Just showing up can make a person’s day. This doesn’t work for everyone, but it works for many.

People need people. Whether they have a serious disease or they’re lonely and discouraged, stopping by can change your friend’s life. Occasional visitors helped carry my wife through her tough season. We all want to know someone cares.

One of my favorite Bible verses is this: “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV).

Let's explore this today.

KEY PASSAGE:

Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV)

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

RESOURCES:

Download the 21-DAY FRESH FAITH EXPERIENCE at www.retreatingwithgod.org.

Visit FRESH FAITH 24/7, a place where you can retreat with God and get to know him more deeply: www.freshfaith247.com.

Connect with Jon at jon@freshfaith247.com

Join me for the Apostle Paul’s harrowing near-death experience on the seas as told in Acts 27 and 28. Paul begins by saying to the soldiers, “’Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.’” (Acts 27:10 NIV)

A few verses later we learn, “Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.” (Acts 27:14-15 NIV)

It only got worse, as Luke describes in vivid detail.

You might be living through a storm right now. Today's audio devotional will give you the assurance that God is in control. Paul knew it from experience, and so can you.

KEY PASSAGE:

Romans 8:28-30 (NIV)

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who i have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."

RESOURCES:

Download the 21-DAY FRESH FAITH EXPERIENCE at www.retreatingwithgod.org.

Visit FRESH FAITH 24/7, a place where you can retreat with God and get to know him more deeply: www.freshfaith247.com.

Connect with Jon at jon@freshfaith247.com

How can you have the courage of the apostles? Not only to represent Jesus, but to simply keep going when life has a strangle-hold on you? When discouragement hits? When resistance and hardship press in from all sides?

Every believer has seasons of strength and weakness, joy and heartache, ease and difficulty. None of us lives each day on the pinnacle of spiritual bliss. Today, we'll learn from Paul, a man who needed incredible courage to keep going. And he shares his secret.

KEY PASSAGE:

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Cor 4:16-18)

RESOURCES:

Download the 21-DAY FRESH FAITH EXPERIENCE at www.retreatingwithgod.org.

Visit FRESH FAITH 24/7, a place where you can retreat with God and get to know him more deeply: www.freshfaith247.com.

Connect with Jon at jon@freshfaith247.com