Blog | Greater Formation

Redeemed for More: God’s Call on Your Day

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Some mornings feel like they start on their own. Life rushes forward, and we scramble to jump on the moving escalator without tripping. But before we get swept along, it’s worth pausing to remember: the world we live in is broken. Since the very first sin, everything has borne its marks—alienation, sickness, death. The decay is everywhere.

Yet God, in His mercy, stepped in. Jesus gave His life as a ransom (Mark 10:45), redeeming us from spiritual slavery and rescuing us from that downward path. So don’t just wake up and sprint into the day. Stop. Receive your redemption with gratitude. Lift your eyes to your eternal hope in Christ, and give thanks.

Redemption, however, is only the beginning. You have also been reconciled. The barrier of sin that once separated you from God has been torn down. No longer do you walk alone—God is with you, and in you. Spiritually united with Him, like a covenant marriage, you’ve died to the exhausting burden of independent living. Your new life is li...

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How Jesus Lived and Invites Us To Live

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What Are You Missing Right Now?

Have you paused lately to notice what’s happening around you?

It’s easy to get so wrapped up in our own lives—the next task, the next goal, the next “important” thing—that we overlook the bigger picture. We become so focused on our own activities that we forget: life is bigger than us.

There’s a whole world, even a whole universe, moving around you right now. And more importantly, God is already at work in that world.

The Kingdom Doesn’t Start With You

Here’s a vital truth: the Kingdom of God doesn't begin with you. It doesn’t depend on your plans, your efforts, or your creativity. The Kingdom is the result of God’s will in action, a manifestation of His purposes unfolding all around us.

It’s been said that God most appreciates what He initiates. That means our role is less about trying to force something to happen, and more about learning to recognize and respond to what God is already doing.

Shift From Striving to Respondin

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Beyond Ease: How Struggles Shape Our True Purpose

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The Lies We Believe: Why Life Isn't Meant to Be Easy

Most of us grow up believing that happiness, financial stability, good health, and an easy life are the things we should naturally expect. As Americans, these beliefs are deeply ingrained in us—they shape the culture we live in, the media we consume, and even the air we breathe. We may try to resist or question these ideas, but if we’re honest, we often buy into them.

But here’s the truth: These beliefs come with serious flaws.

The First Problem: These Expectations Are Simply Not True

The idea that life should be a smooth ride of comfort and success isn’t just unrealistic; it’s misleading. Everyone faces hardship. The truth is, unless Jesus returns first, we will all experience difficulties—some of them deeply painful.

If we hold on to the expectation that life is supposed to be easy, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. When trouble inevitably comes, we might feel confused, overwhelmed, or even hopeless.

But there’s ...

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Spiritual Focus in a Rapid-Fire World

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In playoff sports, when the clock winds down and the stakes rise, everything intensifies. The game seems to slow—yet every movement accelerates. Every pass, every play, every decision carries weight. The pressure is palpable, and nothing feels insignificant.

In a similar way, we are living in a high-stakes, high-intensity moment in God’s redemptive story.

Scripture reveals a sweep of progressive revelation from the promises of old, to the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus, to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. This launched what the Bible calls the “Last Days”—a period that has now stretched over two millennia.

These are days of revelation and power. Days where the Spirit is active. Days in which the Church is called to demonstrate God’s love to the world. Days of preparation—for the end of life as we know it and the beginning of eternal life to come.

Could it be that we are now in the final stretch of these Last Days?

You don’t have to be prophet...

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What is Your Struggle Saying To You?

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Don’t Give Up: Let Hardship Speak Before You Respond

What makes you want to quit?
Is it a harsh word, a disapproving glance, a persistent struggle, or just plain exhaustion? Most of us can point to something—or someone—that drains our energy or chips away at our purpose.

You’re not alone. Every one of us encounters moments when continuing feels like too much.

In those moments, we often default to one of two responses: we collapse under the weight or try to push through with sheer force. But there’s a third way—one that invites us to pause and listen.

What if your hardship is speaking a message that needs interpretation?

Before you act—before you fight, flee, or fold—consider this: your struggle might be trying to tell you something. When we stop to interpret the meaning, we’re better able to respond with wisdom and faith.

Here are some questions to help you listen:

Where is this hardship coming from?
- Is it simply the difficulty of the task itself?
- Is it internal—em
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It's Your Turn Now!

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Have you ever had the privilege of learning from someone who truly inspired you? Maybe it was a coach, a teacher, a manager, or a mentor—someone who not only taught you a skill, but shaped how you see the world. And maybe you were even invited to actually work alongside them. What an incredible opportunity! You got to see them up close: how they prepared, how they practiced, how they carried themselves. Maybe you even had the chance to share life beyond the lessons—to become friends.

But then, came the moment: they turned to you and said, “Now it's your turn.”

For many of us, that moment is both thrilling and terrifying. We doubt ourselves. We wonder, Am I really ready for this? And yet, somehow, we step into it. Shaky at first, but we grow and begin to walk in the ways of our mentor. Eventually, we even find ourselves looking for someone we can pour into—just as someone once did for us.

This is exactly the kind of transition the disciples faced in their time with Jesus.

His minist...

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What’s Our Common Purpose?

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What’s Our Common Purpose?

The Westminster Catechism says our purpose is:
🛐 “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

John Piper tweaks it:
🔥 “To glorify God by enjoying Him forever.”

Great answers! But let’s make it even more practical.

Love God. Love People.

I believe God calls us to experience and love Him—and to experience and love others.
That’s the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40).

But here’s the thing…
🛑 We can’t love God while ignoring people.
🛑 We can’t love people while neglecting God.

Why? Because God’s heart is always for people, and He is the source of ALL love.

Love = Fulfilling God’s Purpose

Paul puts it plainly:

💡 “Whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)
💡 “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:10)

Loving others isn’t a side mission—it’s the whole thing!

What Does God’s Love Look Like?

✅ It treats people how we’d like to be treated.
✅ Or even better—how God wants to treat them.
✅ It ...

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"Do You Love and Appreciate You? Here's Why It Matters"

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God’s greatest gift to you … is YOU!

Without you, you do not exist.

God made you on purpose, with purpose.

You are not a random mixture of ingredients, but rather the culmination of desire, intent and planning – orchestrated by God. You are exactly what He thought of when He dreamt of you. He used your family lines, history, geography and circumstances to form you. You are His personal handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He has prepared in advance for you. (Ephesians 2:10)

Our two primary responses to God’s personal gift are to love Him with all that we have and to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Mark 12:30-31) There are three love objects mentioned in this Great Command and Commission: God, others and ourselves.

In my faith circles, I have heard a great deal about loving God and loving others, but I haven’t heard much about rightly loving myself. Rather, such a thought has often been looked at with suspicion – as if it is a selfish and/or self-absorbed ...

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What Are You Creating With God?

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Did you know that you are God’s personal work of art? When He made you – when He created you in His mind – when He spoke you into your mother’s womb – when He delivered you into this world – He said it is VERY GOOD. The only One who is good, declared your formation as very good. “You are God’s handiwork.” (Ephesians 2:10)

As God’s creation, what do you like about you? What parts of you can you most enjoy with God? For what parts of you can you be most thankful to Him?

Are there any parts of you that cause you to want to take issue with God? Are there any mistakes that He made in your conception, any parts that you would like to give back to Him? God’s primary gift to you is you. This may be a good time to talk with the Giver about His gift to you.

You are also God’s tool to use in this world for His purposes.

“You were created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He has prepared in advance for you.” (Ephesians 2:10).

“He made us in order to use us in the most profitable way; for ...

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Are You Aware?

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Why do people become friends or get married? Usually they want to be with each other and enjoy one another’s company. When I was courting my wife, I wanted to be with her all the time – nothing else compared. This is a shadow of God’s created order.

God created you, and He likes you, and He wants to be with you. That is why He formed and fashioned you. (You may want to take some time and let this sink into your soul – it is bedrock understanding for deep, experiential identity.)

If God created you in order to enjoy you, it follows that you will enjoy life and be most satisfied when you are aware of and are enjoying His presence, too. Unfortunately, our attention is prone to wander! We may go long periods of time without even thinking of God, let alone experiencing His presence. We can easily become distracted by others, worries, concerns, or our own obsessions.

What do we do when we realize that we have, for all practical purposes, been living apart from God? Some feel guilty, and h...

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