God does not prepare His people in one day. God prepares His people over time. He uses waiting, hardship, prayer, obedience, loss, and testing. Sometimes the preparation feels gentle. Sometimes it feels painful. But through every season, God is working. In Genesis 21-25, the lives of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau show us that God is faithful to His promises. God also shows us that the waiting season is never wasted. While we wait, God forms our faith. While we walk through trials, God teaches us to trust Him. While we obey, God reveals His purpose. God…
God does not prepare His people in one day. God prepares His people over time. He uses waiting, hardship, prayer, obedience, loss, and testing. Sometimes the preparation feels gentle. Sometimes it feels painful. But through every season, God is working. In Genesis 21-25, the lives of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau show us that God is faithful to His promises. God also shows us that the waiting season is never wasted. While we wait, God forms our faith. While we walk through trials, God teaches us to trust Him. While we obey, God reveals His purpose. God prepares His people by teaching them to trust His promises. Genesis 21:1–2 says, “And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him” (KJV). Sarah and Abraham had waited many years for the promised son. Their age made the promise seem impossible. Yet God did exactly what He said He would do. Isaac was born “at the set time.” God was not early. God was not late. God…
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4, KJV) Jesus was—and always will be—the ultimate overcomer. He overcame temptation, suffering, and even death. And because of Him, we are given the same promise: we can overcome too. That does not mean life will be easy. Being a Christian does not remove struggles, trials, or difficult seasons. We will still face challenges. We still experience moments of discouragement. But through it all, we are not without hope. Faith Brings Victory Scripture reminds us that our victory is found in one thing: our faith in Him. The situations you are facing today may feel heavy, but they are not the end of your story. One day, those same struggles can become a testimony, something God uses to encourage and strengthen someone else. An overcomer is someone who holds on to faith—even when life feels uncertain. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “But without faith it is impossible to please him.” Faith is not just believing when everything is going well. Faith is trusting God when answers are delayed, when prayers seem quiet, and when the path ahead is…
Martin Luther wrote, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time.” At the end of every winter, we witness a miracle—life coming from death. Bare branches form green leaves, brown grass turns into a lovely meadow as spring blooms in dazzling beauty. The warm breezes whisper, “Come alive!” The evidence of resurrection happens before our eyes every year. Spring never fails to produce new life, springing forth from what was dead. It’s the perfect setting for Easter—the season we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus – the hope of the…
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation…” Hebrews 2:3
Throughout the Bible, we find many references to things that we should not neglect or forget. These are precious things that we need to pay close attention to, and we should value them.
The most important thing we need to guard is our salvation. Jesus purchased it through a cruel death on Calvary, and it is a precious gift that we need to hold close to our heart.
One way that salvation is neglected is when we do not keep our hearts pure before God. Of course we will make mistakes, but we need to repent quickly and ask the Lord’s help to avoid that temptation in the future. Our salvation is worth guarding!
Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for the gift of salvation. Remind me every day of how precious it is, and help me to value it.
Devotion by Liane Grant
When my husband and I decided to move our family from Oregon to Utah, it was quite a change. I didn’t expect the long winters or the hot summers, but Utah was—and still is—a beautiful place. After living there for three years, I began working as a substitute teacher in several school districts. One of the things I was often complimented on was how peaceful I seemed, even while dealing with challenging students. Don’t get me wrong—I love teaching kids—but this job was not always easy. Teachers and faculty would say, “You have such a calming spirit.” What they didn’t realize was that it wasn’t me, but the Holy Spirit in me, keeping me steady. Substitute teaching comes with many challenges, but how you respond makes all the difference. There’s a Bible verse where people recognized that the disciples had been with Jesus because of how they carried themselves: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 (NKJV) As followers of Christ, we are His representatives on this earth. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again—and…