Day 17: Tuesday // January 23 Matthew 13:44-46  Imagine discovering an incredibly valuable treasure.  What is your reaction to to what you have found?  How does that compare with your relationship to Jesus?  Are there other more important priorities getting in the way of making Jesus your first priority?  Are you making sacrifices to obtain that “one thing” that is the most valuable to you?  Talk to Jesus about your priorities and ask him to help you keep your focus […]

Day 16: Monday // January 22 Matthew 13:1-23  In one of Jesus’ most iconic parables, he describes four types of soil: the hard path, the rocks, the weed-infested, and the good earth.  Each of us knows people who are in these four categories.  Take a moment to place one or two names in each category.  What are their needs?  Why is the soil conditioned in that way?  Pray for the seed of the gospel to fall in their hearts, and […]

We welcomed Mark Jackson this week as our speaker. After serving as a high school teacher and coach, Mark served with Fellowship of Christian Athletes for 13 years. Most recently he was an associate pastor at Mulder Church here in Redland and loves this community.

Day 15: Sunday // January 21 Matthew 11:25-30 What a beautiful invitation!  We are invited to learn from Jesus, to hand him our burdens, and to receive his rest.  What burdens are your carrying right now?  Visualize being with Jesus like you are visiting an old friend.  Talk to him about your life, your feelings, and the weight you are carrying.  What is he saying to you?  What comfort do you feel by him listening and acting with compassion towards […]

Day 14: Saturday // January 20 Matthew 10:16-42  How often are you anxious about having the right words for a situation?  What about fear of rejection when sharing your faith?  Begin your prayer today with asking for Holy Spirit words and courage to live and walk in faithfulness to him.  It will be hard, which is why Jesus describes why following him as carrying a cross themselves.  Pray for the strength to bear your cross and keep laying down your […]

Day 13: Friday // January 19 Matthew 9:35-38 Our Lord is a Lord of compassion.  Jesus doesn’t just see crowds. He sees each person, their pain, and works to meet their needs.  Several prayers arise out of the text today.  First, ask the Lord that we would be proclaimers of good news to the world around us.  Second, ask God to give us greater works of compassion for those who are suffering. Third, he tells us to ask for workers […]

Day 12: Thursday // January 18 Matthew 8:18-22 All people, believers and unbelievers, have priorities.  Jesus always demands to be first place in our lives.  Despite our good intentions, other priorities can get placed in front of him.  Consider the ways you may say, “But first…”  What keeps getting in front of your commitment to Jesus to follow him wholeheartedly and with full obedience?  Offer this struggle to him in prayer.

Day 11: Wednesday // January 17 Matthew 7:24-29  Examining the foundations we’ve built our lives upon can be difficult.  Foundations are quickly covered by the structure, flooring, and dirt.  We don’t usually think of our homes’ foundation until it has a crack in it.  Has there been a season in which you have been shaken to the core?   How might your life’s foundation be built on other words instead of the words of Jesus?  How would you know?

Day 10: Tuesday // January 16 Matthew 7:15-23 We live in a world with slick packaging and deceptive advertising.  Have you ever been enticed, then fooled, by what looks good on the outside?  Jesus states we will recognize destructive people by their fruit.  Ask the Lord for wisdom to see beyond the immediate issue in order to look ahead.  Ask him for discernment to not be fooled by smooth talk. 

Day 9: Monday // January 15 Matthew 7:1-5 Think of one or more people in your life that you want to “fix.”  It might be a family member or a co-worker that drives you crazy with their failings.  Jesus instructs us to first consider our own sin.  If you are tempted to fixate on their sin, begin by naming a few of your own sins.  Do you desire God’s grace and are you grateful for forgiveness?  How might your own […]