Somewhere along the way, many of us picked up the quiet assumption that following Jesus would make life easier. Smoother. Happier. And when the road got steep instead, we wondered if we'd done something wrong. But what if comfort was never the point?
God's deepest goal for us isn't a pleasant life — it's a transformed one. He's shaping us, slowly and steadily, into the likeness of Christ. Sometimes that work happens in joy. Often it happens in the hard places we wouldn't have chosen.
When you look back, where do you see God using a hard season to shape you?
ARE WE IN THE MIDST OF A REVIVAL?
As more athletes, celebrities, and public figures speak openly about their faith, Pastor @AllenJackson tells @KayleighMcEnany he believes something bigger is happening.
"Without any question, God is moving in the earth in the most remarkable ways."
"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." — John 15:2 NIV
Catch the full video in the Bible App today!
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We can’t fight the darkness alone. We must link arms with the people God has placed around us.
This conversation with Jennie Allen and Craig Groeschel, moderated by Carey Nieuwhof, was a stunning reminder of the power of our friendships and community.
Having a strong support system, even when isolation feels like the easier option, is one of the most important things you can do for your mental health.
Check out the full conversation here: https://t.co/dgOCskHOes
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
God never intended faith to become a list of rules without relationship. He invites us to walk closely with Him, trust Him fully, and know Him personally through Jesus Christ.
Real peace is not found in religious performance. It is found in the presence of God.
At a church once, I had a high school student say something like, “Sir, I believe in evolution, and I believe we have a right to set our own rules.”
I responded with, “Well, do I have a right to set my own rules then?” He said, “Yes, everyone has a right to set their own rules.”
I then said, “Well, what if one of my rules is that types like you are dangerous, and I believe you should be eliminated.”
He said, “That’s not right.”
“Why is it not right?” I asked.
He said, “Well, it’s wrong.”
I said, “Why is it wrong?”
He said, “Well, it’s not right.”
Secularists cannot be consistent with their worldview of moral relativism.
Without an absolute authority, anything goes, and it would lead to the collapse of society. Sadly, more and more we see generations who mostly believe there is no God and that man is his own authority.
And when man is his own authority, anything goes except the absolutes of Christianity. Secularists become intolerant of Christianity as the Christian worldview is built on the absolute authority of God’s Word and thus God determines right and wrong!
Trust is built through what people see repeated.
When your actions are consistent, your words carry more weight.
Consistency creates reliability.
Where are you showing consistency today?
True security is not found in circumstances, possessions, or human strength. It begins in the presence of God. Psalms reminds us that peace is found by dwelling close to the Lord, resting under His care, and trusting Him completely through every season of life.
Mediocrity rarely arrives by decision. It creeps in through small surrenders — the thing we said we'd start, the habit we said we'd break, the conversation we said we'd have. And the longer we let "tomorrow" carry the weight, the heavier it becomes.
Discipline isn't punishment. It's the gentle, steady practice of showing up for the life God has called you to. It's choosing once, and then choosing again, until the choice becomes who you are.
What's one excuse you're ready to set down today?
Today is the largest beach / ocean baptism in the USA. Maybe the world.
Last year, 2000 people were baptized and publicly declared that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior.
See all of those lines of red shirts? Every one of them is getting baptized. 10 lanes and people traveling from ~30 states.
What will the number be this year? I have no idea, but I’m positive it will look like the photo below or even larger.
This happens in Jacksonville Florida and is led and produced by the Church of Eleven22.
This is one of the reasons I’m extremely confident that the Holy Spirit is setting the stage for a national revival. That revival is already in full swing in DUVAL 🐆
Bad news has a way of pulling the heart into fear and urgency. Before reacting, learn to pause long enough to remember who God is. Stillness creates room for faith to speak louder than panic.
🚨 NOW: Secretary Marco Rubio DROPS this incredible Christian message
We are a Christian nation! 🇺🇸
"On this day, two and a half centuries ago, our forefathers gathered for the second time in as many years for a national day of fasting and prayer."
"The resolution of the Continental Congress called on the 13 colonies to humble themselves in preparation for the coming war. The founders were not naive men."
"They had no guarantees of victory. They knew that what they were trying to do had never been done before in human history. But with the dark storm clouds of war looming on the horizon, they did what Christians have always done."
"Across place and time for 2,000 years, they turned their eyes to heaven and placed their fate in the hands of God. This is who we are. It is who we have always been."
"America is still a young nation measured against a record of history, and from the beginning, we have carried the belief that our country represents something new in the world."
"But the soul of our nation has always been rooted in an ancient faith."
Somewhere along the way, we start trading possibility for predictability. The dream gets shelved, the laughter quiets, the curiosity dims. We're still breathing — but somehow, less alive.
God didn't give us today so we could merely survive it. He gave it as a gift, full of His presence and purpose. Whatever your age, whatever your season, whatever you've already given up on — there's still life to be lived, still love to be given, still wonder to be found in the ordinary.
What's one thing you'd love to do again — and what would it look like to start this week?
Can we live forever?
A recent headline caught my attention: “Is stem cell therapy about to transform medicine and reverse ageing?” The subtitle of the column says, “A clinical trial to reverse age-related vision conditions using stem cell treatment could finally deliver on the promise of a major discovery in ageing and regeneration made 20 years ago.” Will humanity finally discover how to live forever?
Of course, this study doesn’t claim to enable us to live forever—just to possibly reverse some of the effects of time. Yes, the world is obsessed with “antiaging” or reversing the effects of time and the curse on our bodies. It’s an $83 billion market—and that number is expected to balloon to nearly $150 billion in under a decade. Every new development grabs headlines as people hope maybe, just maybe, the technology will develop in our lifetime. And maybe it will.
Maybe someday they’ll figure out how to repair our declining vision, reverse wrinkles (without Botox!), or decrease our age at a cellular level. But even if scientists can extend lifespans by a decade or two or more, they won’t be able to save anyone from death. Everyone will die, and that’s just a fact (until Christ returns). How do I know scientists will never be able to give immortality or anything like it? Because God’s Word clearly says,
“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
Death will come to all of us because all have sinned. Our bodies don’t ultimately wear out and die because of aging. Yes, that might be the natural mechanism—along with sickness, accidents, and intentional killing—but the ultimate reason is the same for everyone. The cause of death is ultimately the same: sin.
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
You are a sinner and I am a sinner, as we are all descendants of Adam. And that is why our bodies will someday return to the dust from which we came (Genesis 3:19). The Apostle Paul describes our bodies as a tent in which our spirit/soul dwells.
“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1 LSB).
The only way to be saved from death is through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus died in our place on the cross, taking our penalty of death for us, and then he rose from the grave. If we turn from our sin and trust in him, we will be forgiven of our sin and given the gift of eternal life. Even though our bodies will die, our souls will live forever—and someday, we will be given a new, glorified, resurrected body that will never age but will continue forever and ever and ever.
🚨 OLYMPIAN RYAN LOCHTE: "We started watching these people getting baptized, and something came into me, something so pure."
"I'm going to start crying. It felt so real watching these people get baptized."
"And I asked [my girlfriend], 'What is this?'"
She said, "They're washing away their sins. They're getting a fresh start publicly."
"And I was like, 'Honey, I want that.'"
"And so, I got baptized. I washed away my sins, and trust me, I had a lot!"
"... To put your life in front of God and give it to God has changed everything for me."
"I'm finding who I am."
"I am being a better father, a better person, and I just love the person that I've become now, and I owe it to God."
@SatAmericaFNC@FoxNews ⬇️
Every trial, every act of obedience, and every moment spent with Christ is preparing our hearts for eternity with Him. Let God use today to make you more like Jesus.