Devotionals

LIVING WATER VINEYARD — HOLY WEEK DEVOTION Five Days Until Resurrection Sunday ✝️ TUESDAY — “TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE” 📖 Luke 23:43 (NLT) “And Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” ⸻ PASTOR TO A FRIEND — THIS MOMENT CHANGES EVERYTHING 🤍 Friend… As we continue looking at the seven statements Jesus made from the cross, we talked yesterday about forgiveness— “Father, forgive them… for they do not know what they are doing.” And now…

🌿LIVING WATER VINEYARD — HOLY WEEK DEVOTION DAY 6 — FROM THE UPPER ROOM TO THE CROSS ✝️ ⸻ As we started this journey… 40 days until Resurrection Day. Day by day, we’ve been walking slowly, intentionally through the final words of Jesus. We’ve sat with Him in the Upper Room. We’ve listened as He spoke in John 13… 14… and 15. We’ve heard Him: • wash the disciples’ feet • call us to love one another • promise the Holy Spirit • invite us to abide in Him And n

🌿 Living Water Vineyard Devotion Saturday — 8 Days Until Resurrection Sunday ⸻ Looking Back — A Counterculture Week Over the last few days, we’ve been talking about what it looks like to live counterculture. Two days ago, we talked about the sacredness of life—from adoption versus abortion, to rescuing children from trafficking, to valuing life all the way to the very end. Yesterday, we talked about hell—a reality that Jesus Himself spoke about, not to scare us, but to wake

🌿 Living Water Vineyard Devotion Friday — 10 Days Until Resurrection Sunday “What Happens After This Life?” 📖 John 15:22 (NLT) “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty. But now they have no excuse for their sin.” ⸻ I just want to take a few minutes today… and talk with you. Yesterday, we talked about something really important—the value of life. That every life matters… from the womb… all the way to the end (Psalm 139:13–16). And today, I just want to

🌿 Living Water Vineyard Devotion Thursday — 10 Days Until Resurrection Sunday “A Kingdom That Refuses to Look Away” ⸻ 📖 John 15:22 (NLT) “They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin…” ⸻ I want to start a little differently today—just talking to you like a friend. We use this word a lot in the Church: countercultural. But what does that actually mean? It means we live in a way that goes against the spirit of the ag

🌿 Living Water Vineyard Devotion Wednesday — 11 Days Until Resurrection Sunday “The Photo You Can’t Edit” ⸻ 📖 John 15:22–25 (NLT) “They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin…” ⸻ 🔹 Opening Before we had filters… we had film. You took a picture… waited days to get it developed… and then hoped it turned out okay. I still remember the first picture Tamar and I ever took together. It was high school homecoming. I had

🌿 Living Water Vineyard Devotion Tuesday — 12 Days Until Resurrection Sunday “Why the World Hates” ⸻ 📖 John 15:18–19 (NLT) “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” ⸻ 🔹 Opening One of my favorite experiences as a follower of Jesus has been traveling as a missionary. I’ve had the privilege of going

🌊 Living Water Vineyard Devotion Monday — 13 Days Until Resurrection Sunday “Building for What God Is Building” (15-Minute Version) ⸻ 🔹 Opening — Let Me Tell You What Happened Before we jump into Scripture today… I just want to take a moment and talk about what happened yesterday. Because something significant is happening in our church right now. Many of you know—we’ve been praying about a building. And this past week, about 50 of you walked through a property at: 👉 3164

Living Water Vineyard Devotion Sunday — 14 Days Until Resurrection Sunday “From Servants to Friends” John 15:15 (NLT) “I no longer call you servants… Now you are my friends…” ⸻ Let Me Ask You a Question… Who is your best friend? Not just someone you know… but someone you trust. Someone you can sit with and just be yourself. Someone who knows your story—your highs and your lows. Why are they your friend? Is it because of what you do for them? Or because of the relationship you

Living Water Vineyard Devotion Saturday 15 Days Until Resurrection Sunday “Filled With Joy” John 15:11 (NLT) “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” ⸻ A Quick Invitation This Sunday Before we jump in—just a quick encouragement for this weekend. We have a team heading to the Dominican Republic, and they’ll be serving burritos before service this Sunday to help support the trip. They’ll be partnering in an incredible o

Living Water Vineyard Devotion Friday 16 Days Until Resurrection Sunday Abiding in His Word John 15:7 ⸻ The Power of Staying Connected In John 15, Jesus continues His teaching about the vine and the branches. He says something remarkable in John 15:7: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” That’s an incredible promise. But it begins with something very important. Jesus doesn’t say: “If you ask whatever you want, y

Living Water Vineyard Devotion Thursday 17 Days Until Resurrection Sunday The Gardener Prunes the Branches John 15:1–2 ⸻ The Gardener Jesus says something important in John 15. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” — John 15:1 The picture Jesus gives us is simple. The vine is Jesus. The branches are us. And the Father is the gardener who cares for the vineyard. A gardener is not passive. A gardener is actively shaping what grows. This reminds me of a scene from

Living Water Vineyard Devotion Wednesday 18 Days Until Resurrection Sunday The Gardener and the Branch John 15:1–5 ⸻ A Picture Jesus Wanted Us to Remember In John 15, Jesus gives us one of the most beautiful pictures in all of Scripture. He says: “I am the vine. You are the branches. My Father is the gardener.” It’s such a simple image. A vine. Branches. A gardener caring for the vineyard. But very quickly the passage introduces something that can feel unsettling. Jesus says

Living Water Vineyard — Monday Devotion “Daughter: From Condemned to Covered” Family 🤍, Yesterday was a lot of fun. There was faith in the room. There was hunger. There was a sense that something was happening. We started in Matthew 11:12, where Jesus says: “The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful people lay hold of it.” (Matthew 11:12, NIV – abbreviated) Not angry people. Not reckless people. But faith-filled, desperate, determined people—the kind

Living Water Vineyard – New Year Devotion Something From Heaven Stepping Into 2026 ⸻ As we get ready to step into a brand-new year, I want to slow us down for just a moment. A new year always brings fresh resolve. Studies tell us that around 40–45% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, yet only about 8% actually keep them. Most of us begin January with good intentions. We want to eat better, get healthier, slow down, pray more, read Scripture more faithfully, love our fam

Living Water Vineyard – Wednesday Devotion Who Was in the House… and Who Is Jesus? (Matthew 9:1–8 · Mark 2:1–12 · Luke 5:17–26) ⸻ Before the roof is torn open… Before the man is healed… Before anyone walks out amazed… Scripture wants us to notice who was already in the room. Jesus has returned home to Capernaum (Matthew 9:1; Mark 2:1), and word spreads quickly. The house fills up completely—people packed inside, others spilling out the doorway (Mark 2:2). Luke adds a detail w

Living Water Vineyard – Devotion Forgiveness First… Then Blessing Yesterday at Living Water Vineyard, we were teaching from Matthew 9, along with the parallel accounts in Mark 2 and Luke 5—the story of the paralyzed man brought to Jesus. And as we were walking through that passage, something beautiful happened. Several people experienced healing, especially in their knees and backs. Nothing dramatic. Nothing forced. Just quiet moments where people realized, “Something changed

💧 Living Water Vineyard Devotion Wednesday — Two Days from Christmas 🎄 Joy Pursues — The Wise Men Joy doesn’t stop with the announcement. It moves. It pursues. It follows light through dark places. The Christmas story doesn’t just include shepherds nearby— it also includes Magi from the East who travel a great distance because something in the heavens caught their attention. “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” (Matthew 2:10) Promise has becom

💧 Living Water Vineyard Devotion Tuesday — Three Days from Christmas 🎄 Joy That Leaps Yesterday, we talked about Zechariah— a faithful priest who had a visitation from an angel in the Holy Place. The angel told him something impossible: Your wife Elizabeth will conceive a son. You will name him John. And he will be a great joy. Today, the story continues. Because joy doesn’t stop with Zechariah. Joy moves. Joy grows. Joy spreads. ⸻ 🤍 Elizabeth: When the Miracle Becomes Per

💧 Living Water Vineyard Devotion Monday — Four Days from Christmas 🎄 Good News of Great Joy We use the word joy a lot. We sing it 🎶 We write it on Christmas cards ✉️ We say things like, “I hope you feel joyful.” But if we’re honest… joy can feel complicated—especially this close to Christmas. Because biblical joy isn’t a mood. It’s not tied to personality. And it’s definitely not the same thing as happiness. Joy in Scripture is something God gives— because He is near 🤍 An