to God’s faithfulness. May you experience a greater depth of intimacy with your living, Almighty, and loving heavenly Father.

Our Scripture for today comes from 1 Corinthians 2:5, and today's worship is Coming Through by First15 Worship (feat. Jeremiah Brinkley).

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Thank you for listening to today’s podcast on the heart of faith. I pray that this week your faith would be lifted and established as we focus on the incredible, unwavering faithfulness of our good and loving Father. 

If you haven’t had a chance to rate and review this podcast, please take a moment to do that today! A few minutes of your time could make the difference in someone else finding us, and establishing the rhythm of experiencing God in a fresh way every day. 

I’m so grateful for you, and grateful that you’re choosing to create space to experience the loving presence of God. May God bless you as you seek him today. 

As we wrap up our week on loving people, we look today at how we can love the Church as God does. Jesus says we will be known by the way we love each other. Would people know you’re a Christian by the way you love your brothers and sisters? People are messy, it’s true. We all are. And yet Jesus saw our worth and loved us in the midst of our messiness. How can you mimic that same love today as you seek to love his Church? Today we’ll look at the perspective and affections of Jesus for his people. May our hearts and minds be transformed as a result.

Our Scripture for today comes from John 13:35. Today's worship is King of my Heart by Steffany Gretzinger.

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Thank you for listening to today’s podcast, the last in our week-long series titled, Love Does.

I hope this week has been empowering and fruitful, and that another life has been impacted

because of this time you’re investing, seeking after God’s heart.

Tomorrow we’re beginning a brand new series, simply seeking to stir up our affections for God.

I pray that the simplicity of God’s goodness draws you even closer to him.

Make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss any of these daily guides to God’s presence. And if it’s been a while, rate and review the podcast so someone else can find this

space we’re making for God’s presence.

Have a wonderful rest of your day, and may God bless you as you seek him.

As we near the end of our series on Love Does, today we’re going to look at the role of hope in putting our faith into action. You and I need hope more than ever. We need God to give us fresh vision for the work he’s doing and will do in the world around us. And we need him to empower us to share that vision with others, that our perspective would be grounded in his goodness. May God fill us as his people with fresh hope in his presence today.

Our Scripture for today comes from 1 Corinthians 13:7, and today's worship is Graves Into Gardens by Elevation Worship. 

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Thanks for listening to today’s podcast, Love Hopes.

Take notice today as you go about your day of someone around you who seems hopeless. And when you notice it, before going up to him or her, ask God for a word of hope. Sharing that word of hope, given to you straight from the heart of God, can make more difference than we can imagine in the life of another.

May God empower you today to be a giver of hope as he is.

Make sure to rate the podcast today, and take just a moment to share the hope you’re finding in

this space for God’s presence.

I pray that the rest of your day is filled with hope in God, and that God blesses you as you seek

him.

In today’s podcast, we’re going to look at the role of forgiveness in putting our love into action. In God we have forgiveness for every sin we can commit. And that forgiveness not only washes us clean, but empowers us to become like our great Forgiver.

Every day we’re wronged in some way. And every day is an opportunity to show others forgiveness, not because they deserve it, but because loving forgiveness is the way of our Good Shepherd, the author and founder of our faith. May God empower us to forgive as he does today.

Our Scripture for today comes from Ephesians 4:32, and today's worship is 

Same God by Elevation Worship & Passion Music.

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Thank you so much for listening to today’s podcast.

Today across all our platforms we’re asking our readers and listeners to become a monthly

partner. We are all looking for ways to see our resources invested in God’s kingdom. Whether

it’s our time, money, or talents, our lives are most full when we’re giving of ourselves for the sake of others. So this opportunity to support First15 on a monthly basis is a way that you can invest in God’s kingdom, by helping us place this guide to God’s presence in the hands of another.

If you’re ready to become one of our monthly partners, just click this link to go to our giving page so you can quickly set up your monthly gift.

Thank you for partnering with me in seeing believers all around the world connecting with God in a meaningful way every day.

In today’s devotional we’re going to look at the role of encouragement in putting our love into action. In a world that constantly seems to beat us down, we’re in need of some real encouragement. God has an encouraging word to speak to everyone around you. And if we’ll make space to listen, he longs to share that word with us that we might see his kingdom advancing in the heart of another. 

May God encourage us today, and empower us to encourage another as we make space for his loving presence.

Our Scripture for today comes from Hebrews 10:23-25, and today's worship is Take Courage by Kristine DiMarco. 

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Thanks for listening to today’s podcast.

As you prayed today, I hope the Lord puts someone on your heart that you can encourage.

I want to implore you to take this opportunity right now to reach out to that person. Call them,

text them, write them a note, however you want to encourage them, don’t put it off. And I’ll see you back here tomorrow where we’ll look at the role of forgiveness in putting our love into action.

If it’s been a little while, rate and review the podcast, and subscribe if you haven’t already.

And may God bless you as you seek him today.