Close your eyes and think of one of the best moments of celebration you’ve experienced. Was it winning the regional, state, or national championship with your sports team? Or nailing that tricky note in your solo? Maybe it was the warmth and wonder of family gathered together to sing “Happy Birthday” to a beloved grandparent. 

Whatever the celebration, remember those moments of joy. 

Joy is a deep and enduring state of contentment that is not contingent on circumstances. Joy is a fruit borne from abiding in the vine of Jesus. Celebration is a practice of joy—a habit of noticing all that is praiseworthy and rejoicing in the beauty, goodness, and truth of God and His creation.

We often hear around Christmas about the “good news of great joy…for all the people” (Luke 2:10). But it is also relevant for us right now because Jesus is with us in every moment. His sacrificial life gives ample reason for rejoicing, a reverent and delighted praise to the God who first loved us.

Celebration doesn’t take much—just a willing and open heart to Him.

I love to see and celebrate small things such as small accomplishments or victories. Life is too precious to wait for specific reasons to celebrate! God’s goodness abounds in everyday blessings, and focusing on the smaller joys makes a difference in our days.

Try making a list throughout the day so that at the end of it you can look back and see God’s presence, be thankful, and rejoice. The curl of steam rising from your coffee mug. The first breath of air in the morning. Sunlight that slants across the hardwood floor. Penning a letter to a friend to let her know she’s been on your mind.

A grateful heart ushers in celebration. And a celebratory heart is a thankful heart. The more we find to be grateful for, the easier it is to make a pattern of thanksgiving and celebration for all the ways we see God around us and for all we have seen Him do.

Celebrate the big things too! A long-awaited answer to prayer. A new job that fits your giftings. A marriage, birth, retirement, and even a memorial. All these moments lead to a significant life saturated in thankfulness to the giver of all good gifts. 

Heaven rejoices when a new believer enters the kingdom of God. God Himself delights in His creation. We were made for celebration—at the coming marriage feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19) and at this very moment.

Train your eyes to see the wonder around you, to recognize the people God has placed in front of you, and to receive the grace freely given when you don’t feel worthy of it. We have plenty of reasons to celebrate, especially as followers of Jesus. He is the source of our joy.

His goodness abounds. We are known and loved. With God, there is always something to celebrate.

Written by Sarah Freymuth

During this study, we are memorizing 1 Timothy 4:7b–9. This week, work on committing the last part of verse 8 to memory. To help, say the passage aloud three times in a row, changing the inflection of your voice or the way you emphasize different words and phrases. 

Train yourself in godliness. For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.
—1 Timothy 4:7b–9

“If anyone serves me, he must follow me.”
—John 12:26

Weekly She Reads Truth podcast episodes correspond to the current community reading plan.
Click here to listen to this week’s episode.

The path became holy ground. As we wound our way through the sunlit woods, our conversation turned to the upcoming anniversary of her beloved boy’s death. Pain and dread cut through my friend like a knife. Words stuck in her throat and tears fell as she doubled over in grief. I stopped beside her and placed my hand on her back, yearning to bring comfort where no comfort could be found. There we stood in the middle of the path, undone before the Lord and each other. It seemed only the trees stood sentinel with us, our hearts crying out, “God, where are you? We can’t bear this pain! Why have you forsaken us?” 

Can we really talk to God like this? Can we dare to call such questioning “holy”? I know I only dare enter this space of protest because He welcomes lament. God doesn’t merely allow such soul-wrenching wrestling—He invites it. 

Lament—the practice of bringing our struggles, mourning, and sorrow to God—is good and right. Scripture instructs us to “pour out [our] hearts before Him” (Psalm 62:8). In fact, over a third of the psalms are songs of sorrow and lament. Even Jesus, knowing that He would bring Lazarus back to life, was deeply troubled and openly wept over death (John 11:33–36). 

We are not alone as we carry the weight of sadness, anger, disappointment, anxiety, and fear. All creation joins us as we groan for God to heal and restore every created being and every created thing (Romans 8:22). In lament, God offers us a release-valve as we actively express our emotions. We can pour out our pain to Him both personally and communally alongside others. 

God invites us to echo the psalmists as we sing sorrow’s songs and to honestly express our doubts and distress (see Psalm 13, 22, and 42). Yet we often decline His invitation to lament, and the pressure of pain and anguish builds. Why do we resist? Maybe we feel guilty questioning God and think it’s sinful to admit struggle. Maybe we assume that acceptable faith should always appear positive and unshakeable. Or maybe we equate being close to God with mountaintop experiences full of praise and celebration. 

Let’s be clear: Expressing both praise and pain to God is worship. Whether we are joyfully raising our hands or sorrowfully turning our tear-streaked faces toward Him, we are seeking God and engaging in genuine relationship with our Creator. As we lament and grieve, Jesus stands with us as the one who has wrestled with death itself and won. He gives the comfort of His presence that soothes, restores, and brings us back to life.

Written by Patti Sauls

In my early twenties, I cooked at several restaurants on St. Simons Island, Georgia. I would sometimes work double shifts in order to make ends meet. On one occasion, I worked three weeks of double shifts without a day off. Resilient though I thought myself to be at that age, I almost put myself in the hospital. 

Most will admit, there is something built into the fabric of our being to remind us of our need for rest. We are image-bearers of God, called to emulate the pattern He established for us at creation: to live within a rhythm of work and rest. He set aside the Sabbath day for our bodies to be refreshed and renewed. The rest our bodies require reminds us that we need spiritual rest as well. And so the Sabbath is a time to remember our limits.

The Sabbath teaches us that we need God and the rest He freely provides in Jesus. It almost seems as though Jesus reserved many of His healing miracles for the Sabbath. And by healing physical maladies on the holy day of rest, He was showing that He had the power to heal the deeper malady of a sinful soul. 

Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28). He ushered in a new creation, saying, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…for your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29). And to those who attempted to pervert the meaning of the Sabbath day with legalistic rules and regulations, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). 

Coming expectantly into the first day of the week, I often wake my sons up and ask them, “What day is it today?” One of them inevitably shouts from under his covers, “The best day of the week!” Our family worships at church and sets the whole day aside to rest. Together, we read Scripture, devotionals, or other spiritually edifying books, and allow time and space in our home for Christian fellowship. We may even take a much-needed nap. 

These are a few of the ways our family has learned to keep the Sabbath, setting aside a day to focus on worship, the Word, prayer, and fellowship. Whatever practices you can build into the rhythms of work and rest in your life, for the physical and spiritual refreshment of your body and soul, make them staples of your devotion to God on a weekly basis. He knows the benefit and blessing of rest, and that is why He asks us to keep the Sabbath.

Written by Nick Batzig

Don’t fill up on bread, I warn myself when dining out. Then my waiter brings a basket of freshly baked rolls, glistening with melted butter, and I forget my earlier caution. A blended aroma of honey, vanilla, and yeast drifts under my nose as I raise the bread to my mouth. One bite into the warm, pillowy dough and my eyes nearly roll back. As my taste buds savor the last bite, I discover that I am full.

God has given us food both to enjoy and to sustain our bodies. But at times He calls us away from our daily sustenance so we can more fully engage with Him. This is especially challenging for me, a self-proclaimed foodie who relishes restaurant menus like they’re “hot off the press” bestsellers. However, I answer God’s call, metaphorically turning my plate over because I desire continued spiritual growth.

For the past few years, my church community has fasted once a month for twenty-four-hour intervals. Fasting is not a punishment inflicted on our bodies or a measure of our piety. Instead, God invites us as believers to give up something that is good for something even greater. We step away from the rhythms of our routines to pay more attention to His Word, deepening our relationship with Him.

The Gospels record Jesus’s forty-day stay in the wilderness, where He spent time alone with God and prepared for ministry through prayer and fasting. When Satan challenged Him to satisfy His hunger supernaturally, Jesus refused. Instead, He demonstrated His dependence on the Father with these words: “Man must not live on bread alone” (Luke 4:4).

When I fast, I agree with Jesus and recognize God as the ultimate source of both my physical and spiritual needs. Like our Savior did, I communicate my desire for the fulfillment of God’s will by positioning myself to be in fellowship with Him, without distractions (v.1). And when I do, He fills my heart and satisfies my soul in ways that physical food and earthly activities cannot (John 6:51).

It may seem counterintuitive, but when we regularly abstain from certain habits to pursue God, He refreshes us and refuels our passion for serving Him. We also grow more aware of the Spirit’s presence and more readily approach God in humility, relying on His strength to overcome sin in our lives.

What are the things that compete for our undivided attention above God? Is it social media or television? How about our smartphones or the time we invest in our relationships? Perhaps food is the culprit. Whatever the distraction, Jesus calls us to focus less on things that bring temporary fulfillment and more on Him, the true Bread of Life (vv.48–50). He has many good things in store for us—things far more satisfying than any activity and better than the most delicious bread.

Written by Tameshia Williams

I don’t have an excellent memory or attention span, so I never really thought I could remember large portions of Scripture. I was content with picking up verses here and there as I studied, read, or listened to sermons. And I thought it was pretty cool if the pastor happened to be reading through a passage and I could follow along from memory every few verses or so.

Fast forward a few years later, when our pastor challenged our church to memorize the entire book of 1 Timothy. I found a little guide on extended Scripture memorization, and a group of us decided to take one chapter each and commit it to memory. This gave me confidence that I could do more, so I decided to work slowly toward memorizing a whole book of the Bible. Again, our pastor challenged the congregation to memorize it as he preached through short sections each week.

I decided to memorize one verse each day. I broke the verse down into two or three parts, focused on learning shorter sections, and then I put the whole verse together. Once I had a few verses memorized, I worked on understanding what I’d read by following the argument of the author or the storyline presented. That’s when I saw how memorization and meditation work together. 

Memorization is the ability to recall what you’ve read verbatim, so I had to practice a lot! I’d listen to a verse on audio while brushing my teeth or taking a shower or folding laundry, while waiting in the carpool line or shopping. I filled my downtime with the Word of God. Eventually, it became a sweet habit, and I found myself rehearsing God’s Word throughout the day.

Meditation is an ongoing conversation between the Holy Spirit and yourself about what you’re learning in God’s Word. In this way, you learn to hide His Word in your heart (Psalm 119:11) and discover meaningful ways to apply it to your life. Through the practice of meditation, I found myself starting to incorporate verses of Scripture into my prayer life. Soon, I found that I had God’s Word ready to encourage a friend. When I couldn’t sleep at night, I would rehearse my verses and fall asleep with God’s Word on my lips.

I have experienced the truth of Deuteronomy 6:6 that says, “These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.” Even in more anxious times—through the whirring of the MRI scanner or when counting down as the anesthesia put me to sleep—God’s Word came to mind, comforting me. Scripture, memorized over days and weeks and months, had made its way from my eyes and ears and mouth to my heart. And out of the abundance of what was in my heart, my mouth began to continually speak the words of life and truth to myself and to others (Matthew 12:34). Thanks be to God for this gift of grace.

Written by Kristie Anyabwile

The spiritual discipline of service, or putting the needs of others ahead of my own, does not come naturally to me. In fact, my tendency is to place myself upon the throne of my own heart and prioritize my own needs and desires above all else. Yet Jesus clearly told us to beware of this impulse and to act differently. He said that loving God above all things and caring for those around us are the two divine directives upon which all holy living depends (Matthew 22:36–40). 

In 2015, I became an elementary school teacher. Daily, I am given the opportunity to actively serve others, namely, my students. But I cannot love the people around me as God commands if I spend my energy on trying to advance my own interests. Instead, service is a means of turning to Him daily—seeking His strength, patience, and peace—if I hope to serve my students well. In this discipline, God is actively training me to become more dependent on Him and less enamored with myself. 

My current position is not something I consider to be a temporary situation that I just need to “get through” on my way to something less difficult and more rewarding, or less costly to my ego and more beneficial to my sense of accomplishment. Rather, I believe He has led me to “build houses” and to “plant gardens” in my current sphere of influence (Jeremiah 29:4–7). If that is indeed the case, I must begin each day pleading God’s mercy, submitting to His will, beckoning the Holy Spirit to empower me to serve others first, and then putting these instructions into practice. When Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant” (Matthew 20:26), He was addressing my heart’s most preeminent idol: myself. 

If we subscribe to the world’s definition of greatness—some combination of influence, authority, wealth, and recognition from others—Jesus would have us reconsider what we value. These assets are by no means wrong in and of themselves, but when achieving them becomes our chief motivation, we lose sight of a foundational ethic in God’s kingdom: putting ourselves aside in favor of our neighbor (Mark 12:30–31). 

For my part, any success I have in the service of my students, or anyone else for that matter, is not because of who I am or what I’ve done. It’s an act of living out who Jesus is and what He’s doing right now, in and around me. It’s the daily practice of demonstrating my dependence on Him by assuming the role of servant instead of dedicating myself to the pursuit of my own glory.

Written by Alex Florez

Over the course of this study, we will memorize 1 Timothy 4:7b–9. This week, focus on memorizing verse 7 and the first part of verse 8. 

Write the passage out by hand, say it aloud, or test your knowledge with a friend!

Train yourself in godliness. For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.
—1 Timothy 4:7b–9

Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all.
—1 Timothy 4:15

Weekly She Reads Truth podcast episodes correspond to the current community reading plan.
Click here to listen to this week’s episode.