Air1 Verse of the Day

Remain in the Vine

info@accessmore.com — Mon, 02 Nov 2026 00:00:00 PST

Remain in the Vine Read the transcript from today’s video devotional. What are you attached to? As you’re thinking about it, I’m going to give you a little challenge today. What first came to mind about what you’re attached to? Now, I would encourage you to ask somebody, either a family member or a close friend. Ask them the same question about yourself. Ask them, “What do you see? What would you say if I asked you, ‘What am I attached to?’” I would encourage you to do that, because sometimes we can come up with things in our mind of what we would say we’re attached to, family or something else. It’s interesting to find out what other people’s perception is of what they see that we’re attached to. It’s very, very revealing. I would encourage you, if you dare, to take that challenge today and just ask somebody that knows you really well what you’re attached to. Apart from Me, You Can Do Nothing Now, I want to start off focusing on that last part, because we can dwell a lot on “I am the vine, you are the branches,” but sometimes it can bring clarity about what He’s saying at the very end: “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” Now, obviously we know that in our lives we do a lot of things. When it says, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing,” what does that translate to, if obviously we can live our life and we can do a lot of things? What is He referring to? With Jesus, He is constantly focused on us producing good fruit. It is not about just being this beautiful tree or plant or vine that everyone else sees as looking beautiful. I’ve had that before. We had a tree at our house. It was this huge tree, and it had no fruit on it. I could tell it was a citrus tree. I had no idea what it was, but I ended up pruning it back, and it had some fruit that came on it. Often we settle for just looking beautiful and green and vibrant as a Christian. What Jesus is talking about, and His constant goal for us, is to bear fruit. If we stay attached to Him, He will produce good fruit in us. What Are You Attached To? How does that translate into our lives? That’s why I asked the question, “What are you attached to?” A lot of times, what we are attached to is going to dictate the fruit that comes out in our life. I have to be candid with you. A lot of times we are attached to something, and we don’t actually do anything about being attached to something that’s an unhealthy habit in our life until it actually produces bad fruit in our life that other people can see. That’s when all of a sudden it becomes something we want to address. I’ll tell you what. Sorry, but I’m guilty too. Our phones are one of many things that we could have an unhealthy attachment to. Bad habits develop where we spend lots of time, and that fruit actually can be something that we see cropping up in our life, and we can actually look over it and not really pay attention to it. Remaining in Jesus That’s the key here to this verse and what Jesus is saying when He says, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” If our goal is simply to just be this vibrant green plant in our life, and all we start focusing on and caring about is if bad fruit starts cropping up, then we are not truly living into what Jesus has called us to as followers of Him. He wants us to be attached to Him, to remain in Him so that we are producing fruit, good fruit, good things. You may say, “Well, I try to be a good person.” There’s a difference between trying on our own efforts to be good and to do something good, versus remaining in Jesus and allowing what He is calling us to, to produce good fruit in our life, to actually come out. It calls us to not just settling in the Christian life, not just being okay with “I’m a Christian.” It’s now saying, “Okay, if I’m a Christian and I’m choosing to be a follower of Jesus and be attached to Him and remain in Him, then He will produce fruit in me. That’s something I can’t produce...

Help Me Understand Why

info@accessmore.com — Sun, 01 Nov 2026 01:00:00 PST

Help Me Understand Why Read the transcript from today’s video devotional. I have three really awesome kids, and the youngest of our kids is just about two. I know for a lot of people this is when the terrible twos start to hit. As a parent, this is actually one of my favorite stages, because you’re watching your baby find their personality. You start interacting with them in new ways, like talking. Our son is starting to learn some new words, and it’s so sweet. There are two words that stand out in his vocabulary other than “Mom” and “Dad.” The first is the word “no.” My guess is you’re not surprised by that. If you have kids, you’re probably familiar with how quickly that word becomes a part of their vocabulary and can be their way of testing where the line is. The Cutest Little No A lot of times we’ll ask our son to do something, and we get the cutest little no. “Hey, buddy, let’s go get ready for bed.” “No.” “Hey, dude, we gotta go grab our shoes. Come on.” “No.” “Hey, little man, can we put that away?” “No.” It’s so sweet, but at times, it prevents us from getting the things that we need to get done. The Word Why Praise God, because the other word in his vocabulary that has been growing faster than the other ones is the word “why.” He’s a curious little guy, and he will always point to something he doesn’t understand and ask why. “Why, Mama? Why water? Why juice?” It’s been really neat to see that as he learns why we’re asking him to do these different things, he’s actually much more open to doing them, because he’s starting to connect the commands that we have for him with the care that we have for him as parents. Conversations that looked like, “Hey, buddy, grab your shoes now,” have turned into, “Hey, man, we’re going to go get some dinner. You hungry?” When he says yes, then we can explain, “Okay, then we need to get our shoes on so we can go to the store.” “Hey, dude, are you excited to see your friends at church tomorrow?” “Yeah.” “Okay, well, then we need to get ready for bed now, so we have all of this energy for tomorrow.” It’s this understanding that helps him see the goodness of what we’re asking him to do. Connecting God’s Commands with His Care If I’m being honest, I think we can have this same sort of struggle with God when He asks us to do something that is uncomfortable or new, or maybe just not what we want to do in the moment. Our temptation might be to say no, but God’s commandments are always right, and they’re always good. We need to start understanding why. See, God doesn’t give us laws to blindly follow them. He gives them to us so that we can understand His character and His nature. We need to start peeling back the layers of our finite understanding and begin to look at the Word and go, “Okay, God, I understand what You’re calling me to do, but now help me to understand why,” so that we can connect these commandments He gives to us with the care He has for us as our Heavenly Father. Don’t just be that Christian that looks at the Word and says, “I’m doing it all, and this must be what it’s all about.” The Father wants us to understand His heart. Let’s grow together in wisdom and understanding as we walk on this path of life.

The Lord Is Good, A Strong Refuge

info@accessmore.com — Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

The Lord Is Good, A Strong Refuge Read the transcript from today's video devotional. Have you ever had a time in your life where you felt like God was distant? I mean, like He's really far away? The most interesting part about this thought is it always seems that way when we're really going through things. Like when I'm struggling, like when my business is struggling, my family is hurting, my finances are suffering. It's easy to wonder, "God, where are you? Why would you leave me in this place to suffer in this way?" If you've ever felt like this, as I have in my own spiritual walking journey, that's precisely why today's Verse of the Day is so pertinent. He Is Close and He Is Strong The overwhelming thought I have in my heart for you, if you've ever felt any of those prior sentiments, is: He is close and He is strong and He is good. He is our refuge. For me, having lived in Oklahoma City for nearly 20 years, in the heart of Tornado Alley, I can't tell you how many times personally I went through the fear and the chaos of the storms of life. I'm not talking about those spiritual storms of the enemy's attacks. I'm talking literal, physical, huge, ginormous tornadoes. They created so much pain, so much scarcity, even with the faith that we have. My family decided no more. After nearly 20 years, we're getting away from Tornado Alley. We are moving away. That's precisely what we did, so that we would never have to go through that again. There Will Always Be Storms But guess what? As long as you live on planet Earth, there will always be storms. I'm not talking about physical now. I'm talking about spiritual. We found ourselves in our new home. Not even two months there, and sirens started going off and we were like, "Wait, I know that's not what we think it is." Out of fear and frantic, we turn on the news. Lo and behold, there is a massive twister and it's headed right for us. The first thought we had was fear. However, come with us—God is good, and He provides. In this new place that we live, they had a community shelter that was incredibly strong, strong enough for a literal nuclear bomb to keep you safe. We went to the shelter. The tornado literally comes right down our alley, passes over, and we step outside, and the sun began to shine again. We were safe because we had a shelter. God Is Your Refuge I want you to know something: in this life, yes, the storms may come. Yes, you might struggle. You might suffer. You might hurt. You might have made destructive decisions in your past. But Nahum is incredible—whose name literally means "comforter." The children in that time were going through something so complex they literally were suffering. He wanted to remind them that, hey, in the midst of your suffering, God is good. God is strong and He is your refuge. I take this personally. He tells me God is my refuge because just like that physical shelter that kept my family safe, no matter what I face, no matter what my family faces, I can take comfort in knowing that we are safe because God is strong and He is protecting me. Guess what? The same God is protecting you. Don't let fear overwhelm you. Don't let the adversary confuse you with lies and make you feel as if this isn't all going to work out on your behalf. Because Nahum reminds us it is. You Can Trust in the Lord You can trust in the Lord. He is strong, He is good, and He is your refuge.

Living for the Approval of God

info@accessmore.com — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Living for the Approval of God Read the transcript from today's video devotional. A Message Straight from God This section of Scripture in Galatians chapter 1 and verse 10 is really special and profound when you give yourself time to go through it slowly. At the beginning of this book of Galatians, we see Paul establishing the authority he's been given by God to share the messages that he's sharing with this community that he's writing to. What's interesting about the beginning of this chapter is that Paul begins by describing how he came to the awareness of understanding the fullness of the picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, in chapter 1, he talks about how he got the Gospel straight from God. No human person taught it to him. Let's just stop for a second and think about that reality. Even in this moment right now, it's not missed upon me that I'm a human person sharing with you some thoughts that come to mind for me when I read the Scriptures right off the pages. I'm hopeful that God, by His Spirit, is encouraging me as I'm sharing with you the things that I'm learning. Ultimately, though, I'm still a person telling you the things I'm telling you, and you are receiving them from a human. Paul tells us that in his encounter with the living God on the road to Damascus, he was ambushed by God's power and presence. It was in the wilderness that he received a download straight into his heart and mind from God Himself about what it meant to know Him and what it meant for him to share this message of hope — the Gospel — with other people. Called and Equipped by God He wasn't taught it by a human. He was given it by God Himself. I tell you that little bit of background because, even when we see the words of our Verse of the Day, it might feel a little bit confusing to figure out how to practically apply this in the same way. Paul says these words because of how he received this authority. It didn't come because of how much he studied. It didn't come because he passed some test. It came because God Himself equipped and called him into the ministry work he was supposed to do. Now, you and I probably won't find ourselves in a place similar to Paul, where we hear straight from God the messages that he would go on to write in 13 letters of the New Testament. We do have, just like Paul, the ability to hear from the living God, directly downloaded into our hearts and minds by the power of His Spirit. What if We Believed the Same Thing? This is something that I think is elusive for us in our humanity at times, simply because we don't take time to consider its implications. The reason for this is because it's almost more than our minds can handle. Think about it. He says here he's not trying to please men, because he knows with deep conviction that God Himself is the One who's directing his steps. What if we began to believe the same thing? What if, in hidden places in our hearts, we were communing with the God of the universe by the power of His Spirit? What if we were seeking to study His Word, and through prayer and through meditation, we were communing with Him, listening to His voice and being obedient to what He called us to? What if we were living from that place of conviction in the world? I bet you we would more easily and readily say, "We're not trying to please people, but just be obedient to God." When we live in this way, it allows us to experience freedom and lightness in a way that I think God truly intended for the people of God to experience here on earth. Tap into that today, and see what the Lord wants to say to you, so that you can live with that kind of confidence in Him.

Filled With the Fruit of Your Salvation

info@accessmore.com — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Filled With the Fruit of Your Salvation Read the transcript from today's video devotional. Where's the Fruit? My biggest challenge as a Christian is looking at my life and not seeing the fruit that I would like to see. I don't know about you, but when people look at my life, I want them to say, "I see fruit in Val's life." The question is, how do we get fruit in our lives? I want to study one verse today, Philippians chapter 1 and verse 11, that gives us great insight into this. The Fruit of Your Salvation Let's unpack our verse a little bit — the fruit of your salvation. First of all, what happens at salvation? Before we were saved, we were spiritually dead. We had no desire for the things of God. Then, when we were awakened spiritually, God gave us new desires. Now there's actually a desire to pray, to read the Word, to be with the people of God. There is fruit in our salvation. We're not just saved and going to heaven. No, there's fruit because we belong to Jesus Christ. You might be looking at your life and saying, "Well, you know, I don't see that much fruit in my life. So how do I get fruit?" Let me ask you a question, and I ask this to myself all the time. What Do You Love? What do you love? That will reveal how spiritually mature you are, and if you're spiritually sick. Here's what I mean by that: if you and I don't crave the things of God — now, there are going to be seasons where we're just not as hungry for prayer and hungry for the Word. I get that. There are seasons where we're not as passionate for the Lord like we used to be. Those seasons come and go. But is there a desire for the things of God? Is there a desire to be with the people of God? Is there a desire to spend time in the presence of God, to spend time in His Word? If there's no desire for those things, then we are spiritually sick. Paul is a shepherd, and he wants the Philippians to be healthy. He says, "May you always be filled." This is a continual filling "with the fruit of your salvation." Then it says, "the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ." Who produces the righteous character? How do we get this fruit? We can't muster it up in our own strength. Stay Attached to the Source It says it's produced by Jesus Christ. Does that mean we do nothing? Absolutely not. Our job is to stay attached to the Source, and the Source is Jesus Christ. Listen, if you and I are not attached to Jesus Christ, and if we don't make knowing Him a priority, you and I will not see fruit in our lives. Christianity is not about behavior modification. It's not, "I used to smoke, drink and hang around bad crowds, and I don't do that anymore." That's not Christianity. Christianity is, "I love Jesus, and because I love Jesus, you're going to see fruit in my life." Paul says this: "May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ." Fruit Points People to God Last point: "for this will bring much glory and praise to God." What's the point of all the fruit? It's to point people to God.

The Treasure of God's Wisdom

info@accessmore.com — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

The Treasure of God's Wisdom Read the transcript from today's video devotional. A Treasure Worth More Than Gold A treasure map is valuable because of where it leads. Much like wisdom in the Bible, the wisdom of God leads us to life's greatest treasures, and ultimately, God's wisdom is far greater and more valuable than even gold. Our verse speaks to this tremendous wisdom, this great wisdom that we have in the Bible. The True Treasure: Jesus Christ In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9, Paul is reminding the Corinthians of his ministry: he doesn't rely on his own eloquence, his gift of gab, or human wisdom. His central message is Jesus Christ, and Him crucified — verses 1 and 2. Jesus Christ is the treasure Paul is pointing to. In verses 3 to 5, he basically says: I didn't come with a big ego. I came in weakness. I came in fear. I came in humility. Why? Because I trusted God's power above my own innate, apparent gifting. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9, Paul shows that human wisdom falls short. This is what the Scriptures mean when they say no eye has seen, no ear has heard — God's wisdom comes to you and me only when God gives it to us. This is not naturally attainable. Romans chapter 3 says there's no one who seeks God. The Epitome of Human Wisdom The main point again of verses 1 to 5 is this: we don't rest our faith on human wisdom — we rest it on God's power. Think about the blind rulers of that time. How do we know they didn't have the wisdom of God? Paul says in chapter 2 and verse 8, right before the Verse of the Day, that the rulers of this age crucified the Lord of glory. That's the epitome of human wisdom. Who are the ones who cannot receive or know the wisdom of God? Those who perceive and pursue worldly wisdom, worldly wealth, worldly attainments, power, and status rather than the Lord Jesus Christ. Human wisdom falls woefully short. God's Spirit Reveals Truth Who are the ones who can know real wisdom? Who are the ones who know God's wisdom? Those people, the Bible says, are the ones who are spiritual — those who have received the Spirit of God. Right there in verse 6, a few verses before the Verse of the Day, it says we do speak a wisdom among the mature, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. We know that the Spirit of God has the things of God, and He reveals them to us. In fact, the Spirit of God authored the Scripture — 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21. Applying This Wisdom Let's try to apply this and bring it home. First, pursue spiritual maturity by relying on the Spirit of God. Romans chapter 6: "But you, by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body, so that you may live." Paul said it in Ephesians chapter 1: "I pray in the Spirit." He prayed for spiritual wisdom and understanding. It says all over the Bible, in this same context, that those who have received the truth of the Scriptures are those who are filled with the Spirit of God. In John chapter 16 and verse 13, Jesus said He — speaking of the Spirit — will guide you into all truth. Second, rejoice in God's eternal wisdom. That comes by the work of the Spirit of God. If you know Christ today — if I know Him — and if you're learning what the Scriptures truly mean, the Spirit of God is giving you the understanding to attain this. Third and finally, anchor your life in God's eternal purpose. You and I need to base our lives on something immovable, something unchangeable — Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You and I have the Word of God, which is forever. May we not have human wisdom, but true wisdom — the true road map which yields the ultimate treasure: the Lord Jesus Christ, now and in the future, when we're with Him in heaven forever.

Don't Just Pretend to Love Others

info@accessmore.com — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Don't Just Pretend to Love Others Read the transcript from today's video devotional. Fake it 'til you make it? Nah. Not today. Our Verse of the Day is going to actually put that phrase into perspective. If we're honest, it's a lot easier to connect with and love on the people who look like us and think like us and have similar experiences. I don't know if you've ever been to a dinner party before, and you've never met the people you're going with. It can feel really awkward. If you're like me, there are times where I will find a nice little corner to myself and just sit there and wait for some dishes to clean up because I have to do something. If I'm in a room and I don't know how I fit, I just have to do something. Forced Out of Our Corner This Scripture actually kind of forces us out of our corner and into active engagement with people. I was having a conversation with someone the other day, and it was in passing, and they were talking about how the city that we're in right now has just been so taken over by things that felt dark and oppressive, and they'd been here for a while. I was asking them, "What's something about the last season of life here that spurred hope for the city in you?" This person looked me in the eye and directly said, "There is no hope." Then, they began to talk about how they wished everybody who moved here would move away, and it would just go back to the way things were. That hit my heart. I know that there are people here and around the world who see darkness and rush into it to make a difference, and that's where I'm convicted, because I don't do that all the time. Maybe you're nothing like me, and you're rushing right in to get to know people that are unlike you. But for me, I struggle. When I find common ground, I run to that thing and I stay there with somebody. It makes me feel safe. This Scripture Doesn't Change What this Scripture is pointing to is there are going to be days where you're surrounded by people who are nothing like you, who may not even believe in Jesus, who are living in other religions or other faiths. This Scripture doesn't change. It says to not be fake and to really love someone. When I think of how Jesus looks at me and He looks at a world full of sin, what does He do? He acknowledges that sin is the problem, but He doesn't look at someone for their sin. You see the woman caught in adultery, people threw her at the feet of Jesus, and they said, "Look at what she did. Look at who she is." Do you know what Jesus says to her after everyone leaves? He says, "Woman, where are your accusers?" He doesn't look at her for her sin. He looks at her through it. He sees a need for hope. Hold to What is Good What if we did that? What if when we're surrounded by people we were not expecting to be surrounded by, in an environment that feels different than what we're used to, we look at the person through what they've done, and we do what's at the very end of this Scripture? We say, we hold to what is good. What would it look like for you to find common ground with someone who thinks nothing like you? Jesus does this quite a bit. Actually, it's very confrontational. He sits down and has dinner with sinners, and all the religious people walk by the door and look in, and they see Him sitting with people who steal, people who sleep around, people who do things that according to the Word of God are not right. They judge the people and they judge Jesus. But what does Jesus do? He sits with them. He loves them and He eats with them. Build the Bridge Today, I hope this stirs something in you. I hope it challenges you in the same way that it's challenged me to not just look at people for how different we are, but we search for the common ground, ultimately to build the bridge that hope can cross over. Maybe you can invite them to come with you into a relationship with Jesus.

Be Merciful to Us, for We Have Waited for You

info@accessmore.com — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Be Merciful to Us, for We Have Waited for You Read the transcript from today's video devotional. Isaiah 33 is spoken in this moment of instability for God's people. A lot of concern, probably anxiety. What happened was the nation of Judah had trusted in some shaky alliances, and that had not gone well. They found themselves in the middle of some trouble that they really didn't have any control over. It's in that setting that we have a simple but powerful prayer here from Isaiah: "Oh God, be merciful to us. We wait for You." A Place of Complete Dependence This is that point where the people of God are brought to a place where they can no longer pretend to be self-sufficient. They are needy. They are desperate. They are dependent. The only thing left to do is to cry out to God for rescue and deliverance. That should be very applicable to us as we're living our ordinary lives that are often plagued with trouble. I mean, we may not be standing underneath some military siege like Judah was, but we know what it's like to be burdened. We know what it's like to wake up in the morning and already be thinking about a heavy conversation that we need to have, or bills that need to be paid, or relationships that are not stable, or anxiety from the moment we get out of bed. We know what it's like to be heavily burdened. Faith, Not Manufactured Strength What Isaiah 33 and verse 2 teaches us: it's not to begin by just manufacturing or projecting some sort of strength that we actually don't have. It begins with faith, and that faith is a trusting in and a relying on God's strength. That's what this prayer is. It is a prayer of dependence on God. Let me read something that John Bunyan said about prayer. He said: "Prayer is the opener of the heart of God, and a means by which the soul, though empty, is filled." That's what Isaiah 33 and verse 2 is. It is this bare cry to God. It's not some sort of polished religion. It is just this soul that feels empty, coming to God and asking God, pleading with God for His strength. A Different Rhythm Many of you are going to be in a place today or tomorrow where you're going to be burdened. You're going to check messages. You're going to look at social media. You're going to read headlines. You're going to listen to the news. It won't take long before your day is going to get to a place where your mind is scattered and you're feeling weak, and then you're reacting to what's around you. What this text does is it invites us into a very different rhythm where we're not reactive, but we're proactive. Before we get into trouble, we ask God: "Be my strong arm. I need You, God. I need You to be my strength. Without it, I just can't do it." Take This Verse In Take this verse in. Maybe consider thinking about it and praying through it, even tomorrow morning when you face that start of the day again. Know that on that day, the Lord is not asking you to manufacture or project some kind of strength that you do not have. His mercy is available to you. His strength is not delayed. His salvation is not uncertain. Cry out to Him the way Isaiah 33 and verse 2 calls us to: "Oh Lord, be merciful to us, for we have waited for You. Be our strong arm each day, and our salvation in times of trouble."

An Audience of One

info@accessmore.com — Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

An Audience of One Read the transcript from today's video devotional. A Life Lived Out by Faith I love this section of Scripture in Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 10, because the book of Hebrews provides — not only for the people who were receiving this letter, but even for us today — a lot of conversation about a life lived out by faith. This whole book continually, over and over again, reinforces the power of walking in rhythm and allegiance with the living God while we're here on earth. I love that this verse provides some encouragement that if you do this — if you walk in fidelity and in rhythm with the living God — He will remember what you're doing, and you can trust that He's aware of what's happening. The One Who Is Watching This is an encouragement for us not to focus on what other people can see in our work for God as our primary concern and area of awareness. In other words, what I get from this is this reminder: if you are faithful to God, to do the things that He has called you to do for His glory, to advance His Kingdom, the One who really needs to be aware of this is the One who is watching from afar — above, over and in all things — the God of the universe. What I think this brings to mind for me starts out at the beginning of chapter 6, a little bit before our verse. There's a conversation about how there should be maturity in the followers of Jesus over time that moves on from elementary things. What we see in our Verse of the Day is a representation of someone who is mature in their way of thinking about their Christianity and their way of faith. They're not focused on their perception, but they're focused on their fidelity to God. For God or With God What this brings to mind for me — and maybe it will be an encouragement to you — is what I have to tell myself so often so that I don't get off of this path. I want you to hear this, and maybe even write it down, because this can help us to stay focused on the hopeful outcome as a follower of Jesus: It is possible to do things for God and not do those things with God. I have to remember this all the time. If I'm only working hard in my faithfulness to God so that God will be pleased with me and to show the world how spiritual I am, that is a fruitless endeavor, and I will find myself depleted and burnt out. The reason is because that cannot sustain my ability to do even good works. I don't want to do them for God. I don't want to do them to show God anything. I want to do those works with God. I want to live in the world in rhythm with Him, as a product and a result of a hidden connection with God in the world. It's not to show anyone how spiritual I am. It's not to show anyone how much I can do for God. It's so that He will be pleased by my actions and I can sustainably serve Him on earth for His glory. He Is Aware of Your Faithfulness Today, "God is not unjust." Even if you feel hidden right now in your faithful work for God, in whatever way you find yourself doing it, I want to remind you He's aware of your faithfulness to Him. Don't worry about people's perception of your spirituality, even if you're not being recognized in ways that maybe you think you might should be. I want to encourage you: we work for the audience of One, and that audience of One is aware of our hidden life with Him.

What the Lord Requires

info@accessmore.com — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

What the Lord Requires

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

A Challenging Question

What does the Lord require of you? It's a question I find incredibly challenging as we look at Micah chapter 6 and verse 8 today. It is incredibly challenging, but it's also encouraging as we look at this particular passage. Micah is essentially a prophet. He proclaimed the injustices of Judah, and he also spoke to the righteousness of Yahweh, of God Himself.

As we look at this particular passage, just to get the flow of the context, a few verses before our Verse of the Day, he says this: "What can we bring to the Lord? … Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?"

I mean, ten thousand rivers of olive oil? That's a lot of olive oil. He's basically saying, "Are we just to give a bunch of offerings to God? What are we supposed to do?"

Two Gospel Truths

As we study this verse, there are two Gospel truths that really flow into these grace-driven responses.

Number one, recognize we fall short. Recognize that you and I fall short of this very well-known passage. Is anybody like me? You look at this, and God's saying, "I just want you to do what is right. I want you to love mercy. I want you to just walk humbly with the Lord."

I look at that and I'm like, "Lord, I fail all three." I not only fail all three, but I fail them very often. I feel like, "Where is the encouragement in this passage?" First of all, again, we are to recognize that we fall short of this standard, and therefore it positions us for grace. Number two, realize Christ fulfills the standard.

Though you have missed the standard and fallen short of the standard, and I fall short of the standard, Christ fulfills this particular standard for us. Very simple question: Who is the One who, according to the verse, 100% of the time always did right? Who 100% of the time was always merciful? Who was the One who 100% of the time always walked humbly with His God?

We know, obviously, it was Jesus, because God Himself said, "This is My Son. With Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him." Jesus Christ Himself fulfills the standard, which puts us, friends, in a position now to take this verse and be motivated to live it out with grace-fueled, grace-driven obedience.

Live From Gratitude, Not Guilt

Very simply, I have two applications. Number one, live from gratitude, not guilt. Live out Micah chapter 6 and verse 8 from gratitude, not guilt because "I don't do this and I don't do that." Grace is what changes your heart, my friends — your heart and mine. This is not some moral lesson that Micah is giving us that we're to somehow achieve. Jesus Christ fulfilled this standard. Therefore, because He fulfilled the standard for you and me, it motivates us to live it out, because He loved us first.

While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He lived this perfect life. He always was humble, always was gracious, was completely merciful and walked humbly with God. Because He fulfilled all this for us, we are to live this out as best we can from gratitude because of what Jesus Christ has already done for us.

You may be wondering, am I supposed to work hard? Am I supposed to read my Bible and pray and go to church and do all the spiritual disciplines? Absolutely. You do all those disciplines knowing that you have the One, Jesus, who already fulfilled them for you and me. We're to lean on grace, not ultimately on grit. Grit's good, and that will help us, motivate us and empower us to obedience. Ultimately, though, it's the grace of God that makes us do anything.

Extend the Grace You've Received

Number two, if we've been given this grace, extend the grace you've received. Paul said in...

Living in Light of Eternity

info@accessmore.com — Fri, 23 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Living in Light of Eternity

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

A Case of the Gimmes

I remember as a kid spending all year long making a list of all the toys that I wanted for my birthday or Christmas or the upcoming holiday. You'd see it on TV, you'd see it at the store, and you just couldn't wait to have it. It didn't matter how much you already had at home. That was old news. There was new stuff that you needed.

Now I look back at all of those things that I probably played with for a couple of months and shoved into the back of the closet, because something else new grabbed my attention that I just felt like I absolutely needed. Isn't that just the way of the world? We always crave more.

We need the newest thing — the newest phone, the high-tech car, the new device. We just get this incredible case of the gimmes, and nothing seems to last because something new always comes along. Our Verse of the Day is a little bit of medicine that will help cure that case of the gimmes.

Here for a Good Time, Not a Long Time

There is a phrase that somebody I used to work with would use all the time. They would say, "I'm here for a good time, not a long time." They would say it tongue-in-cheek, but if you watched how they lived, there was a sense that they actually believed that — that they were here for a good time, not a long time.

The way that they stacked their schedule didn't give them any time for rest, and they were starting to burn out. The way that they treated people when they were having difficult conversations made it seem like they didn't care if the relationship fell apart or not. The way that they fueled their body with energy drinks instead of nutrition didn't really speak to them realizing they were the temple of God.

Eternity Starts Now

They were living like now was the only thing to focus on. Maybe they mentally knew that eternity was coming, but that was something for the future. The reality is, when we put our faith in Jesus, eternity starts now. John is reminding the church here that this world is fading away, along with everything in it. We might crave the latest and greatest, the newest, and we might live like we're here for a good time, not a long time.

The reality is, if you love God and you want to please God, then you will live in such a way that you actually believe it. It's these sorts of people that John says will live forever — not because they're earning their salvation, but because they're living like it starts now. This also means that we can't treat the Gospel like our get-out-of-hell-free card.

We can't view salvation as something that just takes away all of our sins so that we can focus on all the things that bring us joy in the moment. We have to live by Paul's words in Colossians — to put off the old man and to put on the new man, to live in light of eternity.

Built for Eternity

The reality is that it's hard to think about what eternity really means. I mean, we've really lived in such a way that we can only look at life from birth to death. Man, life goes on forever when you have God in it. Don't live like you're just here for a good time and not a long time. We are God's chosen, built for eternity, and so it's time that we start living like it.

Listen Very Carefully to the Truth We Have Heard

info@accessmore.com — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Listen Very Carefully to the Truth We Have Heard

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

Have you ever been talking to somebody—especially if you're giving them instructions—and you just know they're not paying attention? Isn't that frustrating? You know you're trying to give them instructions, and you can tell because they're not listening. They're not going to do this right because they're not paying attention.

A College Memory
When I was in college. I used to work till 2:00 in the morning in security, and then in the morning I would get up. My first hour class was at 7:20, and I really had a hard time staying awake during my class. Bless my professor's heart. Imagine if in that kind of setting, I walked into the room, put my books underneath my desk, and I just put my head down on my desk and slept during the entire time.

When it came time for a test or an exam, I would go to the professor and say: "Oh my goodness, I need the answers. I need to know what's going on with this test."

I would love to have that lens when we look at our Verse of the Day today about paying attention—paying close attention as we learn the truth.

What a powerful reminder, especially in the context of people not listening to our instructions or being in a professor's classroom with a professor and we don't pay attention. Then all of a sudden a test or a challenge comes. We realize we actually haven't been listening carefully to what's being taught, or the instructions, or the truth.

We are Bombarded with Distractions
I'm sure you agree with me: we all have so many different distractions in life today, don't we? Especially with all the information—we're bombarded with information that we never had to this level before. So much distraction. Yet we're being told in this verse: "Pay close attention. Be careful to listen to the truth."

Angels vs. Jesus
The context of this passage is that the writer or author of Hebrews is talking about the role of angels because there seemed to be at the time some confusion about the role of angels and how much they play in our lives, what elevation they have, and how important they should be in our lives.

Some of that is going on today—an elevation of angels and the priority of angels. The importance of angels in this passage is talking about the value, and nothing compares. The angels do not compare to the elevation of Jesus in our lives or in our faith, or the impact on us.

The Big Takeaway
It's really, really important: The big takeaway isn't necessarily just the topic of angels and the role of Christ, although the role of Christ in our life is the most critical thing in our life. But this passage really is about paying careful attention to the truth. It says: "Listen very carefully to the truth."

Silence Teaches a Lesson
As we talk about that, we can just start. We know if you're now paying close attention because I stopped talking—or at least you didn't hear anything. There wasn't anything wrong with the video. That's actually to prove a point as we close out.

When we have a lack of communication, now all of a sudden we pay closer attention. Sometimes you may think you're not hearing from God, but God gave us so much in His Word that He wants you to dive into, and He wants you to get into so that you are careful to know and learn and listen to the truth.

God's Word is our Water
God has so much for you in His Word.

For the rest of this transcript that includes the lyrics to the song "A Thirst," visit https://www.air1.com/

The Story Is Not Over

info@accessmore.com — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

The Story Is Not Over

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
I was in a meeting the other day, and we were just chatting before we got into business, and we started talking about different movies, and somebody brought up a movie that they really loved, but most of the room hadn't seen it. There was somebody in the room who said, "Oh, I love that movie. Is that the one that ended this way?" and began to share the whole big climax of the end of the movie. I said, "Spoiler alert!” I'm sure you've been in a situation like that where you're invested in a story and you don't want the ending to be spoiled. You like the anticipation, you like the buildup. You've put in so much effort to learn about characters and places, and experience the problems alongside them, that you can't wait to see how it's resolved.

Knowing the Ending Makes It Better
This is just how we like to enjoy stories, but there's one story that's different. There's one story that knowing the ending actually makes it even better. That's God's story of redemption. See, we have the Word of God from Genesis, from creation all the way to Revelation to how it ends. The Bible doesn't want us to be unaware of the end of the story, because it didn't end after Malachi, the last prophet in the Old Testament where God went silent for 400 years.

It didn't end when this prophet came and began to tell of a Messiah that was coming, and we were just left wondering when and where. It didn't end with the birth of a baby to a carpenter in the city of Bethlehem. It didn't end when this rabbi from Nazareth started performing these incredible miracles and started getting these giant crowds surrounding him. And it didn't end when the Messiah, the King of the Jews, hung on a cross and died.

The story didn't even end when He came back to life and ascended into heaven. The Bible tells us that there's more, and we learn about it in our Verse of the Day today.

The Story Continues
You would be hard-pressed to be able to find somebody, believer or not, who doesn't, at least in some sense, know the end of the Bible, that Jesus is coming back and He's going to raise the dead to life and He's going to make all things new. That's really, really good news for us, because if the story ended already and this was just our happily ever after, this is just the way things were going to continue to be—that doesn't sound very happy to me.

Sure, there's plenty of things that I enjoy in life—my family, my friends. I've got clothes to wear, food to eat. But I also have days where I'm just caught in deep sadness. I have days where I have to hold my kids crying because somebody said something really hurtful to them. I have loved ones that I watch battle illness. I grieve the loss of those who have died. It doesn't seem like a happily ever after because it's not. The Bible says that has yet to come.

Our Hope
See, our hope as Christians is that the story is continuing on, that one day Jesus will return, and when He does, the dead will come back to life, and our dwelling place will be His dwelling place. He will wipe away the sadness and the tears and the death and the darkness. Those things will be no more.

I want to encourage you, if you find yourself in a place in your story that you just feel alone or afraid or anxious or lost, allow God to keep writing the pages of the story. He's continuing to turn them over and over as we work towards the end. So, have hope. Be of courage because the story is not over. I promise you, the ending is a good one.

Friends of God

info@accessmore.com — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Friends of God

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

The Mountaintop of Paul's Teaching

Romans chapter 5 and verse 11 comes in a beautiful, powerful context, and I'm excited to dive in together. Really, this is the culmination of a teaching that Paul was giving, because he just spent the previous four chapters building a case that no person can earn their way to salvation or to right standing with God.

Now we get to the end of his point — the summit, or the mountaintop. This is what we get, and this is powerful. Before we get to verse 11, in verses 1 through 10, Paul is letting us know the things that we receive through God. We get access. We get peace. We get so many beautiful things. We get hope, and we get joy in our hearts. That's what comes as a result of the relationship. Now I have received all of these things.

Why Little Words Matter

This is why words are important. Whenever we are approaching the Scripture and the text, we must look at the context. Little words like "so now" — you can easily read past them. "So now" is talking about something that happened previously. Because we received these wonderful gifts from God, "so now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship."

Rejoice means celebrate. We've got some celebrating to do. What is it that we're celebrating? If you look at the previous verse, in verse 10, it says we were enemies with God. That's strong language that he uses. The beautiful thing about this wonderful new relationship is that it speaks specifically to reconciliation. That's what we were. Jesus reconciled this by giving His life for you and for me.

Worth Rejoicing

Because of this, we have this wonderful new relationship. Now, "rejoice" is not a word that we typically use anymore in everyday language. If you think about what it's saying, and you think about the real gift you've been given — think about it. To go from being enemies with God to a wonderful new relationship, to have been reconciled to God, to have been made clean and right and pure with God — that's what you could not do for yourself, which Paul literally unpacked over the course of the first four chapters.

You can't do anything to be in right standing. Because you made this choice and submitted your heart to Jesus, now you have this wonderful new relationship. This reconciliation, this gift, is worth rejoicing. That means to be loud about it and to be proud about it. I am openly, happily, joyfully celebrating the fact that I have a relationship with Christ Jesus and that He did what I could not do on my own.

It doesn't matter how many service projects I do. It doesn't matter how many contributions I make to the church or various nonprofits. It doesn't matter what I do — I can't earn it. He did what I could not do, and that is a reason to have joy.

What a Friend Looks Like

"Christ has made us friends of God." When you think of a friend, what comes to mind? I have a few really close friends in this life. When I'm up or when I'm down, whenever things are good or when things are bad, whenever I make great choices that make everyone happy, or when I make wrong choices that I shouldn't make, my friends are there.

That friend is solid. That friend lifts me up when I need it. That friend challenges me when I need it. They encourage me when I need it. Think about this world in which we live, and the loneliness. A lot of people are dealing with loneliness. You're surrounded by people all day, every day, but you don't feel that you have a connection to anyone.

Sometimes there may not be a human connection to people, and this can make your heart heavy and grieved. This verse is reminding us you don't have to let your heart be troubled, because...

Christ has the Final Word

info@accessmore.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Christ has the Final Word

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

Two Heads of Humanity

1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 22 is a massive verse. There is so much that is packed into this one line. It speaks of all of humanity — I mean, how many people has that been? I don't know how many people. There have been billions and billions and billions.

Out of all those people, these are the two most important people. These are like the two heads of humanity. There is Adam, and there is Christ. You either belong to Adam or you belong to Christ. To belong to Adam is to belong to the human race, and it is to be ruined by sin.

To belong to Christ is to have life — eternal life. To belong to Christ is to be a part of God's family — to be a part of the family of God. Paul writes here to the Corinthians, and he says those who are in Christ have been given new life. That is the hope of the Gospel. Christ is the Head of a new humanity.

What Adam Did and What Christ Did

Where Adam brought condemnation and death, Christ brings righteousness and eternal life. Here's how this works. I'm going to try to boil it down, and there's so much to this. The two heads of humanity are Adam and Christ. Well, what did Adam do? Adam was, you could say, a representative in the garden, representing all of mankind. What did he do?

He sinned. What did that sin lead to? It led to death — eternal death, punishment, consequence for sin. Everybody belongs to Adam. We are all his descendants. We are all in Adam. We all sin, and we're all headed for eternal separation from God. We're all headed for death. Then there is Christ. Christ comes along. Does He sin?

He never sins. He lives a life of perfect righteousness, which means life. If we are in Christ, that means that His good works, His perfect life and His righteousness are imputed to us. They are given to us as if we lived that perfect life. Now we do not die, but we live eternally with Him in heaven.

Who Do You Belong To?

That forces the most important of questions: Who do you belong to? I can tell you one person you belong to. By nature, you do belong to Adam. You are a sinner, and you have proven that throughout your life, because you've continually gone your own way. You know what pleases and honors God, and you do the opposite.

The question isn't, "Do you belong to Adam or not?" You do belong to Adam. Now, do you also belong to Christ? You were born in Adam, but now are you in Christ? Well, how do you come to be in Christ? The answer is through faith. You have to hear the Gospel — that Jesus came, suffered, died and rose again in the place of sinners like you and me, so that sinners like you and me could be reconciled to God.

You have to hear that, believe that, and then place your faith in Christ. If your faith is in Christ, then you belong to Christ.

Death Does Not Have the Final Word

That means that every believer's future is not defined by decay and loss and death. It means that if you belong to Christ, then death does not have the final word — Christ does.

Draw Near and Stay Near

info@accessmore.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Draw Near and Stay Near

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

As Close as We Choose to Be

You and I are as close to God as we choose to be. Sometimes I look around and I ask myself, "How is this person so close to God?" It seems like they have a vibrant relationship with the Lord. I have those people in my life, and I'm like, "Man, I want to be like them."

The reality is, there's a price that they pay to stay close to God. In our Verse of the Day, Paul is teaching on what it means to be reconciled to God.

United With Christ

Paul wants to remind us of this foundational truth: you have been united with Jesus Christ. What does that mean? When we respond to the Gospel, we are now in Jesus Christ. That means when God looks at us, He sees righteousness. Our position as believers is that we are the righteousness of Christ. We're united with Him.

We are in the family of God. We're adopted. We're loved. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9 would tell us that we are God's prized possession. We're in the family of God.

Brought Near

Then Paul says this: "Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ." He says you used to be far away, and I love that because it reminds me of where I used to be when I didn't know Jesus.

Sometimes it's so healthy to just remind ourselves where we used to be and where we are now, because there's a price that was paid for our sin. Let us never forget that forgiveness was very costly. When Paul says you were brought near to Him through the blood of Christ, he's talking about Jesus going to the cross, absorbing the wrath that you and I deserved, to pay for our sins.

He's saying, because of that, you have been brought near. What does that mean? You and I have access to God. We can approach God with boldness, with courage, knowing that when we draw near to Him — James chapter 4 and verse 8 says — God will draw near to us. Christianity is not just about saying yes to Jesus, being forgiven of sin and just waiting for Jesus to come back.

Staying Near

It's about having a vibrant relationship with Jesus. It's about staying near. In fact, I believe the key to ministry is not having crazy charisma or style. The key to ministry is falling in love with Jesus every single day. Ask yourself today, "What do I need to do not just to draw near, but to stay near?" There's a price that we have to pay if we want to stay close to Jesus.

There are some seasons in my life where I don't feel as close to the Lord, and that's okay. My job is to keep drawing near. Maybe you're in that season today where you're like, "Well, I'm drawing near, and I feel like I'm in a dry place." I want to encourage you and tell you this: that season will come to an end.

Keep drawing near. When you do that, God will draw near to you.

Glory to Him in the Church

info@accessmore.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Glory to Him in the Church

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

Our Church Checklist

I remember when my family and I started looking for our church home. There were so many things that were at the top of our minds, right? You drive into the parking lot and scope out the parking situation, and then you make your way through the gauntlet of greeters and go find your coffee to help you wake up in the morning.

You walk into the sanctuary. Is it too hot? Is it too cold? What's worship like? What's the lighting like? Does the music fit with what you like? How was the speaker? Was it motivating? Was it from the Word? We create this list of all these things, whether we're aware of it or not, to see whether or not we like a church.

Our Verse of the Day today reminds us that there's something that should be at the top of our list when we're looking at what makes the church the church.

The Question That's Hard to Quantify

During my years of pastoring in the local church, there were so many things that you had to be aware of every single week. Were there enough welcome bags for the following Sunday? Were there enough chairs in the sanctuary? Christmas Eve is coming up, and we know we're going to have more people. Did the youth spend all of their budget on pizza? Now we've got to find more money for them.

It was just this checklist of items. Were we doing what we were supposed to be doing? There's a question that we needed to be asking that's a lot harder to quantify, and it's this: Are we glorifying God? See, you can't count God's glory the same way that you count heads on a Sunday.

You can't measure effectiveness the same way that you track a budget. Transformation can't be put on a spreadsheet. This question of how we are glorifying God is really hard to answer, but it's one of the most important questions that we need to be answering as a church. As a body of believers — from the first group that gathered in a home to all the generations that now praise His name today — we have one task, and it's to make much of Jesus and to make His name known throughout the world.

The Church Isn't a Building

Maybe you're thinking about the church that you attend on Sunday, and you're starting to go through it: "We could do that better. We could do this better. They don't do this. They don't offer that." Let me remind you that the church isn't a building. The church is a collection of all believers. Before we start pointing fingers at how the church gathering could be doing a better job, I think what we should be doing is looking to ourselves and saying, as a member of God's church,

"Am I glorifying God? Am I doing all that I can to make much of Him? Am I stewarding all the blessings that He's given me so that I can bless others?" This is our role. This is our challenge as God's people. Remember that glory isn't measured the same way that the world measures success. That's a really good thing, because it means that what we're up against is looking for ways to make a difference.

Asking Better Questions

It gives us purpose in this life. Before we start asking questions like, "How many volunteers are serving in kids' ministry?" maybe we need to be asking questions like, "Am I slowing down enough to talk to people on a Sunday morning who are really hurting?"

Questions like, "How much did we get in the tithe baskets this week?" Get replaced with, "Am I cheerfully giving with a generous heart?" We have a beautiful mission as the church to glorify God. It's important that we look at that, because the generations that follow will look back at the testimony that we leave behind.

The question for you is not, "What is the church...

God Goes Before You

info@accessmore.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

God Goes Before You

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

A Disturbing Discovery

There was a time that we came home one night — I'm not sure where we were — but we came home to our front door being wide open and a light being on upstairs. No one in the car remembered us leaving the door open or a light on, so it was a bit disturbing. I made sure my family stayed outside, and I went inside and checked every nook and cranny of our house, making sure it was safe. There was nothing there. We still don't know what happened. We assume we just forgot that we left the door open, the light on.

Imagine if you had personal security that you had all the time — that somebody went in front of you, that they made sure to check out everything before you walked into it. How amazing would that be, that wherever you went, you knew you were protected because they went before you? That's the lens I would love to have.

When Trust Is Tested

Think about that illustration of a security detail going out in front of you and ahead of you, making sure you're protected. If they do that and you walk into a place and something bad happens to you, guess what? That trust you have for that security detail going before you is damaged. Using that same lens, when we talk about God going before us and something bad happens to us, what lens do we have when we consider that reality in our life?

The powerful thing — it'd be easy for me to just keep it light and fluffy and say, "Yeah, God's going before us, He'll never forsake us." We deal with the reality of bad things happening to us, and we start questioning, "Lord, what's going on? I thought You went before me. I thought You were here to protect me." That's why the powerful elements of this verse go beyond just Him going before us. The key is not what makes it through to us as God goes before us. The key is: He is with you. He will not fail you. He will not abandon you.

Why Does He Allow It?

We still may ask the question: why does He allow these things to get through? If He's going before, why does He allow these things to make it through? I'd love to refer to a passage — Judges chapter 3, verses 1 and 2. I encourage you to look it up yourself, but it's a very unique passage of Scripture, because it says that God allowed certain remnants of the enemies of Israel to stay for the purpose of the next generation learning to fight and defend themselves, to grow in strength. They learned how to fight the battle.

When we're talking spiritually, when God allows things to come through as He's gone before us, He is always with us. He'll not fail us or forsake us. When the bad things start to happen, know that it's there for one of two reasons — you can look at this all throughout Scripture. One is to strengthen us, and yes, sometimes that is God causing discipline because of something we've done in our lives. Or, on the other side, it's to cause Him to be glorified to others. Those are the two things all throughout Scripture.

Resting in His Presence

The powerful thing, on both sides, is that we know if God goes before us, whatever comes through is for our good and for His glory. When it makes its way through, because He's gone before, we don't need to arrest in our hearts, "Lord, You allowed this bad thing to come through to me, and now I'm going to abandon you because now there's something wrong with God." No — He actually allowed this to come through to either strengthen us or to bring Him glory.

Through it, the world can see that God has not failed us or abandoned us through the bad things that come our way, and that He wants to walk with us through it. We have a Shepherd that the world does not have, and they're able to see something different...

If You Kept a Record of Our Sins, Who Could Ever Survive?

info@accessmore.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

If You Kept a Record of Our Sins, Who Could Ever Survive?

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

I'll never forget when I was a hospital chaplain, I spoke to a 91-year-old woman who was actively dying, and she started to open up about her life and the regrets that she had. I found out that she had been going to church most of her life, and she made a statement that stuck with me to this day.

Struggling to Believe God Loves You

She said, "For most of my life, I struggled to believe that God actually loved me."

That can sound like a very elementary truth. If I were to say, "Hey, God loves you," you'll probably think, "Yeah, I know." But do we truly believe that God loves us?

When I started to talk to her, she began to share how she kept a scorecard for most of her life. When she was doing well—reading the Bible, praying, going to church—she felt like God was pleased with her. But when she would have days where she didn't do those things, she felt like God just wasn't for her.

A Beautiful Reminder

In our text today, it's a beautiful reminder that no matter how many times we fail, we have a God that not only doesn't keep a record of our wrongs, but He extends forgiveness to us.

Hear what the writer says: "Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?" None of us. Here's why: because we're born sinners and we sin by choice.

The verse doesn't stop there. The next verse says, "But you offer forgiveness." The hope that we have—even when we miss the mark—is that forgiveness is freely given to us. We just simply have to ask for it.

God Always Sends Help

God is so gracious that He doesn't leave us hanging. As my buddy would always say, "No, God. God always sends help." How does He do that? He sends His one and only Son to die on the cross for us and offer our greatest need—which is what? To be forgiven of sin.

As I look back on my conversation with this woman, I was just reminded of this fact: we can go to church our whole life and still struggle to believe that God loves us.

We Live in a Performance-Based Culture

We live in a culture that's performance-based. If you do good, then you will get good. But that is not the Gospel. The Gospel is simply this: there was a Man whose name is Jesus who was good for you. If you place your faith in Him and ask for forgiveness, He will forgive you of your sins.

That is the good news of the Gospel.

Moved with Compassion

info@accessmore.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Moved with Compassion

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

A Huge Error

If you wanted to know how to care for a hurting person, Bildad, one of Job's friends, would not be the guy you'd want to talk to. Bildad makes a huge error when he's speaking to Job. Quite frankly, I've made this error many a time. You've possibly made this error, and a lot of people have.

The Context of Job

It's a nice little passage that we have here, and it's nestled in a very important context as we look at this. The theme of Job is: Why do the wicked prosper? Why do righteous people suffer? Job says, "Like me — why do they suffer?" As we look at suffering and the sovereignty of God in the book of Job, God just does not grade on a curve. He doesn't grade in terms of merit.

He is sovereign, and He's a good God. We'll look at what this all means in just a moment. As we look at this in Job chapter 7, Job is speaking, and we know from Job chapter 1 that he's a blameless man. I love the name of this place — the land of Uz. Then in chapter 8, Bildad replies, "How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be like a mighty wind?"

In other words, Bildad's saying, "Job, you're full of hot air." As a matter of fact, Bildad goes on further in verses 11 to 13, and he basically says, "Job, your suffering is a result of your personal sin." We know that, again, Job is a godly guy. How do we rectify this situation? We also know, by the way, from chapter 1 that Satan wreaked havoc on Job.

He destroyed Job's wealth and took his livestock and his possessions — verses 13 to 17. He killed Job's kids when a powerful wind collapsed the house that they were in — verses 18 and 19. We also know that his whole body — I mean, this is amazing — his whole body was afflicted with painful sores from head to toe. It was incredible suffering. Yet the Bible says Job remained faithful.

He didn't sin or blame God — verse 22. Amazing. As we look at our Verse of the Day, it says his mouth can be filled with laughter, and there are going to be shouts of joy. That comment comes in a long line of comments that Bildad, the bad counselor, made to Job. How is this relevant to you and to me?

Good Theology Without Compassion

I find this incredibly relevant to almost every single day of my life as I think about this text. To my shame, I have jumped to conclusions about people like Bildad. I've given harsh counsel like Bildad gave. I've been impatient toward hurting people. I've exacerbated their pain when I could have truly helped them.

I don't want to be that way. I hope you don't either. Let's look at this. I love what Warren says about this. Number one, good theology applied without compassion becomes bad counsel. I'm going to say that again for you and me: good theology applied without compassion becomes bad counsel. Don't be a theology head without a heart.

Oh my goodness, there were so many times in my younger years I was like this. I hope I'm like this less as I grow. If you're somebody who's heard me or listened to me, and I've given you bad counsel, I'm sorry. I don't want to be this way. Some of the hardest people that I counsel or talk to are those who have a little bit of theology, or they know a lot of theology. They say they love Jesus, but they really don't love people.

There's this overzealous desire to protect the truth, but they really don't love people. Good theology applied without compassion becomes bad counsel. We don't want that.

Give Hurting People Compassion

Secondly, and finally, give hurting people compassion, not a club-shaped Bible — throwing big hunks of meat, big hunks of verses at them. We make the Bible like a club instead of having...

Share Each Other's Burdens

info@accessmore.com — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

Share Each Other's Burdens

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

This is one of those verses that I've heard for a long time, all throughout my life, in and around the church. Bearing one another's burdens is something that the Christian community can count on. The fact that brothers and sisters who are united and oriented in their lives toward Jesus have the reliability of this community being there for them in so many ways. It comes into play from simple things like when you need to move and you need help packing boxes all the way down to financial challenges and knowing that there's someone there that can enter into those conversations with you.

Bearing One Another's Burdens Lightens the Load

Bearing one another's burdens is a beautiful gift when it's working in rhythm. It's a simple idea. You can carry something heavier when everybody takes a little part. I think about that same moving idea—somebody grabbing the other side of the table, instead of you trying to pick it up on your own. Bearing one another's burdens lightens the load.

The Context of Galatians

It's interesting because I love that idea for what it is, and it's exactly what is true about the Christian community. The thing that's powerful about this verse is the context in which it's found. It's actually a little sandwich, if you will, because the sandwich that this verse is in the middle of is really tasty when you can see it for what it is, because it actually extends beyond just getting help when you're going through a hard time to bear one another's burdens.

The context of Galatians chapter 6 is in the idea that someone who has gone through a situation in which their sin has been revealed, they've been found out in a time where maybe they haven't made a choice that is honoring to God. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 1 talks about how when there is this kind of situation and this sinful thing has happened, those who are mature in Christ will come alongside and help to lead that person to restoration.

The Weight of Restoration

That is how you bear the burden. You see, that kind of burden is a little bit different than just helping someone move. That's the kind of burden that feels like guilt and shame and heaviness because of the things that you've realized that you've done against the way of Jesus. What this invitation from Paul really represents is for those who are spiritual, those who are a part of the Christian fellowship to help pick up the other end of the table when it comes to carrying the weight of restoration, the weight of healing and newness of life in a situation where maybe somebody needs to be restored after making a terrible decision.

The reason I call this a little sandwich is that's the top part. If the bun on the top is the fact that you will help to restore someone who's been in a hard season, maybe the bottom bread is something that is important to remember as well. It says in verse number 3: "For anyone who thinks he's something when he is nothing deceives himself."

We're No Better Than Anyone Else

In other words, part of how we can bear one another's burdens is we remember we're no better than anyone else, and if it weren't for the grace of God, we ourselves would be in a bad way. When it tells us to bear one another's burdens, we're actually invited into helping to carry something that is more than our human ability can handle, because it's only through God's graciousness and kindness that we receive the forgiveness that we need in our lives for things that we've done.

When we get to extend the grace that we ourselves have received from God, we become a true part of Christian community. Today, as you go into your day, think about what it means to bear the burdens...

New Software for a New Life

info@accessmore.com — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 00:00:00 PDT

New Software for a New Life

Read the transcript from today's video devotional.

Setting the Stage

Today's verse starts at a place where you probably need a little bit of information to get us to the point where we're discussing in our moments together. What we're seeing here is a letter written by a guy named Paul to a group of people that he has great affection for, and wants to see them formed and shaped into the way of Jesus as they live life alongside one another. The instruction that he gives here is something that is so vitally important for the follower of the way of Jesus to experience in their life, so that they can become the people that God intends for them to be here on earth.

A New Way of Living

When he says here in this verse to let the Spirit renew you, he's referring to this idea that requires renewal. Right before this, in the verse ahead of what we've just read, Paul is talking about the old manner of life, and he says there that we should put that down and take on this new way of living that can only be informed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The reason I think this is so important is many of us who are seeking to follow the way of Jesus on earth find ourselves, from time to time, stuck in old patterns and rhythms that have been established in our lives that we hope we could break free from. What we hear in these words on these pages are the ways forward that would allow us to be able to live differently, that the Spirit would have the opportunity to make things new.

Hardware and Software

I think the best way that I think about this idea has to do with hardware and software. Any piece of technology you have — maybe you're even watching this on a phone or a computer — is made up of these two major components. The hardware is the screen, the buttons, the things you can touch and feel; even if you open it up, the circuit boards and all the things that are inside are physical pieces that make this piece of technology. That's the hardware.

The software, of course, isn't tangible — by touch, you can't feel it. But it's vitally important to make this piece of technology work. It's actually the software that tells the hardware what to do. I don't know if you remember this from way back in the day — I have some gray hairs here, so if you're like me, you can remember that there were times where you might get a virus on a piece of technology. Maybe some of you had a computer and you saw the screen just turn blue because something was infecting the way that the computer worked. In those instances, there was nothing wrong with the hardware — the physical way that the computer worked was completely fine. It was actually a problem with the software. It was the information that told the computer how to work that got corrupted. The only way to fix it wasn't something physical on the outside — it was to get some new software. That software can turn perfectly good hardware into something that is useless if it is infected.

Renewed by the Spirit

Paul is saying right here that the Spirit of God can give us, as human people, new software, and it will inform the way that we live. That puts down the old way we used to think and now takes on a new way of living for God's glory.

I don't know where you find yourself today on your journey in the way of Jesus, but I want to encourage you that the new self — the person you desire to be for the glory of God — can be found at the hands of the work of the Holy Spirit, doing the work inside of us, renewing and restoring our software that tells this person, this shell, this human self that we're living in, how to live for the glory of God.