Read: Hebrews 12:3 (Read it slowly. Read it again.)Hebrews 12:3“Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”Hebrews ends this section with a warning and a promise.Weariness is real.Losing heart is possible.Faith can feel heavy when opposition lasts longer than expected.That’s why the writer gives us one final instruction. Consider Him.To c...  Read More

Read: Hebrews 12:1–2 (Read it once through, then go back and read verse 1 slowly.)Hebrews 12:1“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.”The word therefore matters. Hebrews 12 is built on everything that came before it.Because of the faith of those who went before.Because of their endurance....  Read More

Read: Hebrews 11:39–40 (Read it slowly. Sit with both verses.)Hebrews 11:39“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.”These verses quietly reset our expectations.Every person named in Hebrews 11 lived faithfully, trusted deeply, and obeyed courageously. And yet, Scripture tells us that many of them never saw the fulfillment of what God promised in ...  Read More

Read: Hebrews 11:32–38(Read it all the way through. Do not rush it.)Hebrews 11:35“Others were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.”This may be the most misunderstood section of Hebrews 11.Up to this point, faith looks victorious. Walls fall. Armies flee. Promises advance. But then the tone changes. Suddenly, faith does not lead to deliverance. It l...  Read More

Read: Hebrews 11:23–31 (Read the whole passage, then go back and focus on verses 24–27.)Hebrews 11:24“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”Faith does not eliminate fear. Faith decides what to do in the presence of fear.Moses had every reason to stay where he was. Power. Security. Influence. Comfort. Yet Hebrews tells us that by faith he refuse...  Read More

Read: Hebrews 11:8–16 (Read it once all the way through. Then go back and sit with verses 8–10.)Hebrews 11:8“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance. And he went, even though he did not know where he was going.”One of the clearest marks of biblical faith is movement without full information. Abraham did not receive a map. He received a ...  Read More

Hebrews 11:1–7 (read it slowly. If you can, read it twice.)Hebrews 11:1“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”Before Hebrews gives us heroes, it gives us a definition. That matters. If we miss this, the rest of the chapter becomes a highlight reel instead of a formation tool.Faith is not optimism.Faith is not positive thinking.Faith is not pretending t...  Read More

1 Chronicles 4:10 (NKJV)And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!”  Jabez is one of those people Scripture could have skipped right past. He is tucked inside a genealogy, surrounded by names most of us have never preached or underlined...  Read More

Psalm 145:16 (NKJV)“You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.”Provision in Scripture is never framed as accidental or automatic. It is intentional and relational. When David says God “opens His hand,” he is not describing a system but a Person. Creation is not sustained by mechanisms alone, but by the continual generosity of God. The open hand of God is the source of life, n...  Read More

Exodus 15:6 (NKJV)“Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power; Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.”God’s hand is consistently associated with deliverance. Israel did not escape Egypt by strategy or rebellion, but by divine intervention. God’s hand broke chains no human effort could touch.Deliverance still works this way. Sin patterns, addictions, generational wounds, and spiritual oppr...  Read More

1 Kings 18:44 (NKJV)“Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, ‘There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!’”Elijah’s prayer on Mount Carmel teaches us persistence. Six times he prayed and saw nothing. No evidence. No sign. Just silence. Many would have stopped. Many do stop. But faith is not measured by speed. It is measured by endurance.The breakthrough came on ...  Read More

Zechariah 4:6 (NKJV)“‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”Human knowledge has exploded at an unprecedented pace. For centuries, knowledge doubled slowly. Today, information multiplies in months, sometimes weeks. We can access answers instantly, communicate globally, and innovate rapidly. Yet wisdom has not kept pace. Anxiety, confusion, and brokenness still domina...  Read More

Ezekiel 43:12 (NKJV)12 This is the law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple. 13 “These are the measurements of the altar in cubits (the cubit is one cubit and a handbreadth)...Throughout Scripture, God is intentional with measurement. The ark, the tabernacle, and the temple were all built according to divine instruction. In t...  Read More

Matthew 17:20–21 (NKJV)“So Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.’”Human hands are capable of remarkable things. Civilizations have risen on the ...  Read More

Psalm 73:26“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”By the end of the first week, the fast has revealed something important. God has sustained you. Not food. Not comfort. Not routine. God. Fasting reminds us that while our bodies may feel weak, our spirits are being strengthened. God has always been the source. We have just been too busy to notic...  Read More

Psalm 46:10“Be still, and know that I am God.”One of the unexpected gifts of fasting is clarity. When noise is removed, God’s voice becomes easier to recognize. Stillness is not inactivity. It is intentional attentiveness. Many of us struggle to hear God not because He is silent, but because we are distracted.Fasting slows us down enough to listen. It quiets competing voices and sharpens spiritual...  Read More

James 4:6“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”Fasting has a way of stripping us down to what is real. Without comfort, routine, or distraction, pride becomes easier to see. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is recognizing your need for God. Scripture is clear that humility attracts grace. Not effort. Not intensity. Humility.Grace is not earned through fasting, but fas...  Read More

Isaiah 40:31“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength…”By now, the fast is no longer theoretical. Hunger is real. Discomfort is present. And this is where many people assume they are failing, when in reality, they are finally learning dependence. Scripture never promises renewed strength to those who push harder, but to those who wait on the Lord. Waiting is not weakness. Waiting ...  Read More

Daniel 10:2–3“I ate no pleasant food… for three full weeks.”Daniel’s fast was not just about food, it was about pleasure. He intentionally stepped away from things that brought comfort and enjoyment in order to seek God with greater clarity. This kind of fasting reveals how easily we substitute pleasure for presence. Many of the things we turn to are not sinful, but they have become sources of esc...  Read More

Daniel 1:8“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself…”Fasting begins long before hunger shows up. It begins with a decision. Daniel did not wait until temptation was in front of him to decide who he would be. He purposed in his heart beforehand. This was not a spur-of-the-moment sacrifice. It was a settled conviction. When we enter a fast without resolve, we rely on willpow...  Read More

Joel 2:12–13“Return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”God does not call us to fasting for discipline’s sake alone. He calls us to fasting as an invitation to return. Over and over in Scripture, fasting is connected to the heart, not the stomach. It is a way of saying, “God, I want You more than what I normally depend on.” When Joel calls God’s people to retu...  Read More

Acts 1:4–5, 8; Acts 2:1–4“Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised… John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses…”Before Jesus ascended, He gave the disciples a command that likely felt confusing. They were told not to go. Not ye...  Read More

Galatians 5:16–18, 22–23“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves… But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”Paul does not begin Galatians 5 by listing fruit. He begins by describing a conflict. He explains that the sinful nat...  Read More

Luke 3:21–22“As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, ‘You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.’”Jesus did not begin His public ministry without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Luke makes it clear that as Jesus was praying, the Spirit descended on Him. This moment marks the transition...  Read More