“And he charged us to preach unto the people, and to testify that this is he who is ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42).

Christianity is not a destination, but a journey. That’s why early Christians were sometimes referred to as people of the way. The older I get and the longer I live, the more simple my theology becomes. Jesus Christ came to save the world and to teach me to follow Him and to love and forgive others. It is as simple as that.

But a life of Christian maturity, and I don’t claim to be totally there yet, comes through a process of growing and nurturing in the faith and that requires more than going to church. It is a process that comes over time.

I suggest there are three main elements that foster Christian maturity and growth in the faith:

•    Small  groups
•    Dialogue
•    Teaching

Big churches are great but small groups are better. There is a certain element of trust and intimacy to Christian growth. If you are not in a small group, I encourage you to get into one. Get with other Christians on a regular basis and talk about scripture, talk about life’s challenges and support one another.

Small groups lead to dialogue both within and without your small group. Somehow, hearing yourself verbalize is a real learning experience. The Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis would walk out on the bow of his yacht and speak the words of a business proposal he was about to make. He said he learned a lot and corrected a lot hearing himself verbalize a presentation.

Begin with verbalizing the Scriptures, reciting them aloud and listening to them intently. Our mind stays more in sync and wanders less when we speak than when we read.

Lastly, teach others what you have learned and teach them to teach others. The great missionary Frank Laubach taught much of Africa to read by the “each one teach one” method. I hear people talk about keeping the faith and I say don’t keep it, give it away. It’s amazing how much you can learn when you teach others. You grow best when you help others to grow and it leads to maturity in the faith.

Questions: What are some steps one can take towards Christian maturity? What has helped you the most in growing closer to God?

Feeling lonely and unloved? We’re here. Talk to us.

Still, it is the day-to-day moments we steal along the journey that thrill me most. Regardless of the time of day, He meets me when I am ready, dropping whatever He is doing to focus on me alone. In the car surrounded by the traffic of impatience; a sleepless night gazing at the moonlight; embracing the morning sunrise. He meets me there, whispering in my ear and listening to my concerns. He caresses my hair with a gentle breeze. He tilts my face upward, reminding me of where I will always find my answers.

He never breaks his promises. He waits patiently if I temporarily place my hope of a better future in those around me, then wipes away my tears of disappointment when they occasionally let me down. He goes before me to carve out my path. He walks beside me to provide companionship. He walks behind me to protect me from looking back with regret. He opens doors of opportunity and closes doors that bring pain. He prefers for me not to learn the hard way, but still holds me when I do. He allows me to misplace my anger toward others and direct it His way.

He overlooks my grumpy days. He knows I forget to say thank you. He works around my laziness, and condemns my fears for holding me back. When I ignore His voice of guidance, He waits until I am ready, gently tugging on the heart until I get strong enough for the next journey. Somehow, He shines through my imperfections without making me feel shameful for them.

Like the gentleman who bends tenderly down on one knee to announce to the world, “I adore you and long to spend forever with you, starting today.”  That is all I need to know. I do not deserve such love, but I accept. I accept. Always, I accept.

Dear God, thank you so much for the way that You love us, as if we are your one and only. Teach us to watch for Your signs of affection, to recognize Your gentle caresses in our daily lives. Teach us to rest in Your love, and Yours alone; understanding that our other relationships can only be blessed once we are right with You. Above all else, thank you for asking us to join You for the rest of eternity. In Jesus’ Name. Amen

TAKE THE NEXT STEP: You have captured God’s heart

Questions: Are you excited about the thought of being with your Heavenly Father?  How are you getting ready?

About the author Janet Morris Grimes

Do you feel like nobody listens? We do. Talk to us.

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EST.

“Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long”  (Psalm 25:4 & 5).

Father in Heaven, thank you for the promise and hope of Your word. Thank you that You can be counted on to guide me through my day. Today I need to walk in the hope that only You can give. My way is unclear, my path sometimes feels like it twists and turns in confusing and busy ways as I wind my way along my journey.

Show me Your ways, Lord. Show me how You would walk in these places. Teach me Your paths of grace and mercy and integrity and love. Help me to grasp Your ways so I can walk securely in them even in insecure places. I need Your perspective today.

Guide me in Your truth, Lord. With out Your Word active in my heart and mind I cannot know Your truth. Help me to make time to read my Bible. Help me to take time to think on it and let it penetrate my heart. Lord, Your Word will guide me as a beacon and a light. I need Your word to guide me. Forgive me when I have left it on the shelf or have simply grabbed a verse and run off for the day, quickly forgetting what I read.

Thank you that You promise to guide me and teach me as I let Your truth impact my heart and my mind. Oh Lord, You are my Savior, my rescuer and my redeemer. You alone are the One who restores and renews my spirit and brings meaning to my life. You bless me. May my heart overflow with thanksgiving to You for Your hand in my life.

I will put my hope in you today, all day long. Remind me by Your Holy Spirit to look to You to guide me. Call me into Your quiet presence to think on Your truths and may I not be distracted. This is the oxygen of my soul. Thank you that You  give the hope and help and peace I need today. Thank you that You never cease to call me to Yourself. Help me to respond afresh to Your presence in my life. In Jesus’ strong name I pray. Amen.

TAKE THE NEXT STEP: How to do an inductive Bible study

Questions: How can God guide us in our daily walk?  How can we know God’s will?

About the Author Gail Rodgers

Searching for meaning to existence? Take this study.

“Do not be confirmed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2a).

So many Christians that I’ve talked to recently are not experiencing the power of God in their lives. In different ways they share how life has become dull and grey and their days tend to ebb away with busy activity. Several have used the word “frenzied”. Oh, their faith is still intact, yet their lives lack that dynamic sense of energy and enthusiasm and purposefulness that is the birthright of God’s children.

I’ve thought and prayed about it lately because some days I feel it too. God nudged me to look again at the Holy Spirit; the Helper He gives every believer. The Holy Spirit in our lives offers us the power to be able to live above the frenzy with purpose and enthusiasm and divine energy.

Let’s look together this month as the different characteristics of the Holy Spirit. Let’s encourage one another to tap into the enabling power the Lord intended for us to live in.  Let’s become a group of women more dynamic in our faith and victorious in our walk.

The role of the Holy Spirit is to transform us to become more like Jesus; to be filled with the fresh dynamic of His power, willing to undergo the changes He may ask us to make; ready to grapple with our part in spreading the Gospel with energy and purposefulness.

Paul, that dedicated world changing follower of Jesus, understood this and was led by the Holy Spirit to urge others to offer themselves to God as an act of worship. The invitation and instruction remains for you and I today.

“Do not be confirmed any longer to the pattern of this word, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

Peter was another follower who understood the dynamic of following Jesus. He talks to those of the faith and encourages us in much the same way.

“Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. … For you know that it was not with perishable things such a silver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ…” (1Peter 1: 13-18).

The first step in our journey of exploring the Holy Spirit in our lives is to allow our minds to be transformed and our hope set fully on the grace that redeemed us from an empty way of life. Join me as we remind one another that it all begins with the way we think.

Holy Father,  I need You. Teach me more about Your Holy Spirit. I offer myself to You as my act of worship. Transform my mind. Help me to be self-controlled. Enable me to look beyond the distractions of this life. Show me afresh the dynamics of life filled with Your power as I grow in understanding my part in Your work. In Jesus’ powerful name I ask this, Amen.

Questions: Have you lost your sense of energy and enthusiasm and purposefulness of life? How can you return to a life of harmony with God’s plan?

About the Author Gail Rodgers

How important is control to you? What about self-control? Take this online study.

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

“They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?.’” (Ex. 14:11)

I tend to be a planner, planning as much as I can as far ahead as I can and getting irritated with anything that gets in the way. So it was only natural recently when I was planning a trip that after getting my airline ticket on-line, I mapped out the ground plan.

I was flying into a major city airport at afternoon rush hour. I didn’t want to take the time and expense of a cab ride, so I checked the train schedule and found out I could get on at the airport and off near my hotel. The distance from the train station to the hotel was less than a mile straight down a well traveled road and then three blocks on another street. I decided I could walk and get some evening exercise.

Initially, all went as planned. I walked past three perfectly good waiting cabs and proceeded down the road. It was dark by then, but the sidewalks were wide and the lighting good. Then, about a half mile into it, the sidewalks ceased, as did the lighting.

It was then I realized I had to walk under an Interstate highway. There I was, walking on the highway in the dark, wearing a dark suit, pulling my luggage and wondering how many pair of eyes were looking at me from the underbrush. Would I get run over or mugged? At least I had voted before I left.

The road forked and I went the wrong way. Finally, after walking a couple of miles in a circuitous route, I found my hotel and wondered if those cabs were still waiting at the train station. It had looked so easy and short on the map.

When our children were small, we would use each trip as a geography lesson and show them our journey on a map. It looked so short. Maybe that’s why about an hour into the trip they would ask, “Daddy are we there yet?”

The map of life is like that. Our plans look so easy on paper, but walking out life’s journeys is quite another story. Look at the journey out of Egypt when the people asked Moses if he brought them into the desert to die.

The key is that we have a map and in order to use it, we have to have a specific destination. If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.

I’m amazed that so often when I think I know where I’m going God shows me I’m absolutely wrong. Certainly I do wander off of the path every once in a while, but God brings me back to that path again and again. He is faithful in doing this no matter how far I stray.

As long as God’s will is your destination, He will provide the map to get you there, so follow His map for your life and enjoy the journey.

Questions: How do you respond when your plans don’t work out?  What steps can you take to become more dependent on God?

TAKE THE NEXT STEP: Check your compass

About the Author John Grant

“They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you
brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?’” Exodus 14:11

I tend to be a planner, planning as much as I can as far ahead as I can and getting irritated with anything that gets in the way. So it was only natural recently when I was planning a trip that after getting my airline ticket on-line, I mapped out the ground plan.

I was flying into a major city airport at afternoon rush hour. I didn’t want to take the time and expense of a cab ride, so I checked the train schedule and found out I could get on at the airport and off near my hotel. The distance from the train station to the hotel was less than a mile straight down a well traveled road and then three blocks on another street. I decided I could walk and get some evening exercise.

Initially, all went as planned. I walked past three perfectly good waiting cabs and proceeded down the road. It was dark by then, but the sidewalks were wide and the lighting good. Then, about a half mile into it, the sidewalks ceased, as did the lighting.

It was then I realized I had to walk under an Interstate highway. There I was, walking on the highway in the dark, wearing a dark suit, pulling my luggage and wondering how many pair of eyes were looking at me from the underbrush. Would I get run over or mugged? At least I had voted before I left.

The road forked and I went the wrong way. Finally, after walking a couple of miles in a circuitous route, I found my hotel and wondered if those cabs were still waiting at the train station. It had looked so easy and short on the map.

When our children were small, we would use each trip as a geography lesson and show them our journey on a map. It looked so short. Maybe that’s why about an hour into the trip they would ask, “Daddy are we there yet?”

The map of life is like that. Our plans look so easy on paper, but walking out life’s journeys is quite another story. Look at the journey out of Egypt when the people asked Moses if he brought them into the desert to die.

The key is that we have a map and in order to use it, we have to have a specific destination. If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.
I’m amazed that so often when I think I know where I’m going God shows me
I’m absolutely wrong. Certainly I do wander off of the path every once in a while, but God brings me back to that path again and again. He is faithful in doing this no matter how far I stray.

As long as God’s will is your destination, He will provide the map to get you there, so follow His map for your life and enjoy the journey.

Question: Where would you like God’s map to take you in the future? Are you willing to continue to follow it even if it doesn’t seem to be taking you where you’d like to go?

About the Author: John Grant

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Do you crave meaning?

What are you seeking for most?  What does your soul crave? Take this online Study.

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

“If you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul”  (Deuteronomy 4:29).

We make frequent trips to countries outside our own. We have learned how to make lists of necessary items, take only essential clothing, tuck small objects into corners of our luggage, and identify each suitcase. We make sure necessary medications and one change of clothing are in our carry on bags.

On this last trip I decided to leave my prescription sunglasses at home, taking only a much less expensive pair with me in case of loss or breakage. It was a good journey with all the goals of our project accomplished. Tired but happy upon returning home after two weeks, I began the lengthy process of unpacking, washing clothes and settling back into a somewhat normal routine.

Where were my sunglasses? I looked in the catch-all basket on the entryway table – the most obvious place. Then I searched in desk and bedroom chest drawers, purses, coat pockets. My somewhat relaxed search began taking on intentionality. I began looking in improbable places: wastebaskets, kitchen cupboards, the laundry room shelf. Could I have left the glasses in my car? Maybe they slipped down between the seats.

After several days of fruitless searching, I had just about resigned myself to the fact that I would need to purchase new glasses. As I unlocked my car one morning, I decided to take one more look. Stooping down to look under the seat, I found them! The black case had blended into the floor mat, making it almost invisible.

We frequently say we wish we knew God better. How is it that some people seem to discover more about Gods character than we do? Why are the experiences of others richer than our own? What is the process that friends use to uncover “gems” from the Bible when our own attempts produce mere facts?

The word seek implies intentional pursuit. So often in our busy lives we take time only for surface investigation, a few quickly read Bible verses, a hurried journey through our prayer list. Our minds are engaged but all our heart and soul is occupied with self-orientation.

God promises to give us what we truly seek. In fact, in some mysterious and wonderful way, He joins us in the search and rejoices when what we seek is found!

God, I confess that my search for material items is so often more intentional than my search for you. Remind me, Father, that you will richly uncover what I desperately seek.  Amen.

Questions: What is the process that people use to uncover “gems” from the Bible? What does the word “seek” mean?  What are you seeking in your life?

About the Author Marilyn J. Ehle

“Back in the days when I was teaching religion at Calvin College, I liked sometimes to tease my students with this pious, this sneaky question:

‘How many of you want to go to heaven?’

Heaven won by a landslide. Always.

‘How many of you would go there today if you had your choice?’

Most everyone preferred to defer the pleasure.”

Heaven sounds like a good place… in principle! We firmly believe it’s a promised place of rest and joy and fulfillment for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, but are we truly ready to go there?

It’s a little like someone asking if we want to spend time in a mountain retreat, surrounded by towering peaks, babbling brooks and chirping birds. What a great idea! Just what I need! Let’s go!

Then I hear that after traveling miles over rocky roads in a vehicle without shock absorbers, I must weigh myself down with a backpack filled with tent, sleeping bag, camp stove, food and all other provisions and then climb the final three miles to the retreat site. Is the trip really worth it?!

The road to heaven can get rocky and the burdens of everyday living often seem far too heavy for our feeble frames. On our trek toward God’s perfect future, we must occasionally stop ourselves on the path to again hear Jesus’ quiet words: “Are you tired? Worn out? Come to me. Get away with me… walk with me… watch how I do it… Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly??? (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message). With this in mind, not only does the prospect of heaven enliven our days, but the journey—with Christ as Companion—becomes one of joy.

Lord, on some busy, complicated days, heaven sounds not only a blessed promise but a desired escape. Help me live fully in the present while also keeping the future in focus.

Questions: Consider these questions: How do I REALLY feel about heaven?! What does it mean for you to “Get away with Jesus…keep company with Him???? What practical steps can you take this weekend to “walk with Jesus”?

About the Author Marilyn Ehle

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

There is nothing so fulfilling as lending a hand to someone else on the road of life. It’s what we were made for… to share this journey of life together.
Yet as we run our busy lives we often feel depleted and weary ourselves. We wonder where we would find the time or energy to make a difference in someone else’s life.

God knows us better than we know ourselves and He gives us an amazing promise and word of wisdom that shows us how to be refreshed as we journey into the busy fall.  Listen to what He says in Proverbs 11:25…

“He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

What a nugget of wisdom! As I refresh others my own heart will be refreshed. I know many of you are already refreshing others. We see your hearts to share and bless each other even here on our devotional blog. You are a treasure to this ministry.

At Truth Media there is an opportunity for you to make a difference in the life of another and to be refreshed and encouraged as you do. I’d like to invite you to consider two opportunities today to find refreshment in reaching out right from where you sit right now.

We have hundreds of mentors who, just like you, want to make a difference in another’s life.

•    They simply listen via email and share from their own life how God’s love and faithfulness makes a difference.
•    They encourage with Scriptures and write out a prayer.
•    They don’t tell others what to do yet they are there to encourage, pray and walk beside another for a little way on the road of life.
•    They don’t have all the answers and can return any email to the mentor pool if it feels too big for them to respond too.
•    They have access to a variety of resources and responses to different situations and they make a huge difference in the lives of those who need     to know someone cares.
•    They are refreshed as they reach out to encourage another.

Today we are looking for those who would be willing to lead a group of these mentors. Via email a Community Leader /job/communityleader simply encourages a group of about 10 or 15 mentors. She monitors the response time of emails, encourages the mentors, provides support for their questions and above all prays for them. It is a rewarding and fulfilling role.

Via the Internet you have a unique opportunity to obey Jesus command to “go into all the world …” right from the comfort of your own home and on your own schedule in moments that work around your life.

If you have a heart for prayer and want to make a difference in the life of another we would love to hear from you. If you have questions please ask them right here on the blog and we will answer them here so others can learn about these opportunities too.

Thanks for considering partnering with us.  We deeply appreciate this devotional audience and your faithful desire to grow daily in your walk with God.

Heavenly Father,
Please bless each one who comes to this blog today. May they find encouragement from Your heart, acceptance from one another and courage to walk where they are today. Stir their hearts to reach out and share in new ways. Raise up Mentors and Community Leaders who will come forward, not because they have all the answers, but because they know Your track record in their lives and know You will empower them to share. Thank You Lord. We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus, amen.

Questions: Have you been look for a place to serve the Lord but just didn’t know where or how?  What is your passion in life?

About the Author Gail Rodgers