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

Have you ever prayed for something for several years without seeing results? You faithfully trust God with the person you hope comes to Christ. Or the child that has strayed away from God. Endless financial hardship. Healing. Injustice. Job issues.

Unanswered prayer can wear us out. That’s why prayer takes courage. Courage produces persistence. Let's dig into that together today.

KEY PASSAGE:

“Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’

“And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Luke 11:5-10 NIV).

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

Samson was once a strong, powerful man, but he was reduced to a helpless weakling when his enemies cut his hair, blinded him and threw him into prison. However, he showed remarkable courage on the day he sacrificed his life for his nation. Although he was blind, he had clear vision. Let's explore that today as we start the week with our new theme: Courage.

KEY PASSAGE:

“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:7-9 NIV).

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

Is your heart heavy, not believing that God could forgive a certain sin in your life? It might be something from long ago that keeps chewing on your soul. Or it might be something you did just yesterday that’s crushing you. Or a sin you repeat over and over, with no hope of escape. Whatever it is, even though you read the promise of forgiveness from 1 John 1:9, your heart doesn’t believe that promise.

Let's make God's forgiveness real in your life today.

KEY PASSAGE:

1 John 1:8-10

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

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

What occupies your heart and mind that has pushed Jesus out? Are you facing a trial? Is a bad relationship gnawing at you? Are you, like me, looking ahead to a season of intense responsibility?

I Peter 5:7 rings in my mind: “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares for you.”

That's what we're going to do together in today's audio devotional.

KEY PASSAGE:

Matthew 6:25-27

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

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

We need vision. You and I must have something that inspires us. An inspiring purpose that gets our head and eyes off the plow so we peer into the future.

The farmer who plows sees the towering corn stalks, even though reality is six months away. He’s got huge motivation to get the plowing done – in his air-conditioned John Deere cab. He sees the end, the reward for his present labor. This vision fuels his plowing. Going row by row isn’t an end in itself.

KEY PASSAGE:

Ephesians 2:4-10 (ESV)

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

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

Pure generosity expects nothing in return. If we can develop that kind of heart, we are more in line with the heart of God. Let's be challenged today in our time together.

KEY PASSAGE:

Exodus 36:2-7

Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work. They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.”

Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work (NIV).

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