JANUARY 12 2026, MONDAY
Entry: 11:54am, Commonwealth QC
VERSE OF THE DAY:
MARK 8:35
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.
HOW TO SAVE YOUR LIFE
Jesus willingly sacrificed everything for the sake of the world. He took the punishment of our sin and wrongdoing so that we could know God intimately, for all time. And when He rose from the dead. He made it possible for us to have a close relationship with Him.
Jesus made a way for us to know Him, but we have to choose whether or not we will follow Him.
What does it mean to take up your cross?
For Jesus, the cross was a literal object upon which He suffered and dies, It was a physical weight that also symbolizes the spiritual heaviness He bore. The cross also represent the suffering and surrender we all choose to endure for the sake of knowing and obeying Christ.
The apostles viewed suffering as an opportunity to get to know Jesus better, but our culture tell us that suffering is an obstacle to immediate pleasure. Jesus said that surrendering our lives to Him was key because He is the way to eternal life, but out world tells us that self-care is the gateway to living abundantly.
Take up our cross means giving up our right to live however we want. It means letting Jesus dictate the trajectory of our lives, and making Him the one thing we pursue above everything else.
The irony is, if we refuse to take up our cross and follow Jesus- we will still suffer. We will still experience hardships. But we will also end up surrendering the eternal gifts Jesus offers us in exchange for momentary pleasure and comfort.
Taking up our cross is an act that we do on this side of eternity. But one day, we will be resurrected and given new life- a life without sorrow, suffering, death, or pain. A life eternally spent in God's presence. That is the promise Jesus makes us when He asks us to follow Him. That is the life we get to look forward to when we give our lives for Jesus' sake.
SHARE YOUR FAITH
The message of Jesus is life-changing, yet beautifully simple: God's love and forgiveness are available to all. He can make us new!
Jesus, I don't want to lose what matters most by focusing on momentary things. So please help me, Renew me. When I am tired, please strengthen me. When living a comfortable life seems more appealing than following You. Please convict and correct me. Give me the strength to trust in You. I know that You are worth living and dying for, but please help me to live like it. Amen.
HONOR GOD
God, thank You for being someone i can trust at all times! You are always worthy of my praise and worship. Before continuing, I just want to spend a few moments telling You how much I adore You. When I think of all that You've done, how could I not love You? Thank You for being faithful at all times. Today, I want to worship You. In Jesus' name, Amen.
PSALM 62:8
O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.
What do you need to trust God with today?
Give Him your cares and concerns, and consider adding them to your Prayer List
JAMES 1:19-20
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.
Ask God reveal how this verse could apply yo you, and then respond to anything He shows you.
DAILY BIBLE READING:
GENESIS 29-30
MATTHEW 9:1-17
JACOB ARRIVES AT PADDAM-ARAM
JACOB MARRIES LEAH AND RACHEL
JACOB'S MANY CHILDREN
JACOB'S WEALTH INCREASES
JESUS HEALS A PARALYZED MAN
“Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven.”
So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.”
“Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
JESUS CALLS MATTHEW
“Follow me and be my disciple,”
Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
A DISCUSSION ABOUT FASTING
“Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.
17 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved.”
PSALM 32:1-5, 9-11
1Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
10Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
11So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!
INSIGHT
For about a year after David’s sin of adultery, he failed to repent until the prophet Nathan confronted him (2 Samuel 11-12). Most scholars believe that David wrote Psalm 32 after confessing his sin. In this penitential psalm, he speaks of the crushing burden of unrepentant guilt (vv. 3-4) and the subsequent joy of receiving God’s forgiveness (vv. 1-2, 5). The psalmist also emphasized the priority of submitting to God’s instructions (vv. 8-9). The unnamed author of Psalm 119 dispensed the same wisdom for living a life that honors God: “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (vv. 9-11). We too grow closer to God as we echo the resolve of the psalmist: “I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word” (v. 16).
By: K.T. Sim
A KNOWING EYE
Jason and Pierre had worked together for a decade putting siding on houses. They were good friends, but neither was talkative. As they worked, they said hardly a word. Yet they knew each other so well that this was seldom a problem. The two could rely on the mere nod of a head or glance of the eyes to communicate. Small gestures spoke volumes.
Psalm 32 evokes this level of familiarity between God and the psalmist. One version renders verse 8 this way: “I will guide you with my eye” (nkjv). God isn’t looking from afar; He’s a loving Father working in partnership with His child. While the psalm begins with confession of sin (vv. 1-5), the focus is not on punishment but on loving redirection as God teaches His child the right path (vv. 6-7).
The other option is to be like the horse or the mule, which “must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you” (v. 9). The picture is of willful defiance and ignorance of God’s way. As believers in Jesus, we are to develop a deep intimacy with God so we’re in tune with His gentle gestures. One way we develop this intimacy is through reading the Scriptures. This helps us “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25) so we’ll love what God loves. Then we can “rejoice in the Lord and be glad” (Psalm 32:11).
By: Matt Lucas
REFLECT AND PRAY
In what ways has your spiritual life perhaps become mere ritual? How do you develop intimacy with God as you read and reflect on the Scriptures?
Dear Father, thank You for not only knowing me intimately but also asking me to partner with You as You advance Your kingdom. in Jesus' name, Amen.
RESTORED: WHEN WHO YOU ARE STARTS TO SLIP AWAY
DARE TO DREAM AGAIN
Today, I want us to lean into something a little different: Dreaming again.
When life throws us unexpected loss, whether it’s a role, a relationship, or even a version of ourselves we once held tightly it can feel like dreaming is no longer a luxury we can afford.
We start surviving instead of imagining.
We start minimizing instead of hoping.
We say things like, “Maybe this is just my lot in life,” not realizing that grief has quietly become our new baseline.
But what if I told you that dreaming again is yet another part of healing?
Not a distraction from grief.
Not a denial of reality.
But a bold, Spirit-filled act of reclaiming your trust in the God who still writes beautiful stories even after disappointment.
There’s a Scripture I hold close in seasons of barrenness:
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
— Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)
This isn’t just a verse for easy seasons.
This is a promise for the wilderness.
For the wasteland.
For the woman standing in the rubble of “what was” trying to imagine “what could be.”
I’ve been her.
I’ve walked through seasons where dreaming felt foolish.
I’ve wept over dreams that collapsed and questioned if restoration was even possible.
But I’ve also watched God breathe over dry bones.
I’ve seen Him restore what I was sure was lost forever.
That’s why I take the time to pass this onto you. Not from theory, but from testimony.
Have you stopped dreaming?
Maybe loss convinced you that dreaming is for the carefree and unburdened.
Maybe disappointment whispered that it’s safer not to hope.
Maybe the grief you're carrying made it feel like there’s no space left for imagination.
But hear me, sis: Dreaming is for you too. Right now. Right here. In this very season.
And your dreams don’t have to be grand to be God-breathed. Sometimes, a dream is simply the courage to expect joy again.
Sacred Step:
This week, be bold. Be honest. Write down one dream you’ve buried. Not for Instagram. Not for a five-year plan. Just for you and God. Maybe it feels too impractical. Maybe it still hurts. Maybe it makes you feel silly. But honor it by naming it. Speak it out. Pray over it. Give it breath again.
It’s not too late. And you’re not too broken.
And then pray this aloud:
God, I’ve let some dreams die quietly. I stopped hoping because it hurt too much. But today, I give You what’s left. I offer You the places where imagination turned into fear, and faith gave way to survival. Breathe life into my dry bones again. Restore wonder. Reignite belief. And teach me how to dream with You, not apart from You. I trust You to do something new, even here. Amen.
PROVERBS 13:12
12Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.
PSALMS 37:4
4Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
EPHESIANS 3:20
20Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
