Hearing Jesus: Daily Bible Study, Daily Devotional, Prayer, Hearing God & Christian Affirmations

Hearing God in Luke:

Jesus stood up in His hometown synagogue, read Isaiah out loud, and said

Today we're in Luke 4:14-22, where Jesus announces His mission: good news

Links

We visit Luke's house in Rome on our Bible Study Live trip.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

Listen ad-free, plus the full library of past series, on Patreon: patreon.com/HearingJesus

Questions or prayer requests? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

Questions we answer today

What's the difference between being full of the Spirit and operating in

Timestamps

00:00 Why this series has felt intense, and why I'm not

02:10 Reading Luke 4:14-22

03:30 Prayer

04:30 Full of the Spirit going in, power coming out

05:40 Dunamis, and where we get the word dynamite

06:50 Power shows up on the other side of the test

08:00 What testing produced in me

11:00 The hardest season, and the question God asked

12:00 How that season shaped the ministry

13:30 The same power promised to us in Acts 1:8

14:10 Trepho, and what "brought up" really

15:50 The place that fed Him

16:40 Thirty years of synagogue on the Sabbath

17:10 Why the Old Testament matters

18:10 Reading from the scroll of Isaiah

18:40 Chrio, the root of Christos

19:30 Priest, king, prophet, and Jesus as all three

20:40 Two different words for proclaim

22:20 A royal herald announcing the King's decree

23:50 Aphesis, and what liberty actually means

25:00 Inside a Kenyan prison

27:30 Why we are the captives

29:30 Are you walking like you're free?

30:30 The woman who wouldn't leave

31:20 Prayer

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Midweek can get loud, so today we trade anxiety for peace. These Scripture-based affirmations lean on Jeremiah 29:11 and the promise that God's plans for you are good, even when you can't see the whole picture yet.

Midweek is when the noise gets loudest. These Scripture-based Christian affirmations are a short, steady way to trade anxiety for peace and remember that God is still in control of what you can't see yet. Today's affirmations are about surrendering worry, resting in His presence, and trusting His timing even when the picture isn't clear. God's peace isn't just a feeling. It's a promise.

I'll say each statement, then pause so you can repeat it after me, and

Before we begin

Breathe in God's peace, and exhale your worries. This day is a gift, and

Wednesday affirmations and Scripture

I am ruled by God's peace today.

I cast all my worries onto Jesus. He carries them for me.

I will not be anxious. I will pray and trust God.

God's plans for me are good, and I trust Him.

I do not need to worry about tomorrow.

I will rest in God's presence today.

God is my refuge and strength.

I will not let my heart be troubled. I trust in God.

The Lord directs my steps.

Even when I don't understand, I trust in God's wisdom.

I do not have to be afraid because God is with me.

God is fighting for me.

I am not alone. God walks with me.

God is my rock and salvation. I will not be shaken.

I find rest in God alone.

God's love never fails me.

I have peace because I am in Christ.

I wait on the Lord and He renews my strength.

I will trust in God, even when I don't see the whole picture.

God is working all things for my good.

God's peace rules in my heart today.

I give my burdens to the Lord and He sustains me.

I will be still and know that He is God.

I trust God's timing and His ways.

I will rejoice in the Lord always.

Closing prayer

Father, I surrender my worries to You. I choose to rest in Your peace

I hope these affirmations spoke to your heart today. If you want to go

Listen daily and start your morning with God's truth so you can walk in

Links

Our Bible Study Live retreat in Maui is a quiet, contemplative place to bring your questions about the future to God alongside a small group of women.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

Listen ad-free, plus the full library of past series, on Patreon: patreon.com/HearingJesus

Questions or prayer requests? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

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The devil's first words to Jesus were "if you are the Son of God." God had just called Him exactly that.

We're in Luke 4 today talking about the enemy. Who he is, how he actually

Links

We visit Luke's house in Rome on our Bible Study Live trip.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

Listen ad-free, plus the full library of past series, on Patreon: patreon.com/HearingJesus

Questions or prayer requests? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

Questions we answer today

What does the word devil actually mean, and why does his name describe

Timestamps

00:00 Picking up in Luke 4

01:30 Reading Luke 4:1-14

03:00 Why we were never really taught about the enemy

05:00 Diabolos, Satan, and what the names tell us

06:30 The other names Scripture gives him

07:30 He is not a second God, and he is already

09:30 He observes, he does not know

10:20 The blackout week, and the power of our words

13:00 Conviction versus condemnation

14:20 If you are the Son of God

15:10 The oldest move in the book

16:20 When sin shows up as the solution to doubt

17:10 Overworking and oversharing to prove something

18:30 Until an opportune time

19:20 Predictable resistance

20:40 The opportune time was Gethsemane

23:20 Anointing, testing, then ministry

25:00 What he actually wants, and why

27:00 Every offer is a shortcut

29:20 How he twists Scripture

31:00 Offering what was never his to give

35:30 It is written, not I feel

36:30 The only offensive piece of the armor

37:40 Submit first, then resist

39:20 Why we do the daily affirmations

40:20 Prayer

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Today we step into the week with courage by speaking God's truth out loud. These affirmations build on 1 Corinthians 15:57, where Paul thanks God for giving us the victory through Jesus Christ.

Step into your week with boldness,

I'll read each phrase, you repeat it, and then I'll tell you the Scripture it comes from.

Before we begin

Today's affirmations are for

Tuesday affirmations and Scripture

I am strong and courageous in

I do not fear because God is with

I can do all things through Christ

I am victorious through Jesus. 1

I have the power of God working

I will not be shaken because God

I walk by faith, not by sight. 2

No weapon formed against me shall

God fights my battles and I need

I am not afraid because God has

I have authority in Christ over

I am rooted and established in

I have divine wisdom and strength

I am resilient and I will

I am filled with the power of the

I will not grow weary in doing

God's grace is sufficient for me. 2

I have peace that surpasses

I am never alone. God is always

I am protected under the shadow of

God's Word is a lamp to my feet

I stand firm in faith and do not

I am free from fear because God's

I have a spirit of power, love,

God is working all things for my

Closing prayer

Lord, I surrender my fear to You. Fill me with boldness,

Listen daily and start your morning with God's truth so

Links

On our Bible Study Live trip to Rome, we visit the catacombs, where early believers laid their loved ones to rest in the hope of the resurrection.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

Listen ad-free, plus the full library of past series, on Patreon: patreon.com/HearingJesus

Questions or prayer requests? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever said yes to God and then watched everything get harder?

We're starting Luke chapter 4 in our fall Bible study, and before we get

Links

We visit Luke's house in Rome on our Bible Study Live trip.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

Listen ad-free, plus the full library of past series, on Patreon: patreon.com/HearingJesus

Questions or prayer requests? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

Questions we answer today

Was Jesus not already full of the Holy Spirit before His baptism?

Timestamps

00:00 Starting Luke 4, and how this series works

01:00 Reading Luke 4:1-13

02:40 Prayer

04:00 Why the color method stopped me at "forty

05:00 Was Jesus always full of the Holy Spirit?

07:00 What Isaiah said about a Spirit-empowered Messiah

08:30 What actually happened at the Jordan

10:00 Fully God and fully human

11:30 Why His victory matters for us

14:20 A callback to Israel's forty years

15:30 Why all three answers come from Deuteronomy

17:30 God's son Israel failed, God's Son Jesus passed

18:50 Other forty-day seasons in Scripture

21:00 Predictable resistance after obedience

23:30 Tempted the whole time, not just at the end

24:30 The wilderness was the assignment

25:00 Prayer

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Today's affirmations are about identity and the truth that you were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. We repeat Ephesians 1:4 and other Scriptures so your worth rests on what God says, not on your past.

Start your Monday with confidence, peace, and purpose. These daily Christian affirmations are a short but powerful way to realign your heart and mind with biblical truth before the week begins. Today's affirmations are all about identity: who God says you are, and what changes when you believe it. Speak life over your day, renew your faith, and step into God's promises with Scripture straight from His Word.

I'll read each phrase, you repeat it, and then I'll tell you the Scripture

Before we begin

Take a deep breath. This is a new day filled with God's grace and purpose.

Monday affirmations and Scripture

I am a child of God, chosen and loved.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

I am fully known and loved fully by God.

I have been chosen before the foundation of the world.

I am created in the image of God.

I am redeemed and made new in Christ.

I am set apart for God's purpose.

I am God's masterpiece, created for good works.

I am loved with an everlasting love.

I am called by name and belong to God.

I am not my past. I am a new creation.

I have been bought with a price and I belong to God.

I'm seated in heavenly places with Christ.

I am co-heir with Christ.

I am not rejected. I am accepted in Christ.

I am never alone. God is always with me.

I am valuable and precious in God's sight.

I have been set free by the truth of Jesus.

I am more than a conqueror through Christ.

I am a light in this world, shining for Christ.

I am God's dwelling place. His Spirit lives within me.

I am forgiven and free from condemnation.

I have a divine purpose and calling from God.

I am dearly loved and nothing can separate me from God's love.

Closing prayer

Father, thank You for reminding me who I am in You. Help me to walk in

I hope these affirmations spoke to your heart today. If you want to go

Listen daily and start your morning with God's truth so you can walk in

Links

Paul's letters taught the early church who they were in Christ, and on our Bible Study Live trip to Rome we study them together with a small group of women.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

Listen ad-free, plus the full library of past series, on Patreon: patreon.com/HearingJesus

Questions or prayer requests? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before the week begins, I'm inviting you to trade dread for expectancy. These Scripture-based affirmations, anchored in Romans 15:13, help you walk into Monday grounded in hope and trusting God one day at a time.

Sunday Daily Affirmations: I Enter This Week with Expectancy, Not Fear

I'll say each affirmation, pause so you can repeat it after me, and then

Sunday affirmations and Scripture

I place this coming week in God's hands.

I trust God to guide my steps.

I enter this week with expectancy, not fear.

I invite God into every moment ahead.

I trust God to order my priorities.

I receive God's wisdom for the days ahead.

I walk into this week anchored in truth.

I trust God with what I cannot foresee.

I choose faith over anticipation of stress.

I rely on God's grace for each day.

I trust God's timing this week.

I remain open to God's leading.

I step forward with humility and trust.

I depend on God's strength, not my own.

I trust God with every conversation and decision.

I choose obedience over control.

I walk into this week aware of God's presence.

I trust God to work through ordinary moments.

I release anxiety about outcomes.

I remain attentive to God's voice.

I trust God to meet my needs.

I step into this week with courage.

I trust God to shape my character.

I begin this week grounded in hope.

I rest in God's faithfulness as I move forward.

Closing prayer

God, as I step into this new week, I place everything ahead of me in Your

Links

If Romans has shaped your faith, our Bible Study Live trip to Rome lets you study Paul's letter with a small group of women in the city he wrote it to.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

Listen ad-free, plus the full library of past series, on Patreon: patreon.com/HearingJesus

Questions or prayer requests? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we look back over the week with honesty and gratitude instead of replaying every mistake. These affirmations lean on Psalm 32:5, where David confesses his sin and finds that God forgives.

Saturday Daily Affirmations: I Release Regret (Psalm 32:5)

I'll say each affirmation, pause so you can repeat it after me, and then

Saturday affirmations and Scripture

I thank God for walking with me through this week.

I recognize God's faithfulness in both the seen and unseen moments.

I release regret and receive God's grace.

I trust that God was at work even when I didn't notice.

I give thanks for the strength God provided each day.

I acknowledge where I grew this week.

I notice where God invited me to trust Him more deeply.

I receive God's mercy for where I fell short.

I choose gratitude over self-criticism.

I honor the work God has been doing in my heart.

I acknowledge God's presence in ordinary moments.

I release this week into God's care.

I trust God with what remains unfinished.

I thank God for His patience with me.

I rest in the truth that God sees me fully.

I choose to end this week with gratitude.

I release comparison and embrace contentment.

I acknowledge God's protection this week.

I thank God for His provision.

I recognize God's quiet guidance.

I let go of striving and receive rest.

I honor the limits God has given me.

I trust God with what I do not understand.

I receive peace as I reflect with God.

I end this week grounded in God's faithfulness.

Closing prayer

God, thank You for walking with me through this week. Help me to see Your

Links

Our Bible Study Live retreat in Maui makes room for this kind of honest reflection, with quiet time in Scripture alongside a small group of women.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

Listen ad-free, plus the full library of past series, on Patreon: patreon.com/HearingJesus

Questions or prayer requests? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every year around this time I get the same question. What do we do about Halloween?

You'll hear everything from it's a free-for-all with no spiritual implication, to turn the lights off and hide in the house. My answer lands somewhere in the middle, and it starts here: I don't want to live in a way that hands the devil my days.

Today we take on Halloween, and then a harder question about free will and the passages where God hardens a heart.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

Listen ad-free, plus the full library of past series, on Patreon: patreon.com/HearingJesus

Questions or prayer requests? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

How should Christians handle Halloween?

I'm answering this as both a parent and a former children's pastor. I grew up in a conservative Christian environment and later served in a charismatic one, so I've watched different churches handle this very differently.

Here's my baseline. As Christians we're called to take light into the darkness, not run from it. Most Christians would agree. But for some reason we treat Halloween as the one exception.

I don't want to give the devil any of my days. If I'm on this earth a hundred years and I hide every Halloween, that's a hundred days I handed over out of fear.

That said, I won't pretend there's nothing there. There are real spiritual implications around Halloween. So my answer isn't either extreme.

What does a good alternative look like?

When I was a children's pastor, we did a trunk or treat. We played music from Jump Start 3, a ministry that set Scripture to music kids actually liked, and gave away their CDs. We served a lot of low income families whose kids didn't get CDs bought for them. We used that same music in Sunday school because it got God's Word into kids in a way they remembered.

We had rules for the trunks. Nothing evil, nothing scary, nothing representing the occult. We had a Candyland trunk and an apple harvest trunk. We ran contests and giveaways and made it a genuinely fun night, so families had somewhere good to go. If your church does something like that, it's a great option.

When does a church alternative go wrong?

I've also seen the other side of it.

We took our youngest daughter to a trunk or treat at a local church. They'd advertised a fall harvest party, so we weren't expecting anything unusual. It turned out to be inside the building, and to get in you had to walk through a black tunnel with skeletons on the walls, stinky smoke, and fire. I thought maybe it was one of those heaven-or-hell presentations, which I'm not a fan of, but you couldn't turn around and you couldn't get out.

When we came through, the gymnasium was covered in scary, creepy Halloween decorations. My husband and I looked at each other and we were out. Then we met the pastor and he told us they wanted to make it even scarier next year.

That's losing the plot entirely. There's no reason to invite families into a church building and hand them a haunted house.

What else can we do on Halloween?

We're called to live in the world and not of it, so this has looked like different things for our family over the years. Sometimes when we went house to house, we gave something instead of taking something. Sometimes we'd make it an exchange and ask people if they needed prayer.

Here's what I keep coming back to. Yes, there is evil happening that night. It's also a night when kids and families are out looking for something. They are literally going door to door asking.

If you live in a neighborhood with kids, you could hand out Scripture music, or candy with a Bible verse attached. Or you could simply say, I love your costume, is there anything you need prayer for?

This is one of the few nights a year when we have a natural reason to meet our neighbors. If we have the good news, why wouldn't we offer it on a night when people are at our door asking for something?

Now, if you start handing out ghosts and goblins, you've missed the plot. But hiding with the lights off and pretending we're not home is literally hiding your light under a bushel. We all learned that song as kids. Halloween is a good chance to actually live it.

What about my kids?

If you're going to participate, it comes with a conversation, and it's still your responsibility to protect your children.

Letting them dress up as a witch is not okay. But there are plenty of options. They can be a favorite character or dress up as popcorn. There's a lot of room between a witch costume and hiding in the house.

While you're out, if a house looks evil, you skip it. Or maybe you pray for it. Or maybe you go up and offer to pray for those people. That depends on the age of your kids. If you have a four-year-old, I wouldn't. If you have a sixteen-year-old, maybe you should.

If we take the mentality of hiding from evil, where does it stop? We're not called to hide. We're called to face it.

What about "God hardened his heart" and free will?

A listener wrote in accepting that God is sovereign while also believing we can choose to turn away, and wrestling with Romans 9 and the Pharaoh passages. You're not the first to sit with this. Scholars have discussed it for centuries.

Start in the garden. God put the tree there and gave a real command with a real consequence. That means they had a choice, and that matters, because love that can't say no isn't love. It's control. That theme runs all the way through. Moses sets before Israel life and death and tells them to choose life. Joshua says choose this day whom you will serve. God calls people to respond, but He doesn't force it.

So what about Pharaoh?

Before the plagues begin, God tells Moses that Pharaoh's heart will be hardened. Read that alone and it's troubling. Read the whole story and something else emerges.

Again and again, Pharaoh hardens his own heart. He sees God's power, experiences a plague, asks Moses to stop it, the plague is removed, then he changes his mind and hardens his heart again. Only later does Exodus say the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart.

This isn't a willing heart that God forces into rebellion. Pharaoh is already resisting. God allows that resistance to solidify and uses it for His purpose.

The Hebrew helps. One word is chazaq, meaning to strengthen or make firm. When I taught this to kids I compared it to Jell-O. The ingredients are all there, and eventually they set. Another is kabed, carrying the sense of making something heavy. The picture is God confirming Pharaoh in a direction he already chose.

That connects to Romans 1, where three times Paul says God gave them over to the sin they had chosen. Sometimes God's judgment isn't forcing someone to do what they don't want. It's allowing them further down the road they keep insisting on.

How should I read Romans 9?

In context, which means reading 9, 10, and 11 together. Those chapter divisions were added centuries later by scribes.

Paul doesn't open Romans 9 with a lecture on predestination. He opens by grieving, saying he has unceasing anguish because his own people have rejected Jesus. The question he's answering is whether God's promise to Israel failed.

His answer is no. God's purposes have not failed, and He has always been free to choose how He accomplishes them. That's the context for I will have mercy on whom I have mercy. The point isn't that God randomly decides who gets saved. It's that He decides how He accomplishes His plan.

Keep reading. In chapter 10, Paul says everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Everyone. Then that Israel can be grafted back in, and eventually that God has bound everyone over to disobedience so He may have mercy on them all.

How do both things hold together?

Scripture doesn't feel the need to pick one and throw out the other. At Pentecost, Peter says Jesus was handed over according to God's deliberate plan, and in the same breath tells the people they were responsible for His death. Paul says work out your salvation with fear and trembling, then adds that it is God who works in you.

We also read difficult passages in light of clear ones. God wants all people to be saved. Jesus stood over Jerusalem and said how often He longed to gather her children, and they were not willing.

So here's where I land. God is sovereign and nothing is outside His authority, and our choices are real. I don't believe God creates some people for salvation and others for hell. That isn't consistent with His character, and predestining someone to hell and then holding them responsible for a choice they were never free to make throws out free will entirely.

He is powerful enough to accomplish His purposes even when people resist. Pharaoh said no and God didn't lose control.

Mystery isn't the same thing as contradiction. When we want to know what God is like, we look at Jesus.

Timestamps

Frequently asked questions

What is Jump Start 3?

How do I send in a question?

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We end the week by setting down our burdens, including the weight of our own mistakes. These affirmations rest on Lamentations 3:22-23, a reminder that God's mercies are new every morning.

Friday Daily Affirmations: God's Grace Is Greater Than My Failures

I'll say each affirmation, pause so you can repeat it after me, and then

Before we begin

The week is ending, and as we step into the weekend, let's take a moment to

Friday affirmations and Scripture

I release my worries and trust God to handle what I cannot.

God's peace fills my heart and I rest in His presence.

I am not defined by my mistakes. God's grace is greater than my failures.

I let go of the need to control everything and surrender to God's perfect

I am deeply loved by God and nothing can separate me from His love.

God refreshes my soul and renews my strength.

I will be fully present today, trusting that God holds tomorrow.

My body, mind, and spirit find rest in God alone.

I let go of striving and choose to rest in God's love.

I step into the weekend with joy, knowing that God is in control.

God's presence is my safe place.

I am fully known and fully loved by God.

I will not let stress steal my peace today.

God is my refuge and I am safe in His hands.

I do not need to have all the answers. I trust God.

God is fighting my battles and I can rest in His victory.

I will not fear because God is with me.

I am held together by God's love even when life feels overwhelming.

God's goodness and mercy follow me every day.

I will not carry burdens that God has already taken from me.

I am at peace because God is in control.

I trust in God's timing even when I don't understand.

I will lay down my burdens and take on God's.

I am never alone for God is always with me.

No matter what happens today, God is still good.

Closing prayer

Father, as this week comes to an end, I lay my burdens at Your feet. Help

I hope these affirmations spoke to your heart today. If you want to go

Listen daily and start your morning with God's truth so you can walk in

Links

If your soul needs room to breathe and receive God's mercy, our Bible Study Live retreat in Maui offers slow, contemplative time in His Word.

Bible Study Live is a small-group Bible study trip with Rachael Groll. Study Scripture where it happened in Rome, or slow down for a contemplative Bible study retreat in Maui. Dates and details at BibleStudyLive.org

Listen ad-free, plus the full library of past series, on Patreon: patreon.com/HearingJesus

Questions or prayer requests? Leave me a voicemail: SpeakPipe

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices