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This is an excerpt from “The Bible in a Year: A 52-Week Journey Through God’s Word,” written by the Spiral Bible team.

Discipleship is the lifelong journey of following Jesus and being transformed into His likeness. It requires intentional commitment to growth and the willingness to learn from and invest in others.  When Jesus gave the Great Commission, He didn’t call us to make converts but disciples—followers who would learn His ways and reproduce His life in others. This commission remains our primary mandate, challenging us to move beyond surface-level Christianity to deep, transformative faith… Discipleship isn’t a program we complete but a daily choice to follow Jesus regardless of the cost.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. [Matthew 28:19-20]

Written by Thomas Kelly {1893-1941), an American educator and author. This is an excerpt from his book “Testament of Devotion.”

There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings. For the religious man is forever bringing all affairs of the first level down into the Light, holding them there in the Presence, reseeing them and the whole of the world of men and things in a new and overturning way, and responding to them in spontaneous, incisive, and simple ways of love and faith.

Fix your eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. [2 Corinthians 4:18]

Written by Ken Boa, a contemporary author and founder of Reflections Ministry. This is an excerpt from his book “Life in the Presence of God.”

Human beings straddle two worlds. We can’t escape this fact, no matter how hard we try. The most obvious intersection of the natural and the supernatural is when Jesus came to earth in human form (known as the Incarnation) more than two thousand years ago. But collisions between the two realms are actually happening all the time, if we have eyes to see them.

Search for the Lord and His strength; seek His face always. [Psalm 105:4]

Written by Doug Fields, a contemporary pastor, speaker, and writer.

It is my observation that a life without margins is a life in (or rapidly approaching) chaos. A margin-less day is crammed with running, driving, chasing, little time to catch your breath, and limited time to think something through or even to decompress. If this describes you, you’re most likely an accident waiting to happen. When you’re worn out, you have no emotional reserves available for when you are “tinked.” It doesn’t matter what the source of the tink is. When there is no margin, the slightest thing can set us off. We blow up, then wonder what just happened. Jesus’ life shows us that a person can do all he was meant to do in the time allotted for him. Jesus said yes to many things, but He also said no to many other things. Jesus set boundaries. He had limits. When the demands upon him became too great, and He found Himself physically and spiritually depleted, He withdrew “to a mountain by himself” or “by boat privately to a solitary place.” He recognized that He needed time to stop, reflect, pray and nourish His inner life. So do we. Today, seek to regain some margins in your life, by slowing down. Give yourself permissiontorest and refuel by reconnecting with the One who provides rest for your weary soul.

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” [Mark 6:31]

Written by Tim Bias, a contemporary pastor and writer.

As a follower of Jesus, one of the most effective tools you have is your word(s). I know that sounds strange, but you are only as good as your word.  People are looking for others who they can trust. They want someone who speaks with hope and compassion, as well as someone of integrity and authenticity. Every day, in almost every situation, you can model the character and action needed, not only by what you say but how you say it…Regardless of whom you are speaking or writing, your intention in speaking or posting, whether in public, private, or social media, the words you use have the power to hurt or heal…Words create images and assumptions that shape the way people view one another, the community, the church, and even God. You can use words to encourage and build up as well as discourage and tear down. Words feed prejudices, cultivate relationships, and set the course for decision-making…God’s word of love and grace was made real in Jesus.  So, Jesus is God’s encouraging word to us. As a Jesus follower, it makes sense to me that our words would reflect that same love and grace. That our words would be words of kindness, compassion, and encouragement.

Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that builds up and provides what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. [Ephesians 4:29]  

Written by L.B. Cowman (1870-1960), an American writer and author of devotional books. This is an excerpt from her book “Streams of the Desert.”

There is a very famous “Pebble Beach” at Pescadero, on the California coast. The long line of white surf comes up with its everlasting roar, and rattles and thunders among the stones on the shore. They are caught in the arms of the pitiless waves, and tossed and rolled, and rubbed together, and ground against the sharp-grained cliffs. Day and night forever the ceaseless attrition goes on–never any rest. And the result? Tourists from all the world flock thither to gather the round and beautiful stones. They are laid up in cabinets; they ornament the parlor mantels. But go yonder, around the point of the cliff that breaks off the force of the sea; and up in that quiet cove, sheltered from the storms, and lying ever in the sun, you shall find abundance of pebbles that have never been chosen by the traveler. Why are these left all the years through unsought? For the simple reason that they have escaped all the turmoil and attrition of the waves, and the quiet and peace have left them as they found them, rough and angular and devoid of beauty. Polish comes through trouble. Since God knows what niche we are to fill, let us trust Him to shape us to it. Since He knows what work we are to do, let us trust Him to drill us to the proper preparation.

He made my mouth like a sharp sword;  in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. [Isaiah 49:2]

Written by Mark Roberts, a contemporary author

We don’t hear the word “repentance” or its related verb “repent” very often these days. But when we do, it usually has something to do with being sorry for something you’ve done. Repentance for us is a kind of guilty sadness. In the preaching of Jesus, repentance does include sorrow that motivates us to leave behind our evil deeds and attitudes. But biblical repentance also includes moving forward into a new way of thinking and living. To repent is to turn your life around and pursue God and God’s ways. The gospel of the kingdom of God calls forth a whole new way of thinking, living, and being under the righteous, gracious reign of God. 

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” [Mark 1:14-15]

Written by Timothy Keller (1950-2023), an American Presbyterian pastor, preacher, theologian, and Christian apologist.

At one point in his writings John Calvin lays out the essence of what it means to live the Christian life. He says that he could make us a list of the commandments we should be keeping or a list of all the character traits we should be exhibiting. But instead, he wants to boil it down to the basic motive and the basic principle of what it means to live the Christian life. The basic motive is that God sent his Son to save us by grace and to adopt us into his family. So now, because of that grace, in our gratitude, we want to resemble our Father. We want the family resemblance. We want to look like our Savior. We want to please our Father. The basic principle then is this: that we are not to live to please ourselves. We’re not to live as if we belong to ourselves. And that means several things. It means, first of all, we are not to determine for ourselves what is right or wrong. We give up the right to determine that, and we rely wholly on God’s Word. We also give up the operating principle that we usually use in day-to-day life; we stop putting ourselves first, and we always put first what pleases God and what loves our neighbor. It also means that we are to have no part of our lives that is immune from self-giving. We’re supposed to give ourselves wholly to him — body and soul. And it means we trust God through thick and thin, through the good and the bad times, in life and in death. And how do the motive and the principle relate? Because we’re saved by grace, we’re not our own. A woman once said to me, “If I knew I was saved because of what I did, if I contributed to my salvation, then God couldn’t ask anything of me because I’d made a contribution. But if I’m saved by grace, sheer grace, then there’s nothing he cannot ask of me.” And that’s right. You’re not your own. You were bought with a price. Some years ago I heard a Christian speaker say, “How can you come to grips with someone who has given himself utterly for you without you giving yourself utterly for him?” Jesus gave himself wholly for us. So now, we must give ourselves wholly to him.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. [Hebrews 4:16]

Written by Christina Baker, a contemporary writer. This is an excerpt from her book “A Minute of Hope.”

I pray that You would remove the distractions that weigh on my heart. I give them to You. Lord, I pray that You will keep the flame of Your love lit in my heart even when everything around me is changing and life seems to be shaking. I declare today that I find my rest in You even when chaos is all around me. Impress on my heart the only thing that never changes in this world, and that is Your deep love for me, Father. You are the uncreated, unchanging, eternal God, and Your Word declares that You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. If there is any apathy in my heart, no matter how subtle it may be, I pray that You would break the power of it over me and that You would release resurrection power over my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. [Hebrews 13:8]

Written by C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), a British writer, scholar, and Anglican lay theologian. This is an excerpt from his book “Surprised by Joy.”

There are men, far better men than I, who have made immortality almost the central doctrine of their religion; but for my own part I have never seen how a preoccupation with that subject at the outset could fail to corrupt the whole thing. I had been brought up to believe that goodness was goodness only if it were disinterested, and that any hope of reward or fear of punishment contaminated the will…God was to be obeyed simply because he was God. Long since, He had taught me how a thing can be revered not for what it can do to us but for what it is in itself.  That is why, though it was a terror, it was no surprise to learn that God is to be obeyed because of what He is in Himself. If you ask why we should obey God, in the last resort the answer is, “I am.” To know God is to know that our obedience is due to Him. In his nature His sovereignty de jure is revealed. Of course, as I have said, the matter is more complicated than that…He has the power as well as the kingdom and the glory. But the de jure sovereignty was made known to me before the power, the right before the might. And for this I am thankful. I think it is well, even now, sometimes to say to ourselves, “God is such that if  (per impossible) his power could vanish and His other attributes remain, so that the supreme right were forever robbed of the supreme might, we should still owe Him precisely the same kind and degree of allegiance as we now do.”

Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. [1 John 2:4-6]