O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! —Psalm 63:1–3

When I travel, I take my laptop with me to work on my messages. But often I must work off the battery, so whenever I have the opportunity, I will plug in to the nearest electrical outlet. Why? Because my battery runs down and needs a recharge.

Sometimes that’s the way it is for us as believers. We come to church and get plugged in spiritually. Then we try to run off that energy all week long. We don’t realize we need the power of Christ at all times, in every situation, every conversation, every circumstance in which we find ourselves. In other words, we need a constant power source. We need to be plugged in all the time.

In Psalm 63, David was praying, “Lord, I want to walk with you all the time. Yes, I have seen your glory in the sanctuary, but I want that all week long.”

I can’t help but think of the prophet Elijah, who became physically, emotionally, and spiritually depleted in his warfare with the enemies of God. An angel of the Lord found him curled up under a bush in the desert, wanting to die. The angel provided him with some bread, let him rest, and then woke him up for another heavenly meal. The angel said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you” (1 Kings 19:7). We, too, become run down and spiritually depleted. And God has a wonderful meal waiting for us every day in the Word of God, served by the Holy Spirit Himself.

Elijah needed to plug in again, and so do we. We need to make time for God and His Word in our day. Sometimes that means just grabbing it where we can. Read some Scripture verses when you get up in the morning. Listen to some worship or a Bible study on your way to work or school. Take the moments where you can find them to plug in and stay tapped into all that God has for you.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. —1 Corinthians 9:24

There are some events in the Olympics that don’t interest me at all. When it comes to track and field, however, I really sit up and take notice. I love to watch the runners—whether it’s relay races, long distance runs, or the short sprints. (Probably because I ran track in high school.)

During a recent Olympics, I was watching one of the long distance events. One of the runners started off back in the pack. Gradually he moved up toward the middle. With about four laps to go, he suddenly broke ahead and took the lead. I thought, Is he going to make it? Could he possibly win? But it wasn’t to be. In those last laps he fell back again. The next thing I knew, he was in second place, third place, fourth place, fifth place. He didn’t even win a medal.

I know what it’s like to be in the last lap of a race. You’re giving it your all, but your legs feel like rubber—as if you have no control over them. They feel like they are burning inside, and it’s so difficult to just keep running, let alone reach for a burst of speed.

The apostle Paul often used athletic terms to describe what it is to be a Christian. In today’s opening passage, He wrote about running in such a way as to receive the prize. He told the Ephesians that he had finished his race with joy.

Let’s not quit running our race. Let’s run to win a prize. Let’s finish with joy. In a normal race, we know where the finish line is. We know how many miles or laps we have to run to finish the contest. But when it comes to life, you and I don’t really know when we will round that last bend or run that last step. Even though we think we have a long way to go, we might be right at the tape. What an encouragement to live each day for Jesus as though it were our last.

Run well today. Reach for the prize.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. —James 1:2–4

It would be nice if we could see the trials in our lives as options, as electives. It would be convenient if we could say, “I’m going to skip the trials course.”

But the fact is, we don’t have that option. Trials will come into the lives of every believer. Notice that James says, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” The phrase various trials could also be translated “many-colored trials” or “trials of many kinds.” In other words, no two trials or experiences are necessarily alike.

You will be tested. The question is, will you pass or fail?

We must remember that God never tests us without a reason. God’s ultimate purpose is to conform us into the image of Jesus Christ. God wants to produce a family likeness in us. This means that some difficulties and testings will show us immediate results, while others will produce long-term ones.

There are times when I can emerge from a trial, look back, and say, “I learned this when I went through that experience.” But there will be other times when I come through a difficulty, and all I will be able to do is shake my head and say, “What was that all about?” I may not be able to tell you (at that moment) what I have learned.

But what has happened, maybe unnoticed by me, is that I have become a little bit more like Jesus. He has worked in my life to mold me and shape me into His own image. It may be hard or impossible to point to definitive results in our lives after a time of pressure, setbacks, or testing. Even so, we can know that God is in control. And we can know that His ultimate purpose is to conform us into the image of His own dear Son.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

We Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.—2 Corinthians 3:18

When two people have been married for a while, they start becoming like each other. This has happened with my wife and me. We know each other so well that I can start a sentence, and she can finish it. She knows what I’m thinking, even when I’m not saying it. I’m just amazed at her intuition. But I can usually read her as well. Having been married for more than three decades now, we’ve spent a long time together.

This is even more the case when we have been spending time with Jesus Christ. We become like Him, “a chip off of the ol’ Rock,” we might say. This is God’s ultimate plan for every Christian—to make us like Jesus.

We see this in the life of Peter. He was burned by the enemy’s fire when he denied the Lord. But when touched with the Spirit’s fire at Pentecost, he became the new-and-improved Peter. The same thing that happened to him can happen to you. The same power is available to every believer. That’s because when someone has been with Jesus—and by that I mean, when they spend time in the Lord’s presence and spend time growing spiritually—they will become more like Him.

Before you ever made your appearance on earth, God chose you. God knew there would come a day when you would put your faith in Him, and He chose you before you chose Him. And what is His goal for you? His goal is that you might become like Jesus.

Many of us know and can quote Romans 8:28—the verse that starts, “And we know that in all things God works for the good. . . .” But the verse that follows, Romans 8:29, is every bit as important. Here are the two verses together: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (NIV).

We are being shaped and conformed—sometimes through our hardships and trials—to be more and more like God’s Son.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” —Luke 22:41–42

I’m so glad that God will overrule my prayers at times, because I have prayed for things fervently, believing they were the will of God, and they were flat-out wrong. I am so thankful that God said no to those prayers.

Yet I have actually heard some people say, “Never pray, ‘Not my will, but Yours, be done.’ That is a lack of faith.” Some have even said, “What you should really pray is, ‘Not Your will, but mine, be done.’ ”

Let’s just say that I don’t want to be standing too close to those people when lightning strikes because they have things turned around.

Never be afraid to pray, “Not my will, but Yours, be done.” By saying that, you are simply saying, “Lord, I don’t know all the facts. I don’t know everything there is to know. My knowledge is limited. My experience is limited. So if what I am praying is outside of Your will for any reason, please graciously overrule it.” You won’t always understand how you should pray. What it comes down to is telling God that you want His will more than your own.

I know this is hard at times. Sometimes you don’t understand why God doesn’t give you what you ask for. When you’re young and single, you may see a handsome guy or beautiful girl and just know that person is the one for you. But as the lyrics to a country song say, “Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers.”

As time passes, you will look back with twenty-twenty hindsight, and you will say, “Thank God He did not answer my prayers” or “Thank God He answered my prayers,” whichever the case may be.

Finally . . . remember the words of Jesus: “Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:32-33, NLT).

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us. Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God. —Hebrews 12:1–2

Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom once said, “Look without and be distressed. Look within and be depressed. Look at Jesus and be at rest.” Looking without, she had very good reason to be distressed. She lived in a concentration camp. She saw her sister and father—and many others—die at the hands of the Nazis. Looking within, she felt depressed as she saw the darkness of her own heart. But seeing the example of her godly sister Betsy, who saw the bright side of everything and was always trusting God, she concluded, “Look at Jesus and be at rest.”

The Bible says that Abraham “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Romans 4:20-21). The word waver used in this verse could also be translated “stagger.” It would imply that this unwavering walk of Abraham’s took place with his eyes fixed on the promise of God.

As we walk with God, people will let us down and disappoint us. Circumstances will be difficult. The Enemy will hassle us. This is when we need to remember why we started to walk with God in the first place. It was because of Jesus. So keep your eyes fixed on Him. That will keep you moving forward, because the only way we will make it as Christians is by keeping our eyes on Jesus Christ.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

All your waves and billows have gone over me, and floods of sorrow pour upon me like a thundering cataract. Yet day by day the Lord also pours out his steadfast love upon me, and through the night I sing his songs and pray to God who gives me life. —Psalm 42:7–8

In our lives here on earth, we will experience pain, grief, sickness, and the death of loved ones. I know we don’t like to think about that reality, but since it’s true, we might just as well come to grips with it and stop running from it.

When you’re younger, you don’t necessarily understand this. As you get older, however, you usually experience the death of your grandparents first. And then as time passes, your parents will die. As you continue to age, you know that day eventually will come for you, too, and your children will bury you.

Hard as those realities may be to deal with, there are situations that are even more difficult still. And those are the unexpected deaths that we encounter in the course of our lives. It might be the death of a sibling, a spouse, or a child.

No one ever wants to bury their children. And suddenly we are made aware of our own mortality. Our world seems to come crashing down around our ears, and we cry aloud to God.

How does God feel about that? When we read the Psalms, we learn there were many times when David and the other psalmists told Him exactly what was going on in their hearts. They cried out to Him and emptied the contents of their souls in His presence.

In Psalm 42, the writer says, “O God my Rock . . . why have you forsaken me? Why must I suffer these attacks from my enemies? Their taunts pierce me like a fatal wound; again and again they scoff, ‘Where is that God of yours?’ ” (verses 9-10, TLB).

So the psalmist is saying, “Lord, from where I sit right now, it sure seems to me like You’ve forsaken me . . . like You’re not even paying attention to me.” And then he corrects himself and says in verse 11 of the same psalm, “But O my soul, don’t be discouraged. Don’t be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reasons to praise Him for all that He will do. He is my help! He is my God!”

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

Away then with sinful, earthly things; deaden the evil desires lurking within you; have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires; don’t worship the good things of life, for that is idolatry. God’s terrible anger is upon those who do such things. You used to do them when your life was still part of this world; but now is the time to cast off and throw away all these rotten garments of anger, hatred, cursing, and dirty language. Don’t tell lies to each other; it was your old life with all its wickedness that did that sort of thing; now it is dead and gone. —Colossians 3:5–9

Spring means many things to us. But one of the most notable things that comes with spring is spring cleaning, when we go through our houses and take care of all the messes that have built up over the months.

I heard about an interesting custom in Italy for New Year’s Eve. At midnight, the windows of every house open, and everyone pitches out whatever they absolutely hate—furniture, clothes, dishes, unwanted wedding presents—they all come crashing to the ground. Now, I would call that serious housecleaning!

I have to confess here that I’m not the tidiest person on the planet. Ironically, I like to be in tidy surroundings. But in contrast, my wife, Cathe, is Mrs. Clean. She just loves to clean and does it all the time.

In our spiritual lives, too, some of us allow messes to develop. Becoming neglectful, we allow anger, bitter attitudes, lustful fantasies, or unconfessed sin to remain in our hearts. Before we know it, we find ourselves reaping the inevitable results of sin. Before long, we’re crying out, “Oh God, get me out of this mess!”

And then there are others who live their spiritual lives the same way that my wife cleans house. They’re careful to cultivate and maintain their relationship with the Lord, constantly asking God to search their hearts, and confessing their sins before God (as David did in Psalm 139:23-24).

You and I need to be cleansed from sin on a daily basis. How much better it is to ask for that on a regular basis than to allow a major problem to develop in our lives. We need a professional. Essentially, we need God himself to come and clean house.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013