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Written by the Fuller Center for Spiritual Formation.

Our current world situation is offering anything but steadiness. Whether it is a war across the world or a protest in our streets, we feel the unsteadiness of our world. Unsteadiness isn’t new, nor is it unique to our time. Unsteadiness, injustice, and the brokenness of our world are exactly what Jesus stepped into. He chose to be with us. His proximity reminds us of his love and care, his power reminds us of what is possible, and his perseverance shows us his love.  He has given us possibility, steadiness, and love through his presence in our world and in our lives. He gives us a place to stand through his goodness and grace. Because we stand on grace, our steadiness is solid. Our steadiness is Jesus, and it is in Jesus that we hope. He is the source of our hope and strength.  

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. [Romans 5:1-5]

Written by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, a contemporary professor and activist. This is an excerpt from her book “The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World.”

Radically ordinary hospitality—those who live it see strangers as neighbors and neighbors as family of God. They recoil at reducing a person to a category or a label. They see God’s image reflected in the eyes of every human being on earth…. Those who live out radically ordinary hospitality see their homes not as theirs at all but as God’s gift to use for the furtherance of his kingdom. They open doors; they seek out the underprivileged. They know that the gospel comes with a house key.

He [Jesus] said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” [Luke 14:12-14]

Written by Hannah Benson, a contemporary author and actress.

Dear Father, thank You for being patient with me, for being a loving Father whose heart I can trust even when I don’t understand Your plan. Forgive me for the times I’ve tried to take back what I’ve already surrendered to You, and for the moments I’ve let what I want cloud my view of what You have for me. Today, I’m not just surrendering my plans. I choose to trust You with what is already in Your hands. Help me to leave my story in Your hands, knowing that if You are writing it, it will be for my ultimate good and Your greatest glory. I am Yours. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. [Psalm 37:3-6]

Written by John Mark Comer, a contemporary pastor and author. This is an excerpt from his book “Practicing the Way.”

Love isn’t just something God does; it’s who he is. He can’t help but love; it’s his nature. Some of us are amazed that Jesus doesn’t hate us for all our flaws and failures, but that just betrays our distorted vision of God. It would be much harder for God to hate us than to love us, because love is who God is inside his deepest self. This is why God is Trinity (more on this coming soon): because God is love and love cannot exist outside relationship. Ergo, God must be a kind of relationship—one that is self-giving, others centered, humble, and joyful and full of blessing and goodwill. To quote Saint Augustine yet again, “God is (at once) Lover, Beloved, and Love itself.” He is the one who loves, the one who is loved, and the ultimate source of all love.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. [1 John 4:16]

Written by Dallas Willard(1935-2013), an American philosopher, speaker  and writer on spiritual formation. This is an excerpt from his book “Getting Love Right.”

Agape love is not desire, and not delight. Desire and feelings generally have a different nature than love, and if we don’t understand this clearly we will remain helpless to enter into love and to receive it into ourselves. Desire and feelings fall into the domain of impulse, not that of choice. They aim at their satisfaction, not at what is better and possibly best. Choice considers alternatives and weighs what is best. If its vision is broad enough, it will find what is good and right. If it is surrendered to God, united with his will, it will be able to do what is best. That of course is the nature of love. It seeks what is best. That is why it enables a person to refrain from hating their enemy, which they might very well want to do, and to seek what is good for them along with all others involved. This certainly does not mean you just give in and do what the enemy (or friend) wants or let them have their way. That might be the worst thing you could do to them. Love, then, is a condition of the will embedded in all fundamental dimensions of the human personality. It is not something you choose to do, but what you choose to be.

Put aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. [1 Peter 2:1]

Written by Frederick Buechner (1926-2022), an American writer and theologian.

For Christians, hope is ultimately hope in Christ. The hope that he really is what for centuries we have been claiming he is. The hope that despite the fact that sin and death still rule the world, he somehow conquered them. The hope that in him and through him all of us stand a chance of somehow conquering them too. The hope that at some unforeseeable time and in some unimaginable way he will return with healing in his wings.

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, [Romans 15:8]

Written by Ken Boa, a contemporary author and founder of Reflections Ministry.

A life of peace is a life shaped by the fruit of the Spirit. It is marked by gentleness, patience, humility, and love. But it is also marked by courage, conviction, and truth. As God’s children, we are to be peacemakers in every sense—healing what is broken, restoring what is lost, and bearing witness to the reconciliation we ourselves have received.  This kind of peace is not cheap. It is not always easy. But it is worth everything.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. [Matthew 5:9]

Written by Lysa Terkeurst, a contemporary author.

Lord, may nothing separate me from You today. Teach me how to choose only Your way today so each step will lead me closer to You. Help me walk by the Word and not my feelings. Help me to keep my heart pure and undivided.  Protect me from my own careless thoughts, words, and actions. And keep me from being distracted by MY wants, MY desires, MY thoughts on how things should be. Help me to embrace what comes my way as an opportunity… rather than a personal inconvenience. And finally, help me to rest in the truth of Psalm 86:13, ‘Great is your love toward me.’ You already see the ways I will fall short and mess up. But right now, I consciously tuck Your whisper of absolute love for me into the deepest part of my heart. I recognize Your love for me is not based on my performance. You love me, warts and all. That’s amazing. But what’s most amazing is that the Savior of the world would desire a few minutes with me this morning. Lord, help me to remember forever what a gift it is to sit with You like this. Amen.

For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead. [Psalm 86:13]

Written by Jessica Galvan, a contemporary writer and editor.  This is an excerpt from the book “A Beautiful Year in the Bible.”

When we deviate from God’s ways, we find ourselves in a world of competition and scarcity. Anxiety and uncertainty abound, and selfishness prevails. We can quickly fall for lies suggesting that we are not good enough, smart enough, or strong enough to meet all the demands of the world. This bleak reality contrasts sharply with the vision of flourishing and restoration that God promises—a picture of the abundance and peace that awaits those who live faithfully…The Holy Spirit serves as our advocate, actively making a way for us when we are vulnerable, weak, or unable to see clearly. The promise of the Spirit is one of transformation, enlightenment, and a bold imagination for a new way forward…To receive the Holy Spirit is to receive understanding; it is an invitation to experience God’s vision for the world and live our lives in pursuit of that vision…The Holy Spirit acts as a guide, keeping our eyes fixed on the path God has laid out for us, and intervening when the trail feels unsteady. In the face of uncertainty, we can look to the Spirit to ensure that our choices align with love, mercy, and humility. When we stumble and go astray, the Holy Spirit is there to point us back to the center.

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. [John 14:26].

Written by Phillips Brooks, an American Episcopal clergyman and author.

Do not pray for easy lives! Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle.

Stay alert, stand firm in the faith, show courage, be strong. [1 Corinthians 16:13]