Spiritual Growth Love

The Gospels in the New Testament provide us with more than history - they help us encounter Jesus. This passionate daily devotional will bring you to the feet of your Savior in wonder and worship. Inspired by The Passion Translation, each devotion provides a daily Scripture from the Gospels, an encouraging text, and a meaningful prayer that reveals the character of Jesus and his ever-present love - restoring the broken, befriending the sinner, teaching his followers, healing the sick, and unveiling his fiery heart.

New York Times best-selling author and world-renowned motivational speaker Nick Vujicic is known worldwide as the man without arms and legs who personifies a "can do" spirit. Now in greater detail, he explains how the example of Jesus Christ motivates him to travel and speak broadly because the "good news" of the Gospel is just too good to keep quiet! Although the world has so many problems, no challenge is too great for the God who promises to move mountains.

There is no better way to comprehend our Abba's love for us than through The Parable of the Prodigal Son. However, one might miss significant insights if interpreted from a Western Christian perspective. Studying it from the ancient Jewish biblical context—considering Jesus was a Jewish rabbi in 1st-century Israel—can reveal layers of the parable in unprecedented ways and demonstrate God's unconditional love in ways you've never seen before!

When I Am Second launched in 2008, the organization intended simply to tell stories of lives changed utterly by people placing God first and themselves second. Although the organization has exploded in size and influence since, that original mission has remained the same - and continues to have enormous power and influence today.

Being human is hard. Being in relationships with other humans is even harder. People are complex and relationships are messy but loving one another well is possible. Whether navigating political or religious differences, or dealing with toxic people or our own unforgiveness, this book tackles the struggles no one really wants to talk about. But there is hope! We can actually grow closer to God and others through the circumstances we'd rather run from.

Think about an incredibly joyful event in your life. Do you remember how you couldn’t wait to talk about it? You were willing and eager to have a conversation about it with anyone who would listen! Why doesn’t our excitement for Jesus overflow from our lives in a similar and natural way? In this book, Thom Rainer explores what makes so many Christians hesitant to talk about the greatest news the world has ever heard. There are real obstacles, challenges, and fears, but God is bigger and stronger than these hurdles.

With enthusiasm and contagious joy, Shauna Pilgreen assures listeners that, yes, God does have a plan and a purpose for them - right where they are. In fact, he sent them there. She invites listeners to "live sent", showing them how to see their surroundings with fresh eyes and renewed energy. Weaving her own remarkable story with biblical habits listeners can incorporate into their daily routines, Pilgreen equips us to reach out into our communities with God's love, knowing that our efforts are never in vain.

As a pastor and author, Nicholas McDonald spent years helping people work through serious questions about the evangelical church’s gospel and its often hurtful responses to those confused by American Evangelical culture. He quickly realized that what these people needed—what he really needed—was not merely apologetics answers but the good news that speaks to their deepest dreams: love, beauty, and freedom—the very things Jesus promises to those who follow Him.

Seasons of crisis, pain, and loss may impact the people we become, but our circumstances do not define who we are. Your identity is greater than your experiences. The only experience that ought to define your identity, determine your self-worth, and shape your destiny is an encounter with the unconditional love of God. The eternal, unchanging love of a Perfect Father changes everything!

In the beginning, God created Adam. Then he made Eve. And ever since we’ve been picking up the pieces. Loveology is a theology of love from God’s point of view. The five sessions start with God’s design for marriage and works backward, dealing with sexuality, romance, singleness, and what it means to be male and female. Pastor and writer John Mark Comer shares about what is right in male/female relationships - what God intended in the Garden. And about what is wrong - the fallout in a post-Eden world.

Love is easy to give when you are getting it back. Are we still called to God's plan of how to love when we are getting none in return? Shauna Shanks's brave journey through obedience reveals the outcome of when we dare to follow God's ludicrous outline for love as described in 1 Corinthians 13. Wrecked with news of her husband's affair and his request for a divorce, Shauna finds herself urgently faced with a decision. Does she give up and divorce her husband and move on, or does she try to fight for her marriage?

When you find yourself loving Jesus but hating life, rest assured you are in good company. Many men and women before you have found themselves in the same position. This life is filled with dark valleys, and most of us are just looking for an immediate way out of the valley we're in. You may have been told the fix to the darkness of depression and sadness is either more prayer or more pills, more church or more counseling, more truth or more therapy. But what if the solution is not an "either-or?"

Do you dare believe in a God who wants to make your dreams come true? It seems like there is no time to dream these days. Yet the Bible is full of dreamers - those who exchanged their old dreams for new ones, and those who received unexpected dreams from God that changed the course of history. Best-selling author Sheila Walsh gives warm-hearted stories of real people, interwoven with biblical insight, to help you discover God's dream for your life.

Romance is much more than a date night out or a week away. A passionate, long-lasting love requires two people who are sensually in love with life and each other. In this fascinating book, the authors explore research on seven activities that prompt passion, then describe how Mediterranean cultures practice these secrets in everyday life. Steve and Misty also share how these fun-to-apply secrets have taken their own marriage from confused to confident, from discouraged to delighted - and how you can do it, too.

We want to love God with all our hearts, but we often find ourselves striving in our efforts to please Him, acutely aware of our weaknesses. As our failures pile up, we become frustrated and discouraged. Have we missed the essence of the gospel? Is there a simple but true way to serve God that can fill us with joy and peace rather than fear and discouragement? St. Thérèse of Lisieux faced similar struggles. As a young woman who desired to abandon herself to God, she felt daunted at the thought of climbing “the steep stairway of perfection.”

If you're tired of seeing your real-life and online communities in turmoil and you long to be an agent of peace, understanding, and reconciliation, it's time to join a new kind of resistance movement - one that pushes us toward personal transformation. Grounded in Scripture and illustrated with compelling true stories, this new book from Ashley Abercrombie will help you gain the confidence to communicate and connect with others, stop avoiding necessary tension, and resolve your internal and external conflicts.

Restoring Relationship explores the roots of vulnerability and provides a framework for transforming fear into love through connection. Through stories and exercises, I introduce a new spiritual practice based on the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model, demonstrating the congruence of IFS with biblical and theological truths.

Jesus Christ is the most influential human to ever walk the earth. We've heard and seen so many depictions of Him that we think we know Him better than we actually do. If we took the time to really look at Him, we might be surprised at what we'd find. In 52 Weeks with Jesus, author and pastor James Merritt leads you on a transformational journey as he shares what he's learned over a lifetime of studying Jesus' life and ministry.

"The Lord is my shepherd...." The words of this famous psalm have brought comfort to many - but what impact do they have on an actual shepherd? Best selling author and shepherd Phillip Keller draws on his firsthand experience to lead and prod listeners to the greenest pastures of discovery and coolest waters of fulfillment hidden in the psalm. This lively devotional commentary will show you how to experience Psalm 23 in a new way. See with the eyes, touch with the hands, and feel with the heart of our Lord - the Great Shepherd.

John Piper invites you to experience deeper intimacy with God through these thought-provoking and soul-enriching meditations. Whether you are just discovering the divine richness of Scripture or have long been a passionate student, you’ll find a deeper understanding of God and renewed insight for your journey.