Kerusso Daily Devotional

When fear takes control, God just crushes it.

None of us are immune from feeling unsettled at times. Circumstances have a way of knocking us off balance. How we respond not only affects our lives, but those who are watching us.

In the film “The Patriot,” a Colonial militia leader sees the British kidnap his son. Taking the two younger sons with him, they wait in ambush in the forest. One of the sons is rattled and crying, so the father puts his hands on the boy’s shoulders, looks him in the eyes, and says, “Steady.” Fear drains from the boy’s face.

In that moment of terror for the whole family, the father’s example won the day, and their day ended well.

In 2 Timothy 1:7, we learn the source of calm. It says this: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and a sound mind.”

God has given you a spirit of power, love, and a good mind. So don’t let fear, the enemy, or the world intimidate you when it comes to sharing your faith. Speak God’s truth with boldness, and love. Your moment will come one day, and by keeping in mind the truth of God’s word, courage will overcome fear.

Notice the qualities mentioned in 2 Timothy. God has actually given us courage, but also power, and a sound mind—also phrased as self-discipline. And discipline will help keep you steady in a crisis. That spirit of power actually does our fighting for us, and it is the enemy who is afraid.

Let’s pray.

Father, you are good to us. Just as Jesus modeled for us how to handle fear when he prayed in the garden, we know that you have our back, and we can be courageous. Thank you for a sound mind and a calm heart in times of trouble. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Life is a process. We know that if we’ve lived very long at all. And this week, we’re talking about the process of trusting God.

John 16:24 says, “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

Could Jesus meet our needs by just giving us something instantly? Of course. He made everything! And sometimes He does that; the miracles he performed that are recorded in the New Testament tell us that He often instantly met a person’s need.

But He doesn’t always work that way. And that’s because Jesus loves to teach us.

In the book of John, He is telling us the steps necessary to trust Him for provision. First, we ask. Then we learn to receive His good gifts. Finally, we feel real joy, because we know exactly where it came from.

This process is designed to teach us faith, and then to be genuinely appreciative to the Lord for meeting our needs. All through the Bible, we are told that He delights in helping us, in loving us through tough times. The older we get, the more we are able to look back and see that He and He alone brought us through.

There is usually no other explanation.

And that is called a miracle.

Let’s pray. 

Lord, we are dependent on you for everything, and we are blessed that you are our Source. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Standing in the door of the plane, with a fierce wind whipping his whole body, Curtis wondered why he’d volunteered for the paratroopers. 

It was glamorous, they said.

It’ll make a man out of you, they said.

Shutting his eyes, Curtis prayed the most honest prayer of his life. He stretched out his hands and took a step...

Lamentations 3:25–26 says, “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

Rolling on the ground wrapped in silk, Curtis realized he had followed his instructions to the letter. With his landing, he graded out the highest of anyone in his company.

That story is exactly how we are to interact with our Savior. When we let go, confident that Jesus has us, we have no more pressure on us. He is carrying us to safety.

We land in the right place every time.

Let’s pray.

Lord, we have so much gratitude for the countless ways you lead us through life. We love you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

As a believer, have you noticed that it’s often easier to stay in God’s will when you’re at home? At work, it can get a little dicey.

It’s at work that people see us, and our decisions can have such impact. Not being in God’s will in that setting can be catastrophic.

Romans 8:31 tells us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Terry Looper is the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company. Once, he was negotiating a sale and was at the finish line when he realized he hadn’t sought God’s will in the matter. He stopped, prayed, and read the Word for discernment.

He was shocked to find that he wasn’t supposed to sell at all!

Looper learned his lesson. Being in God’s will in every area of our lives is the key. It’s great to be godly and led by the Spirit sitting in your den with a Bible open. But it’s not less important to be led by the Spirit in the boardroom, or on the floor of the plant where you work.

People see you. They see what we do. If we want to be sure success finds us, we’d better make sure we’re looking in the right place.

There are no shortcuts to fully being in God’s will.

Let’s pray.

Lord, you bless us in every area of our lives. Thank you for being on our side, all the time. In Jesus’ name, amen.

When the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opened in 2011 in Arkansas, the vast sum of money spent on art caught some off-guard. One painting in particular, “Kindred Spirits,” was sold to Alice Walton for the museum for $35 million dollars!

It’s a beautiful painting, for sure. Two men are standing on a bluff, overlooking a scene of mountains and a river.

Some might have an issue with the price of the painting, but Walton felt the scene was priceless and wanted others to enjoy it.

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

We are of infinite worth to our Savior! He came to rescue us from a life of terror and bleakness. He takes us to a place of beauty and calm.

We are no blank canvas to God.

Let’s pray.

Lord, your creative powers are beyond our reach, but you let us enjoy it all! Thank you for your gifts, God, that show us just how much we mean to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Would it surprise you to know that God has always been interested in you? Did you know He knew you before you were born? He has a vested interest in how your life turns out.

Romans 8:31 tells us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

He isn’t some remote deity. God doesn’t pay attention only most of the time. He doesn’t form His plans here and there. He is there for us all the time.

The question is, where are we? 

Before you were born, it was God’s will that you would have a relationship with Him. He has always wanted your life to be successful. He wanted you to have joy hundreds of years before your parents were even born!

So God’s will for your life isn’t confined to now, or even now and going forward. He has always been with you, guiding you through your life. As you look back now, you can see that this is true?

Being in God’s will is all-encompassing. It is the beginning, middle, and end of our stories.

If you weren’t exactly in God’s will in the past, you can learn from that, and move forward with Him all the time.

Let’s pray.

Lord, you hold us in your protection for the entirety of our lives. We thank you that you never get tired of that. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Sharing our faith should be exciting to us. It is exciting. When we consider the free grace God gave us through His Son, telling others about Jesus should be on our priority list every day. For whatever reason, many find it very awkward to talk to others about Jesus. We can talk about just about anything else, though. That’s why it’s crucial that we look at sharing the gospel as an intentional thing we do. Intentionality is a great way to overcome our hesitancy, and let’s be honest, sometimes fear keeps us from sharing. 

Truth is, each personality requires a customized approach to sharing about Jesus. Some are outgoing and others are shy. A blogger for God TV has written that he admired a friend who told every seatmate on every plane he’d been in about Jesus.

The blogger went on to write that “Even if my fellow passengers desperately wanted to know Christ, they likely couldn’t even get my attention with a jackhammer drill or a pie in the face.” Kind of funny and also kind of sad, also very common. 

Matthew 16:24 says, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” So, if we’re looking for ways to overcome our mediocre gospel sharing, what can we do? Let’s look at a few tips. 

The first is prayer. Get honest with God and tell Him you’re not so great at evangelism. I mean, He already knows, anyway. Ask Him specifically to give you both opportunities and an intentional plan for communicating the best news anyone will ever hear.

Two, plan, think ahead. Are you a person who’s good at conversation? Go over a mental checklist that provides you with enough scripture and short sentences to make your pitch when the time comes. However, if you’re not outgoing, maybe you’re a writer. Consider communicating with a card to let the person know you’re thinking about him or her. Play to your strengths, not your weaknesses. 

Number three, listen before you talk. How many times do we jump into a conversation or meeting without taking a breath? Train yourself to be quiet for a bit until you hear where the other person is coming from. You’ll learn about your friend or acquaintance, and you can then think through the best way to approach them about the saving gift of Jesus. But also, don’t just wait for your turn to talk. Hear them. Meet them where they are, and listen to the Holy Spirit to see how you can speak Jesus into that person’s life. Very few of us are Billy Graham. That doesn’t mean we can’t share the gospel. Somebody’s depending on it. 

Let’s pray.

Father, whatever our personality and our experiences, give us a passion for loving unbelievers and caring about their well-being. The world is full of diversity. Help us embrace that. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Keeping things simple is usually the best path forward. For Christians, that means following Christ’s lead in everything.

This includes sharing and standing up for our faith.

The Bible is full of examples of how Jesus did this. Occasionally he got mad, as when he threw out the moneychangers. Other times he just quietly sat and taught what His Father had shown Him.

This is our model. When you share Christ with someone and that person believes, you have been given the privilege of watching the most important moment in his or her life—ever. To get to this moment, it will require you to be knowledgeable about your faith, balanced enough to be gentle in sharing, and sometimes edgy enough to push back when someone mocks our Lord.

Jude 1:3 says, “Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.”

God gave us a job to do, and one of his prophets, Jude, told us to be ready to defend the Gospel. This, we should be happy to do.

Let’s pray.

Lord, your wisdom is enough for us. We are always ready to defend the Good News. In Jesus' name. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Think of what Jesus was asking of His followers.

He had just risen from the dead. That doesn’t happen every day.

His ministry had been destroyed, so they thought. He wasn’t coming back. But then He did. Only days after being killed on a brutal Roman cross, Jesus was standing in front of His friends, looking very much alive. And He was telling them their futures were dicey.

Mark 16:15 says, “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’”

Jerusalem at the time was under occupation by an unforgiving empire. The empire required all from each individual, and never gave anything back. Jesus was telling His disciples that if they would give up all for Him, He’d give it back and more—forever.

This was the first great command to preach the Good News everywhere. The first marching orders for a spiritual army.

We are called to be in that army, to give our all in order to shake things up for eternity.

Let’s pray.

Lord, thank you for giving us the chance to share your love with others, all over the world. We love you! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Table salt today is so common, it becomes another thing we take for granted. You go to the store, pick a cylinder or jar of salt off the shelf, and then go home. You don’t even think about it.

Now, consider that 1,000 and more years ago, if a person wanted to use salt on his dinner, this required some prior work. A lot of work! The Romans boiled seawater in huge, lead-lined pans. So valuable was salt in the Roman Empire, it was used as currency! Mainly, it was used as a critical food preservative.

Matthew 5 verses 13–16 says, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.                                      Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

God is telling us that we are to be the instrument that preserves and makes known the Gospel, and salt is one of the analogies.

Let us say to our friends, loved ones, and even strangers: Taste, and see that the Lord’s promises are good!

Let’s pray.

Lord, help us to be salt and light for your Word in this world. In Jesus’ name, amen.