Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Do you have a goal to read more Scripture in 2025? If so, that’s fantastic! Spending regular time in God’s word not only provides encouragement and reminds us of his incredible love for us, but it also allows us to see how Jesus lived, so we can model our lives after him. The Bible is a key way that God communicates with his followers.
This year, alongside the LivingItOut Devotional below, we will be reading through one chapter of the New Testament each Monday-Friday and hope you’ll join us. If you are new to the journey, perhaps set a goal to just read one of the Gospels. The book of John which we are starting with today, is a great place to start. If you have been journeying longer, then challenge yourself to more.
If you start and then lose momentum, just pick up wherever you left off, and remember you can always use the weekends to catch up if you’d like (or not).
Whatever you are able to do will help you draw closer to God and know him better. Let’s get started!
New Testament Reading Plan: John 2
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New year, week one! I grabbed a notebook and pen and started writing down the goals I want to accomplish.
A fresh, new list makes my task-oriented brain incredibly excited. I included mind, body, and spirit sections for things I hope to achieve mentally, physically, and spiritually over the coming year. However, as I reviewed the lines on the page, I couldn’t help but picture myself weeks later, frustrated as time slipped by without many check marks to show for it.
I don’t know about you, but if I'm not careful, I can get too far ahead of myself. What if, instead of rushing forward, creating plans on our own, we invited Jesus to sit with us while we focused on our goals for the new year?
One way I’ve learned to connect with him is to respond with communion, a practice Jesus instructed his followers to do as a way to remember his love for us. And so, I paused my list making, scoured the kitchen for some bread and juice, and read some verses from my Bible:
Luke 22:19-20
19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.”
By taking communion, we are given the opportunity to slow our overwhelmed minds and receive God’s grace. As soon as I focused on Jesus and sought his guidance, I realized my list was out of order.
Rather than “mind, body, spirit,” I should have started with the Spirit!
If we take a moment to commune with Jesus and realign ourselves with the Holy Spirit, it can open a new perspective on the year ahead. We can reshape our response by staying connected to his will, not our own. The gift of communion allows us the space to remember the sacrifice Jesus made by giving his body and his blood, wiping clean the old, and making space for the new.
New opportunities await us all—a new year, with new goals, and a life connected to Jesus.
Questions:
Have you started your New Year’s goals with the Spirit?
How many of your goals would be reprioritized if you paused and responded with Communion before setting them?
Next Steps:
Pause your 2025 plans and reprioritize them by inviting Jesus to join you. Receiving God’s grace through communion is a great place to begin. If you need help, Andy Rectenwald walked us through taking communion at home in the Church at Home 2024 message.
21 Days of Prayer
Day 2—Love
Today’s Prayer Focus: For my Love for God and Others to Grow (Matthew 22:36-39)
Today's Prayer:
Dear God, you said that the greatest commandment to follow is to love you with all my heart, soul, and mind. As I connect with you over these 21 Days of Prayer, grow my trust in you so that I will love you more. Then, as my love grows for you, help me to love those around me more and more each day. Amen.
This post was written by Lori Tuckerman, a Whitehouse campus attendee, and a regular contributor to the LivingItOut Devotional.