Month: January 2025

READ

Romans 12:9-10 ESV

Marks of the True Christian

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

In this passage, Paul calls us to continue to show one another honor. He reminds us that when we think we have loved well or loved enough, we should continue to raise the bar. 

REFLECT

Questions to help you reflect on how to be in community and love others as Christ commanded:

1. When have you encouraged a brother or sister by pointing out their strengths in the last month?

2. Who do you know who needs more love and care in the church?

Review the IN statements below. Discern how true or untrue these statements are in your life. What would you do next to strengthen this aspect of your walk with Jesus?

• I am living in community with other Christians who help me grow in Christ.

• My devotional and prayer life with my family is consistent.

• I enjoy encouraging and building up others.

• I am praying for and with others.

• I look for opportunities to invest in the lives of others for their good.

• I seek advice from other Christians on important decisions.

• I have no problem reconciling broken relationships.

• My forgiveness is quick and my judgement slow. 

READ

John 15:12-17 ESV

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Jesus redefines friendship for each of us. He calls us friends and gives us the greatest example of love- laying down His own life for us, his friends. We are called to bear fruit by loving others as Jesus loves.

REFLECT

Questions to help you reflect on how to be in community and love others as Christ commanded:

1. How have you seen the fruit of the Spirit manifested in you in the last month? What is the weakest fruit manifested in your life this month?

2. Who is someone you have seen the Holy Spirit in lately? How?

Review the IN statements below. Discern how true or untrue these statements are in your life. What would you do next to strengthen this aspect of your walk with Jesus?

• I am living in community with other Christians who help me grow in Christ.

• My devotional and prayer life with my family is consistent.

• I enjoy encouraging and building up others.

• I am praying for and with others.

• I look for opportunities to invest in the lives of others for their good.

• I seek advice from other Christians on important decisions.

• I have no problem reconciling broken relationships.

• My forgiveness is quick and my judgement slow. 

READ

John 13:34-35 ESV

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

In this passage, Jesus gives us a new commandment. Not only does He call us to love one another, but He says that we should love each other in the sacrificial way He has loved us.

REFLECT

Questions to help you reflect on how to be in community and love others as Christ commanded:

1. Which motivates your inner, personal relationship with Christ – Love, Duty, or Fear?

2. Who has shown you love recently and who have you shown love to recently?

Review the IN statements below. Discern how true or untrue these statements are in your life. What would you do next to strengthen this aspect of your walk with Jesus?

• I am living in community with other Christians who help me grow in Christ.

• My devotional and prayer life with my family is consistent.

• I enjoy encouraging and building up others.

• I am praying for and with others.

• I look for opportunities to invest in the lives of others for their good.

• I seek advice from other Christians on important decisions.

• I have no problem reconciling broken relationships.

• My forgiveness is quick and my judgement slow. 

READ

Psalm 25:4-5 ESV

4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;

    teach me your paths.

5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,

    for you are the God of my salvation;

    for you I wait all the day long.

A key part of knowing and trusting God with all aspects of our lives begins with seeking His guidance in all areas of our lives. Daily, we must rely on His truth and wisdom to help us navigate the paths before us. 

REFLECT

Questions to help you reflect on knowing and trusting God with all aspects of life:

1. Is there something in your life that God is asking you to submit to His authority and His control?

2. How has God answered (or not answered) your prayer recently?

3. What is one thing God would like you to fast for more than a day? A week?

Review the UP statements below. Discern how true or untrue these statements are in your life. What would you do next to strengthen this aspect of your walk with Jesus?

• My identity is grounded in God.

• I wake up each day ready to worship God through my lips, my service, and my decisions.

• I love to attend worship services with other believers each Sunday.

• I enjoy reading the bible regularly with a desire to know more about God and my relationship to Him.

• My prayer life is thriving and in line with God’s desires for me.

• I joyfully give 10% or more of what God has given to me to further His kingdom work on earth.

• I hear from God’s direction for me through His Word and His people.

READ

Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

These verses encourage us to come to Jesus and experience the transformative power of a relationship with Him. The daily demands & struggles of our lives can be quieted by a profound peace that can only come from bringing our burdens to Christ & resting under His authority.

REFLECT

Questions to help you reflect on knowing and trusting God with all aspects of life:

1. What keeps you from resting? (Taking Sabbath to be with God?)

2. How do you think God helps you in your life each day?

3. Where have you experienced freedom in Christ?

Review the UP statements below. Discern how true or untrue these statements are in your life. What would you do next to strengthen this aspect of your walk with Jesus?

• My identity is grounded in God.

• I wake up each day ready to worship God through my lips, my service, and my decisions.

• I love to attend worship services with other believers each Sunday.

• I enjoy reading the bible regularly with a desire to know more about God and my relationship to Him.

• My prayer life is thriving and in line with God’s desires for me.

• I joyfully give 10% or more of what God has given to me to further His kingdom work on earth.

• I hear from God’s direction for me through His Word and His people.

READ

John 4:13-14

13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

These verses highlight the spiritual truth that Jesus offers something far greater than physical nourishment—He offers eternal life and fulfillment through the Holy Spirit.

REFLECT

Questions to help you reflect on knowing and trusting God with all aspects of life:

1. Can you describe how you live in dependence on the Holy Spirit?

2. How does the Holy Spirit speak to you?

3. How do you experience God at church?

Review the UP statements below. Discern how true or untrue these statements are in your life. What would you do next to strengthen this aspect of your walk with Jesus?

• My identity is grounded in God.

• I wake up each day ready to worship God through my lips, my service, and my decisions.

• I love to attend worship services with other believers each Sunday.

• I enjoy reading the bible regularly with a desire to know more about God and my relationship to Him.

• My prayer life is thriving and in line with God’s desires for me.

• I joyfully give 10% or more of what God has given to me to further His kingdom work on earth.

• I hear from God’s direction for me through His Word and His people.

READ

Psalm 139:14-16 ESV

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 

Wonderful are your works;

    my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

    the days that were formed for me,

    when as yet there was none of them.

In these verses, we see King David express awe and appreciation for God’s skillfulness in the creation of the human body and soul. Not only does David voice a profound appreciation for God’s creative power, but also God’s sovereignty. 

REFLECT

Questions to help you reflect on knowing and trusting God with all aspects of life:

1. How do you feel God thinks about you?

2. Do you feel secure in God’s love for you? How does this help you daily?

Review the UP statements below. Discern how true or untrue these statements are in your life. What would you do next to strengthen this aspect of your walk with Jesus?

• My identity is grounded in God.

• I wake up each day ready to worship God through my lips, my service, and my decisions.

• I love to attend worship services with other believers each Sunday.

• I enjoy reading the bible regularly with a desire to know more about God and my relationship to Him.

•My prayer life is thriving and in line with God’s desires for me.

• I joyfully give 10% or more of what God has given to me to further His kingdom work on earth.

• I hear from God’s direction for me through His Word and His people.

READ

John 15:1-5

I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

This passage illustrates the importance of having a deep, ongoing, relationship with God for spiritual growth and fruitfulness. Jesus reminds us that our strength and ability to bear fruit come from abiding in Him.

REFLECT

Questions to help you reflect on knowing and trusting God with all aspects of life:

1. What are you learning from God’s Word that is changing how you live with God?

2. How can you grow closer to God? (Provide a list of spiritual habits)

Review the UP statements below. Discern how true or untrue these statements are in your life. What would you do next to strengthen this aspect of your walk with Jesus?

• My identity is grounded in God.

• I wake up each day ready to worship God through my lips, my service, and my decisions.

• I love to attend worship services with other believers each Sunday.

• I enjoy reading the bible regularly with a desire to know more about God and my relationship to Him.

• My prayer life is thriving and in line with God’s desires for me.

• I joyfully give 10% or more of what God has given to me to further His kingdom work on earth.

• I hear from God’s direction for me through His Word and His people.

READ

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

    and do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge him,

    and he will make straight your paths.

Submission here means acknowledging God in every aspect of our lives. We aim to seek His guidance and align our actions with His will, ensuring that we are following His path rather than our own.

REFLECT

Questions to help you reflect on knowing and trusting God with all aspects of life:

1. What has Jesus been calling you to give to Him recently? Time, talents, anxieties, fears, bad habits?

2. How do you trust Jesus?

Review the UP statements below. Discern how true or untrue these statements are in your life. What would you do next to strengthen this aspect of your walk with Jesus?

• My identity is grounded in God.

• I wake up each day ready to worship God through my lips, my service, and my decisions.

• I love to attend worship services with other believers each Sunday.

• I enjoy reading the bible regularly with a desire to know more about God and my relationship to Him.

• My prayer life is thriving and in line with God’s desires for me.

• I joyfully give 10% or more of what God has given to me to further His kingdom work on earth.

• I hear from God’s direction for me through His Word and His people.

READ

John 5:19-20 ESV

The Authority of the Son

19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.

In this passage, we see Jesus teaching the disciples to model Him in His connection to the Father.

REFLECT

Questions to help you reflect on knowing and trusting God with all aspects of life:

1. When in the last week (or month) have you felt in awe of God? What did you feel, and/or do in response?

2. When have you heard God’s direction for your life from His Word and His people?

3. How would you describe Jesus in one word?

Review the UP statements below. Discern how true or untrue these statements are in your life. What would you do next to strengthen this aspect of your walk with Jesus?

• My identity is grounded in God.

• I wake up each day ready to worship God through my lips, my service, and my decisions.

• I love to attend worship services with other believers each Sunday.

• I enjoy reading the bible regularly with a desire to know more about God and my relationship to Him.

•My prayer life is thriving and in line with God’s desires for me.

•I joyfully give 10% or more of what God has given to me to further His kingdom work on earth.

• I hear from God’s direction for me through His Word and His people.