Today’s verse comes from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount:

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

Matthew 5:13 ESV

Jesus says that when salt has lost its taste, it’s only good for being trampled beneath people’s feet.

So the big question is: “Are you salty?”

Here are three questions to ask yourself.

Salt Makes People Thirsty

One of the simplest things salt does is make people thirsty.

Chemically, salt makes us thirsty because our brain sends a signal to drink water to balance sodium levels in the blood.

While first-century folks wouldn’t have known the exact physiology of this, they didn’t need to. Because they experienced the same sensation of being thirsty after eating salty dishes.

For disciples, we can take a cue from our food. Just as our brains create a desire for water, our lives should create a desire in people for the living water of Jesus.

Does your life make people thirsty for Jesus?

The Salt of the Earth Improves Taste

The word translated as “has lost its taste” is moraino. In Greek, this literally means “cause to become nonsense” or “make foolish.”

In this sense, disciples are to act in a way that helps people understand and apply the gospel.

Just like a sharp palette identifies particular flavors in a meal, Christians should help people make sense of the gospel’s flavor. This means every situation should be viewed through a gospel-centered lens.

Does your life add grace and enrich the understanding of the gospel in peoples’ lives?

The Salt of the Earth Preserves and Protects

Finally, salt is a preservative.

By dehydrating food, it preserves it from spoiling.

An article in the Scientific American explains even more effects of salt:

“…these processes not only prevent spoilage of foods, but more importantly serve to inhibit or prevent growth of food-borne pathogens such as Salmonella or Clostridium botulinum when properly applied.

Salt both preserves and protects.

We doe this by ensuring our doctrine remains undefiled and undiluted. We don’t gather teachers who tell us what we want to hear.

Instead, we crave the truth from God’s Word itself. We commit to it. And are changed by it.

The true gospel saves us eternally and in this life.

Does your life participate in God’s preserving and protecting work through the gospel?

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and the LORD tests hearts.

Proverbs 17:3 ESV

My friend Jacob dons goggles and fireproof gloves. Then, with a smile, he sparks his blowtorch to life.

He touches the stream of fire to a bar of silver in a crucible, and explains what’s happening over the hiss of the torch.

“Different metals purify at different temperatures,” he says. “And you need to be careful to get the temperature just right, so that you don’t lose any of the precious metal you’re refining. Otherwise, you’ll burn it too much and it all turns to dust.”

I can see the dross curling to the surface, forming an ugly crust.

Dross is the concentration of the impurities that were once within the metal—but now they are being separated by the perfect application of heat.

The vigilance required is impressive, watching the refiner dance with molten metal and flame, carefully applying the fire and then pulling it away. Applying the fire, pulling it away. All the while, the dross is separated from the silver that holds the real value.

This is the same refinement process the LORD uses on our hearts.

With just the right amount of heat and trial, the Vigilant Refiner burns away the dross that is not just buried within us, but has been a part of us for as long as we can remember.

God purifies our hearts of corruption and sin, melting us to make us new.
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With loving concern, he skillfully applies streams of flame that increase our value and integrity rather than burning us to dust.

He applies the fire, then pulls it away.

What is the state of your life, are you in the refiner’s fire right now? Where is heat being applied? Where are you being melted by trials and your impurities are curling to the surface? Do you know that God will continue to refine you until the dross is removed? So, reflect.

Don’t waste the tender flames, the loving fire, the purifying heat.

Don’t cling to your dross, but let it surface and be swept away.
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Name the character impurities God is removing. Don’t waste the pain, but press into it, and say with Peter, “Lord not just my feet, but my whole body also!”

In my own life, through near-losses and extravagant failures, the LORD has purified me of unbelief, pride, and idolatry. (And has more to go, I’m afraid.)

Unbelief in his nearness, his grace, and at times even his existence. Pride in my own strength, talent, and perceived economic value. Idolatry in finding my security in health, wealth, and prestige.

I’ve had nothing left but to look upward and see the Father, torch in hand, surfacing my dross right in front of my face. I know others have suffered more difficult times, but still, it hasn’t felt good. But what a glorious realization to see God’s hand, applying just the right heat, preparing my family for what is to come.

It is good to pause in pain, look to the torch, and celebrate that the dross you’ve lived with for so long is now being swept away. Worship in this and don’t cling to what the Lord is mercifully dividing from your heart.

What are three things the LORD is purifying your heart from right now?

Would you be so bold as to share them in the comments on our site or with us on social media? You’ll be surprised by how many are going through the same thing.

Recently, I got a glimpse of the answer from today’s devotional verse:

And Saul approved of his execution.

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Acts 8:1 ESV

Just a couple days ago, I was on a plane en route to Chicago.

I was reading Acts 8 and jotting down some notes in the margins of my Bible, when a man tapped me on the shoulder.

He said, “That’s a good book.”

I replied, “It sure is. And powerful, too.”

We struck up a conversation, and it happened that he was a church planter in the Bangalore, India area. His name is Tim, and over the past 12 years, his church has helped plant 50 churches in area towns and villages.

Ready to hear the most incredible part of the story, though?

First, let’s catch up on today’s verse—then I’ll finish the story.

Stephen had just been murdered. He was stoned on false charges of blasphemy (Acts 6:11). And Saul, who would later be radically transformed into the Apostle Paul, watched with approval.

We mourn when our brothers and sisters are persecuted. And so does God: “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15).

However…

Jesus turned Stephen's tragedy into a triumph.
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Remember Jesus’ words in Acts 1:8?

He said: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Where was Stephen stoned?

Jerusalem.

What was he doing there?

He was “full of grace and power” and was “doing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8).

We read in today’s verse that the persecution intensified in Jerusalem, and scattered the church.

But in that scattering, Acts 1:8 is fulfilled, because the gospel advanced into Judea and Samaria. In Acts 8:4 we read: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.”

Now, back to my story on the airplane…

I was reading this very passage when Tim tapped me on the shoulder. I had just written this in my Bible: “Persecution advances the gospel. It’s not easy—but the Holy Spirit uses it like crazy.”

This is incredible, because as Tim and I spoke, he told me he’d just been released from 19 days in prison. His family and their church is experiencing constant persecution, and being unjustly jailed is a part of that.

After hearing this, I showed Tim the note I’d just written in my Bible. It was a powerful moment, because it was so obvious the Holy Spirit prompted me to write that note to both encourage Tim and to teach me a deeply important lesson.

Persecution propels the spreading of the gospel. After all, Jesus said his disciples who are persecuted on his account are “blessed” (Matthew 5:11).

Now, we should pray for the persecuted church. In fact, you can join me in praying for Tim, his family, and his church family!

However, we should not be defeated by persecution. Instead, we should understand that we serve a God who expects persecution, but uses it to storm the gates of Hell itself.

Pray for those who are being persecuted—especially so that the gospel is advanced.

“…And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Mordecai knew the dangerous position that Esther was in. She was a Jew living in Persia during a time when the king had decreed that all Jews were to be killed.

Esther was in a unique position. After she became queen she could plead with the king on behalf of her people.

But there was a catch. Anyone who went to the king without being called was put to death.

Esther had a choice. Have courage to help her people, or preserve her own life.

Would she embrace faith or fear?

“For Such A Time As This”

As Christians, we also have been born “for such a time as this.”

Acts 17:26 tells us that God decided both when and where we would live.

We are living in a time plagued with anxiety. A spiritual battle to suppress God’s truth wages all around us.

Like Esther, we have a choice.

Do we compromise our beliefs to make life easier for ourselves? Or do we hold true to God’s Word?

We are called ambassadors and to share the Gospel with those who are lost and searching for hope.

Esther chose faithfulness—and it saved God’s people.

If we don’t stand today, what is at stake?

Ask God to give us wisdom and boldness as we live out our faith “for such a time as this.”

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Mark 1:35 ESV

The Gospel of Mark is action packed. Jesus is:

• traveling,
• teaching,
• healing,
• casting out demons,
• rebuking Pharisees,
• calling people to follow him,
• taking authority over nature,
• prophesying,
• going to the cross,
• resurrecting,
• and so many more incredible things.

Even though we only find him praying a few times in this Gospel—in today’s verse, in Gethsemane, and on the cross—we see his constant pattern of prayer throughout the four Gospels.

Jesus shows us that prayer powers a spirit-filled life marked by God's power and gospel mission.
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In today’s text, a key word is “solitude.”

Jesus left the bustle and noise of the crowd to be alone with God—and this shaped everything he did. In fact, Jesus said in John 12:49 that he never did or said anything outside of the Father’s will.

Where did he learn what the Father’s will was?

In solitary prayer.

Our world today is exponentially noisier than the first century. If Jesus withdrew then, how much more important that we withdraw today?
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One of our great distractions is undoubtedly media delivered via the internet, the television, or even the radio.

So, perhaps the best place for us to practice prayer-filled solitude with the Father is by cutting ourselves off from the noisy world.

Research shows the mere presence of our smartphones in the same room decreases our ability to focus.

When you go to study your Bible and pray, turn off your phones, computers, tablets, and TVs.

Practice digital solitude.
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This will help you focus on God’s presence, his voice, and his purpose for your life. It is a practical way for us to follow Jesus’s pattern of intentional withdrawal from everything but communion with God.

Do you practice digital solitude? If not, should you start?

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

Luke 11:1 ESV

If you could travel back in time and ask Jesus one question, what would it be?

I love questions like this because they help me prioritize where I have room to grow.

When we look at the disciples—who asked Jesus questions all the time—today’s verse is a powerful question, indeed.

They asked, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

Have you ever wondered how to pray? Here is an excellent place to start: with Jesus!

Prayer starts from intimate relationship.
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Jesus began his famous prayer by saying, “Our Father…”

Prayer is about our loving relationship with our great Father, God himself. It isn’t a wish list or grovel session between us and a distant figure in the sky.

Prayer is a two-way conversation.
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In prayer, we should understand that:

1. God is a perfect Father who wants to hear from us.
2. God is a “Holy Father” who is powerful enough to intervene in our lives.
3. God is a willing Father who wants to both deliver and work through us.
4. God is our provider and everything we have is from him.
5. God transforms us through prayer, renewing our mind and directing our steps.

Spend time in conversation with God today: both talking and listening.

But today’s verses have a surprisingly encouraging message for us:

“And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.'”

Hebrews 12:–6 NIV

As a kid, I hated discipline. As a father, I don’t enjoy applying discipline. However, I correct my children because I love them and want to set them up for the best lives possible.

God is the same way with us, his discipline flows from love.

The big question is, how do we know when God is disciplining us? If we can learn to see our circumstances in that light, Hebrews tells us we can be encouraged.

The Difference Between Discipline and Condemnation

First, discipline is not condemnation because it is not about punishment, but correction.

Condemnation, on the other hand, is about being cast out and cut off from our community.

So God disciplines those he loves to steer us from sin and toward our Savior. There is no condemnation for those in Christ—but there is correction.

The Second Kind of Discipline

We see at least two kinds of discipline emerge in Scripture:

1. Discipline to steer us from sin
2. Discipline to stretch us in what we’re doing well

Jesus endured the second kind of discipline. Hebrews 5:8 says, “[Jesus] learned obedience through what he suffered.”

Isn’t that provoking? Jesus had to learn obedience. Wow. If Jesus had to learn it, you and I certainly do.

Jesus’ life shows us constant obedience through difficulty. And if we broaden our scope of discipline from punishment for evil into correction toward good, we see that God’s correction led Jesus to ever-increasing heights of obedience.

In no way was Jesus ever corrected for personal sin. But he did grow in obedience by the suffering laid in his path.

How to Know if God is Disciplining You

You can know God is disciplining you in three ways.

1. First, if you are a son or daughter of God who has placed your faith in Jesus Christ, God is applying his loving correction to your life!
2. Second, if you are sinning, God will correct your course away from hurtling over the cliff’s edge, and back toward the joy of holiness.
3. Third, if obedience to God is difficult, even to the point of suffering, Scripture shows us that God is exploding our spiritual maturity and impact.

Remember, God disciplines those he loves. So embrace his discipline with gratitude and the conviction that he loves you.

Today’s devotion by Jordan Loftis, author of two bestselling books Today We Win and The Men With Bare Feet, and editor of Short Daily Devotions.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

John 15:1 NIV

Humanity grows or withers within a divine garden.

God the Father owns the garden. He nurtures and tends it, desiring that every branch would be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28).

Jesus the Son is the true vine. He is the source of life for every branch (person) in history.

John 15:1 shows us that the Father and the Son partner in producing fruit, growth, and abundant life in every person.
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Their shared desire is for our healing and wholeness. After all, what gardener wants branches that wither and go brittle?

Skilled gardeners nourish the soil… They strategically place plants to get the right amount of sunlight to thrive… They water consistently…

We will explore more about the great Gardener and Vine we’re invited to abide in. But today, take John 15:1’s message to heart: the Father and the Son partner to work life in you and through you.

Approach God with this assurance today.

Today’s devotion by Jordan Loftis, author of two bestselling books Today We Win and The Men With Bare Feet, and editor of Short Daily Devotions.

And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 13:52

Paul and Barnabas were teaching in the synagogue of Pisidian Antioch (in modern-day Turkey).

People were responding by the thousands. So much that “almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord” (Acts 13:44). But of course, there was opposition.

The Jewish leaders who rejected the gospel message were jealous (Acts 13:45). So they stirred up influential people in the city, rallying them to persecute Paul and Barnabas and throw them out of the city.

Then, Acts 13:52 shares a puzzling detail: they were “filled with joy”!

Have you ever wondered why the disciples consistently responded to persecution with joy?!
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It’s counterintuitive.

Counterintuitive Joy in Acts 13:52

Think about us, today. What Christian who gets blasted and defamed on social media drops a heart emoji? Who claps when they’re mistreated or lied about?

I’m sure there are some who do—but I know it wouldn’t be my first response. Would it be yours?

Here’s one of the reasons for their puzzling joy.

The disciples' mission was not acceptance and approval—it was faithfulness and effectiveness.
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If their goal was cultural acceptance there would be no joy. But because it was obedience and fruitfulness, getting lied about, beaten up, thrown in jail, and kicked out of cities was proof they were hitting the mark.

And because they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they had an unshakeable source of joy unlike any other we can find in this world.

Aligned With Christ in Acts 5:41

Acts 5:41 sheds even more light on their surprising reactions:

“The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

Jesus was persecuted, betrayed, suffered injustice, and crucified. He was disgraced by the world and they expected treatment no different.

To be like Jesus means to stand opposed to the powers and principalities at war against the Kingdom of Heaven. And those dark powers have influence over culture.

The same is true today.

Acts 13:52 is a guiding light for how we should view persecution.

Now, that’s really easy for me to right in my warm house and safe American neighborhood. However, the disciples point the way for us.

So to whatever degree you face rejection, betrayal, criticism, or persecution, hold onto verses like Acts 13:52 and ask the Holy Spirit to help you be filled with this same puzzling joy.

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

1 Corinthians 2:1-2 ESV

Paul was straightforward with the church in Corinth. He didn’t yammer on endlessly; he cut straight to the source of life. As Christians, we should be all about Jesus. We should wake up with a craving to be like Jesus everyday and we should long to walk as He walked.

But how exactly did He walk?

Great question.

He walked through mobs of people shouting, spitting, and jeering at Him while carrying a cross.

That’s how Jesus walked, that’s how Jesus lived. He allowed Himself to be humiliated, mocked, and ridiculed all for our good. Paul realized a simple yet powerful truth: when we know Jesus, our pride should evaporate.

There is no room for arrogance when you’ve met Jesus. Paul didn’t need to use impressive words or flex his vocabulary, he needed to proclaim nothing but “Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

This mindset can work in us in two different ways:

• Firstly, if we’re constantly looking to impress others with our knowledge or holiness, we’ve completely missed our purpose. The point is not us, it’s Jesus.
• Secondly, we’ve also missed it if we neglect sharing Jesus with others because we’re worried that we don’t know enough. If we do this, we’ve also missed the heart of the matter. Again, the point is not us, it’s Jesus!

Get to know Jesus, get excited about Him. The point of our lives is to point to Him.