“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17 ESV)

Oh, how we toil, scratch and scrape our way through the day. We hurry. We rush. We beat the clock so we won’t be late for school, work, meetings, church, games . . . just about everything.

We can hardly enjoy life at this pace.

Look what’s in the center of “enjoyment.” Take a good look.

Joy!

We'll explore it further today as we start the week.

KEY PASSAGE:

James 1:16-17 NIV

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

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 easy it is to praise Jesus when things are going right. In fact, we equate smooth sailing with God’s will. When things are good, we’re sure God has us in that great place. When things are bad, we question whether we’re in God’s will.

Unfortunately, it’s the Western way of thinking. Not God’s way. We equate success with God’s blessing; hardship with his punishment. I know that’s a pretty harsh statement, but it’s true. Let's see if God changes our thinking in our time with him today.

KEY PASSAGE:

James 1:2-4 (NIV)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

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

Saying good-bye isn’t easy. So when we moved from Colorado to North Carolina, we had some tough good-byes to say. We left family and loyal friends.

Good friends are rare. You know what i mean--friends that stick with you through anything. You have that friend. Jesus. He is the best friend you'll ever have. He's faithful--all the time. Did you know that Jesus himself calls you a friend?

Let's immerse ourselves into this truth today in our interactive audio devotional.

KEY PASSAGE:

John15:12-15 (NIV)

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends.

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

It’s often hard to comprehend that the Lord Jesus Christ is also your brother. How can it be?

Jesus makes this statement, “He looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother’” (Mark 3:34-35 ESV).

When you were adopted into God’s family through salvation, you immediately became a brother of Jesus. Although you’re considered a brother by adoption, Jesus doesn’t see it that way. He sees you as his full-fledged brother. This spiritual relationship is far more important to Jesus than the physical relationships of family.

Be encouraged as we start the week together in today's audio devotional.

KEY PASSAGE:

Mark 3:31-35 (NIV)

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

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 parent doesn’t know both the joy and pain of raising children? Our kids drive us to our knees. If you don’t have kids yet, I urge you to get a head start and begin praying for them now – even before they’re born.

Whether it’s for their salvation, success or safety, our kids need our prayers. We need prayer, too, as parents.

I believe that if we spend as much time praying for our kids as we spend trying to control their behavior, we’ll see a generation of God-loving, God-fearing young men and women.

In today's audio devotional, we'll explore how to establish a habit of prayer for our children.

KEY PASSAGE:

Numbers 6:22-26 (NIV)

The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

“The Lord bless you

and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you

and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you

and give you peace.”

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

"The most important thing in my life is my relationship with God."

That’s a refreshing place to be. Your most important commitment is to God himself. Everything else is secondary.

What does this have to do with prayer?

A lot! Let's retreat with God together and find out.

KEY PASSAGE:

Mark 12:28-30

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

"The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

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

In this day and age, we isolate ourselves from our neighbors instead of engaging them. Living in Colorado for seven years, winters meant we could go months without even seeing our friends next door. We’d pull up to our house, open the garage door, drive in, close the door and go inside. The next morning we’d go through the same ritual in reverse. Our neighbors would do it, too. If one of our neighbors died, we wouldn’t even know it until spring!

This has to change if we are to live out what Jesus tells us, “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14 NIV).

Join me today as we explore your unique position to pray for your neighbors.

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

I am drawn into four crises where Jesus intervened in Luke 8. Four very different situations in one day where Jesus became the central figure to show his Lordship over all. I came away with a sense of peace and strength through a renewed faith in our Lord.

I’d like you to experience the same as we go to the sea, the shore, and street.

KEY PASSAGE:

Luke 8:22-25

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

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