The Up Devotional

Recently, our church held a workshop called “Like Christ.” The keynote speaker was the Rev. Dr. John Vissers. One of the things he spoke about was the idea of spiritual friendship and how, at certain times, we can be the voice of Christ to one another.

When two believers build each other up, are honest, listen to one another, support one another, and honour Jesus, there are times when we can share his own wisdom and friendship with the other person. 

In his book, he tells a story about a time he visited a community outside of Mzuzu (near Malawi). The person he visited was Jaclyn. Her body was wracked with AIDS. 

With Jaclyn was her friend Maria. Maria had HIV but was a volunteer at the local hospital. Almost every day, Maria travelled several miles on a rough road to get to Jaclyn’s house. There she would find her friend who was often worried about her children, family and death. Maria ensured Jaclyn ate and took her medication. 

“The day I entered Jaclyn’s house,” Dr. Vissers writes, “I sensed it was a holy place. Jaclyn and Maria were not alone; a third—Christ—was in their midst before I arrived. Jaclyn spoke about her friend Maria, about Maria’s faithfulness in visiting, the way Maria talked and prayed with her, and the way she felt Jesus was there with them. Jaclyn died two weeks after my visit. Maria was a faithful friend to the end. Through Maria, Jaclyn experienced the love and friendship of Christ.”*

Never underestimate the value of your relationships. Sure, some days are better than others. But there are times and places that can be holy… around a dinner table, during a conversation on a walk, while on a visit, or just listening. 

In fact, they can be times and places when you realize that another is present—Christ. 

As Paul says in Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” And in everyday moments, including holy ones, let’s share that word with one another.

Notes:

-*John A. Vissers, Friendship With Christ: A Biblical, Historical, and Theological Account (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2026), xix
-Bible quotes, ESV.

One of the most famous verses in Ecclesiastes is chapter 4, verse 12: “A threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

The writer has been talking about the value of the relationships in our lives. In verse 10 he said that two are better than one. Although this idea can certainly be applied to romantic relationships, he’s speaking more broadly about relationships in general.

If two are good, three must surely be better, right? 

Throughout history, some people have seen something further happening in this verse, something more overtly divine. They argue that the third part of that “threefold cord” is God. 

You + another person + God = a powerful connection. 

A famous biblical commentator named Matthew Henry took this view. When thinking about this verse he recalled the story of the Emmaus road. After Jesus’ resurrection, two people were walking along the road and talking about all the things that had happened in Jerusalem. That’s when the resurrected Christ came into their midst and started explaining things. Shortly afterward, their eyes were open.*

That’s like the threefold cord. You + another person + God = a powerful connection. 

Do you have friends? Do you have co-workers? Do you have a spouse? Do you have a girlfriend or boyfriend? Do you have children? Do you have parents? 

Make space for God. Ask him to be present in the relationship. Honour him. 

A threefold cord is not quickly broken. 

Notes:

-*Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Commentary on the Holy Bible, Vol. 3 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 160 rpt.), 413.
-The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on October 19, 2026.
-Bible quotes, ESV.

Life is a not a cakewalk. Some parts are tougher than others—much tougher. If you’ve lived more than five minutes you know this to be true.

The writer of Ecclesiastes knows this. As he describes the ups and downs of life—and yes, he has a tendency to focus more on the downs than the ups—he comes to appreciate that God has given us certain things to help.

Like other people.

“Two are better than one,” he writes, “because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

He specifically mentions falling. On the surface, he could be talking about literally falling to the ground. Makes sense. Another person can physically help them up. 

But people fall in other ways too, don’t they? They fall emotionally. They fall spiritually. They fall into sin. 

When that happens, two are better than one. 

Ray Ortlund defines friendship like this: “When someone loves you at all times, good and bad, and they don’t have to but they choose to—that person is a friend.”*

Sometimes you are the one who does the falling. Sometimes you are the one who does the helping. Either way, true friends are one of the ways God pours grace into our lives. 

What if you considered friendship to be a more proactive part of your faith? 

“When someone loves you at all times, good and bad, and they don’t have to but they choose to—that person is a friend.”

Notes:

-*Sam Allberry, 7 Myths About Singleness (Wheaton: Crossway, 2019), 140), 55.
-Bible quotes, ESV.

Is it just me, or is friendship endangered? 

I’m not talking about surface-level acquaintances or social media “friends.” I’m talking about true, robust, I’m-there-for-you kind of friendships. 

These days we are “rugged individualists.” People used to see themselves as very inter-dependent. Today, many people think of themselves primarily as individuals who don’t really need other people (unless, of course, they need something).

Plus, many people are more socially isolated than they should be. (This is sometimes a hangover from the pandemic.) Political polarization and chronic busyness don’t help either. 

Julia Duin cites a study that says 25% of people have no one to confide in. Another says that 61% of people have few close friends.*

C.S. Lewis made an insightful observation: “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”*

That’s good. His point is that you don’t “need” friends to technically survive—just like you don’t “need” a philosophy degree or a certain piece of art hanging in your bedroom. However, these things “give value to survival.” 

The Bible is big on friends. Abraham was a friend of God (James 2:23). Jesus calls his disciples friends (John 15:15). There is “a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). And friends “sharpen” one another too (Proverbs 27:17).

This devotional is simply an invitation to consider the value of friendship, and that simply being a good friend can be a part of your discipleship. 

Friends show up. They are honest. They listen. They help. They laugh.

I don’t know what the opposite of “de-friending” someone is. But in the grace of God, we can move into those spaces in a better way.

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”

Notes:

-NOTICE: Upcoming podcast interview: “Surviving the A.I. Apocalypse — a talk with C.R. Wiley.” Look for it in a few weeks on ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan.’

-*Julia Duin, Quitting Church (Baker, 2008), 53, 127.

-**Quoted in: Jud Wilhite, The God of Yes: How Faith Makes All Things New (New York: Faith Words, 2014), 97.
-Bible quotes, ESV.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).

Mother Natalia is a nun. In a recent interview, she quoted someone who came and spoke to her community. The speaker said: “Are you where your feet are?”*

At first, it seems like a strange question. ‘Of course, I am. Where else would I be?’ 

But the question addresses a very real and modern problem. Our minds are often elsewhere. How often have we been speaking with someone, but haven’t truly been present. How often have we been so worried about tomorrow that we haven’t enjoyed today. How often have our minds become so anxious and frantic that we miss the present moment. 

Right here. 
Right now. 
In this body. 
In this place. 
With these people.
Under our Good Shepherd.
Breathe.

One day in the future, will people look back and think of this generation as the one that was always somewhere else? Well, that may be true for other people, but let’s not let it be true for us. 

Let’s trust God—today. 
Let’s be present—with the people who are right here.
Let’s experience today—and not be forever suctioned into tomorrow’s worries.
Let’s take a moment and breathe—with the bodies God gave us, filled with his Spirit.

“Are you where your feet are?” 

Notes:

-*As told on the Pints with Aquinas Podcast, “The Jesus Prayer for Beginners,” released on Apple Podcasts on June 18, 2026.
-Bible quotes, ESV. 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Romans 15:13).

Lou Holtz was a famous football coach. Someone once asked him about the best moment of his amazing career. What was it? He said, “Gosh, I hope I haven’t had it yet.”*

What a great perspective.

When I was in high school, I remember being at work one day when a lady asked me what grade I was in. “Grade eleven,” I replied. “Enjoy these days,” she said, “they’re the best days of your life.”

I thought to myself, ‘Really? How depressing! Hopefully life has more in store than exams, awkward dates and acne!’ 

I get where she was coming from. High school can be fun. Plus, as a teenager you don’t have a lot of responsibility yet so there is a certain carefree-ness to the whole experience. 

However, when we always conclude that our best days are behind us, that immediately downgrades our thinking about the future. 

Only God knows the future. But there is work to do for the kingdom. There are godly families to raise. There are communities to help. There are relationships to bless. There are opportunities to share the gospel. There is a world to influence with the light of Christ. Sometimes you are on the giving end of these gifts, and other times you get to be on the receiving end.

Some of you are dealing with difficulty, and some of you are dealing with that difficulty at the end of your life on earth. But even if that is you, if you are in Christ that means that you have the never-ending joy and peace of heaven to look forward to!

What Paul said to the Romans continues to be 100% true for you and me today: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Notes:

-*Told in: Ace Collins, GrATTITUDE (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 36.
-Bible quotes, ESV. 

In Ecclesiastes 3:11 we learn that God “has also set eternity in the human heart…”

What does it even mean that God has put eternity into all of our hearts?

The Hebrew word for eternity (‘olam) isn’t just about duration of time, although it certainly includes that. It also speaks to the wider scope of God’s activity—which, obviously, is a lot. 

In other words, God has put an awareness of himself—and of eternal things—within us. On a deep, deep level, we know God is real, and we know that there is more to life than what we see with our eyes.

C.S. Lewis stated this famously: “Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger; well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim; well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire; well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”*

It’s that last part of Lewis’ statement that is quoted the most, so let me emphasize it again: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Do you have a deep, inner longing for something more? Do you sense that the physical world is not all there is? Do you wonder if you’re a part of a bigger battle?—a cosmic struggle between light and darkness?

Your deep desires and longings were put there by God, pointing you back to himself, and encouraging you to take up your place in his kingdom as the hands and feet of Christ. 

Yes, we are physical creatures, but we are also eternal beings.

The world will try to beat you down. It will tell you you’re wasting your time and that God is a fable. It will tell you that Jesus is a myth and prayer is pointless. It will tell you that everything is relative and that nothing you do lasts beyond death. 

Lies. Lies. Lies. 

God has put eternity within your heart. You know he has.

Trust him. He’s been with you all along. Stand tall. Truth matters. Love transforms. Hope wins. And you are a soldier in the kingdom come.

Notes:

-*C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: MacMillan, 1960), 120.
-The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on October 12, 2026.
-Bible quotes, NIV. 

“Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever” (Revelation 7:12)

The word “awestruck” isn’t hard to define. It’s whenever you are struck with awe. 

For example, seeing high wings bend big trees sideways can leave us awestruck. So can witnessing a new baby being born, or seeing young soldiers risking their lives so that future generations will know freedom and peace. So can taking in the panoramic view atop Mount Everest.

Awestruck.

The greatest thing which should leave us awestruck is the Lord God the Almighty. Just think about it. He spread out the stars. He filled the oceans. He designed DNA. He exercises wrath upon injustice. And he moves human history forward in love—despite the sin and rebellion in the world—toward a hope-saturated future. 

In this fast-paced and distracted world, can we still see God in that way? Or has he become too common for us? Have we normalized him? Have we tried to water him down, or to tame him? Have we tried to put our understanding in a box in an attempt to avoid not only his sovereign power and wisdom, but his claim on our lives?

Jackie Hill Perry says: “God rules with power he doesn’t have to borrow.”* You and I need to borrow things, but not God. Perry’s statement is an invitation to re-consider the absolute bigness of our God.

If your version of God never makes you marvel, that may be an indication that you’ve tried to re-create him in your image (instead of the other way around). If your version of God never disagrees with you (or surprises you or challenges you), that too may be an indication that you’ve tried to trivialize the Maker of heaven and earth.

I don’t say these things to be negative. I say them so that we keep our eyes open, and so that we remain open to the possibilities that lie before us…

-If you can’t see your way out of a problem, that doesn’t mean a way out doesn’t exist.
-If you can’t envision how your future is going to get better, that doesn’t mean God is limited in the same way that you are.
-If you can’t figure out why you’re here on this earth, that doesn’t mean you don’t have a purpose.

If God can make heaven and earth, he can do things in your life that you can’t anticipate. 

Be faithful. Be prayerful. Be open to awe. And prepare to be surprised. 

 “God rules with power he doesn’t have to borrow.”

Notes:

-Sermon: “For everything there is a season (Ecclesiastes 3:1-15)” Click here, or find it on ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.)
-*Jackie Hill Perry, Holier Than Thou: How God’s Holiness Helps Us Trust Him (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2021), 19.
-Bible quotes, ESV.

Ecclesiastes 3 is a reminder that life has many different seasons and chapters: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…” (verse 1). 

In and through it all, God is God. He is our God through the good times, and also through the bad. He is our God when things make sense, and he is our God when things do not. 

In verse 14 we read this: “I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.”

Notice the last part of that sentence: “so that people fear before him.” This isn’t a ‘shaking in your boots’ kind of fear. Nor is it about monsters under the bed. It has to do with reverence and awe. The fact that God continues to govern with wisdom, power and love through every season of life—not only through the seasons we understand, but the seasons we don’t—should fill us with increasing reverence and awe.

This brings us to a question: How can you reverence God in this specific season of your life, no matter what it is?

I encourage you to be specific as you think about an answer. “God, I will reverence you by _______________.” Or, “God, I am going to reverence you in my relationships by doing such-and-such, or by being this kind of person…”

If we only honour God when everything is happy, isn’t that another way of saying that we only trust him when he does what we want, or when he gives us warm and fuzzy feelings?

I hope things in your life are good. If they’re not, I hope they improve soon. Either way, I encourage you to be proactive about your posture toward the Lord—regardless of whether you’re experiencing good times or bad times.

If life is confusing, choose to trust.
If life hurts, choose to love.
If life is lonely, choose to be a friend. 
If life is daunting, choose courage.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” 

Regardless of what you’re going through, how can you reverence God in this specific season of your life?

Notes:
-Sermon: “For everything there is a season (Ecclesiastes 3:1-15)” Click here, or find it on ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.)
-Bible quotes, ESV.

The poem at the start of Ecclesiastes 3 is the most famous part of the book. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…” 

It then goes on to list 28 “times.” For example, there is a time to be born and a time to die, and a time to weep and a time to laugh, etc. 

But I think there is something subtle happening in how it is written, and it’s a detail that is meant to tell us something important.

Seven is often considered a perfect number, even a sacred number. If you double that you get fourteen. That’s the exact number of couplets in the poem. If you double fourteen you get twenty-eight. 

At the mention of twenty-eight, our ears should perk up a little. Why? Because not only are there twenty-eight “times” listed in the poem, but that is also the exact number of occurrences of the phrase “under the sun” throughout the entire book, which is an expression that refers to living your life without reference to God or eternity—which, in case it’s not clear, is not a good way to live.

Okay, so what’s the point? 

I think these details are a creative way of telling us something. It’s a message that the book tries to communicate in a variety of other ways too. Here it is: No matter what season or chapter of life you are in, it will often feel futile unless you put your focus on God. Since he is almighty and good, and since he alone is our Creator and Redeemer, trying to navigate these various seasons without him will leave you at a loss. 

For everything there is a season, and for every season there is a Saviour.

Sam Allberry says: “I don’t need to worry about facing more than I can cope with; I only need to worry about facing more than God can cope with. And that thought gives me good cheer.”*

This insight makes him feel good because God can cope with anything no matter what. The biggest issue isn’t whether or not you can handle it, but whether or not God can handle it. And since he can, you can trust him and find greater peace. 

Life is complicated and often challenging. There is a time for every season. Some of those seasons are hard. Some are happy. Either way, we are to look to God for the wisdom, strength and guidance that only he can provide. 

What kind of “season” are you in? An easy one or a hard one? A confusing one or a confident one? Either way, don’t go it alone. 

For everything there is a season, and for every season there is a Saviour.

Notes:

-*Sam Allberry, 7 Myths About Singleness (Wheaton: Crossway, 2019), 146.
-Bible quotes, ESV.