READ: ISAIAH 64:6; EZEKIEL 36:25-27; MATTHEW 23:23-28; 1 PETER 1:18-23

“You wear the pink wig; I’ll wear the silver one!” My friend Bridget and I laughed as we dressed in costumes. Playing around with Bridget’s keyboard that day, we decided to put on a show for my grandma, who had stopped by for a visit.

My grandma didn’t know about the tunes the keyboard had been programmed to play with just the press of a button. We thought it would be funny to pretend we played the music and see if we could trick my grandma into believing we possessed more musical skills than we did.

Bridget and I silently tapped the keyboard while recorded music filled the room. After our concert, my grandma praised our abilities. She gushed until we sheepishly admitted our ruse. Though Bridget and I fooled my grandma, that didn’t change anything about our actual talent.

Sometimes in life, we do the same thing. We attempt to hide the reality of a bitter, unforgiving, or selfish attitude by putting on a kind of performance, like an outward show of friendship or kindness. People might be tricked, but God knows the true state of our hearts. God sees everything—including the motives for why we do what we do.

When Jesus lived among us, “he knew what was in each person’s heart” (John 2:25). He spoke harsh words to the Pharisees, calling these religious leaders whitewashed tombs. Outwardly, they displayed good behavior, but they resisted humility and repentance of their sins.

Each of us has a choice. We can try to look “good” with a performance we can never maintain, or we can acknowledge that our good deeds are just filthy rags before a holy God—and turn to Jesus for forgiveness. Once we trust Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins, we start a new-creation life in Christ. His love for us is always authentic and never a mere performance. As He transforms us from within, we grow into Christ followers who don’t just perform. We learn to live and love with a new heart. • Allison Wilson Lee

• Have you ever felt God loved you more on your “good” days than your “bad” ones? What does the reality of being God’s children mean about His love for us? Does His love change based on our performance? (Hint: read Luke 15:11-32; Romans 5:6-11; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5)

• Why is it important to bring our heart issues to the Lord instead of simply trying to modify our outward behavior?

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 (NLT)

READ: PSALM 103:1-8; EPHESIANS 1:3-6; COLOSSIANS 3:1-2

Ever wonder why we have to go through so much hard stuff in this life? If you do, you’re in good company! All of us prefer the sweet and easy moments, free from the burdens of grief and pain. God created us for wholeness, but humanity’s sin brought brokenness. Yet God made the way for wholeness again through Jesus, who died on the cross and rose from the grave to save us from sin and heal all the brokenness sin causes. One day, Jesus will return, and this earth will be remade. In a brief moment, all will be made right. Our suffering will be but a memory.

If we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we have this good future to look forward to. In the meantime, we have a choice. We can ask ourselves, How will we suffer? The things we face might make us angry or deeply sorrowful. And those emotions only make sense! And yet, in the middle of our afflictions, we can also choose to rejoice in God our Father, Christ our Savior, and the Spirit our Comforter. God invites us to be honest about how difficult or even impossible the hard things are, and to feel our emotions with Him. And at the same time, because His power is in us, we can choose to raise our sights above, “where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).

Paul said it this way: he was “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10). It’s a both/and kind of thing. We can face the reality of any sad or difficult thing in our lives, and we can also cast our eyes upward. When we do, we remember the truths that remain, no matter what: God really is good, He is still trustworthy, and His love for us never ceases. We remember that He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. We are His cherished children.

Perhaps this is what Paul meant when he said, “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Living by faith is a choice we can make, right now. Along with Paul, many other believers have chosen to rejoice even in their sorrows. We can too, when we remember that Jesus walks with us through every step of our life’s journey. • Kristen Merrill

• When it feels impossible to turn our gaze away from the brokenness and rejoice in God’s goodness, God wants us to ask Him for help! We can talk to Him honestly, and we can also share our struggles with trusted Christians. Who in your life can pray with you today?

• If you want to dig deeper, read Psalm 145:9; Lamentations 3:22; John 14:6; 1 John 3:1

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. Hebrews 13:15 (NIV)

READ: EPHESIANS 2:1-10

My skin is cold. Though I can’t know for sure how cold—since corpses can’t feel anything. They can’t do anything at all, really.

If I had the ability to touch, I’d feel the icy, rough dirt that holds my stiff body in place. I’d feel the maggots wriggling their muculent bodies around the tips of my fingers, inside my ears, around my mouth, at the corners of my eyes.

If my sense of smell were working, I’d smell the aroma of rotting things decomposing beneath the earth’s surface.

If my tear ducts worked, I might wail as I thought on the fact that I am among them, my body food for the creatures that never see sunlight.

But I can do none of those things.

Because I am dead.

And when a person is dead, that is all they can do. Nothing.

This is my fate. To do nothing. To be nothing. To know nothing. To love nothing.

Until the moment that it isn’t my fate anymore.

Suddenly, the dirt is being pushed away from my body. Gentle hands are brushing the soil from my face, and I feel the warmth of them as they grasp my hands.

I feel them. As I have never been able to feel anything before!

These warm hands that send a blaze of warmth and life flowing up my arms and throughout my body now pull me upward until I’m above the ground.

I squint in the sunlight with eyes that can see!

When my eyes finally adjust to the bright light, I look into the face of the one who pulled me out. The one who has breathed life into my dead body and saved me from a fate of death and nothing.

The Man who smiles back at me wears white robes, free of blemish or spot. On His head is a crown made of the finest metals and precious stones.

This Man is the King. He cares for me. And He has made me alive. • Emily Tenter

• Today’s allegorical story is inspired by Ephesians 2:1-10. Consider taking some time to read this passage slowly. What do you notice? Why do you think dead is the word used to describe us before we know Jesus?

• Our sin leads to death (Romans 6:23). But God wants to rescue us from sin and death. What lengths would He go to to save us? He loves us so much that He gave up His own life for us. Jesus died and was buried—His body dwelt in a grave. But not for long. Jesus rose from the dead, defeating sin and death forever, and guaranteeing that everyone who knows Him will have eternal life! When someone becomes a Christian, they pass “from death to life” (John 5:24), and they have the sure hope of Jesus’s return. On that day, He will raise us from our graves, and our bodies will be fully healed and whole! What questions do you have about death and life? Who are trusted Christians you could talk to about these things? (If you want to dig deeper, read John 11:1-44; Romans 8:10-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17.)

• Have you experienced being made alive by Jesus? For more about what this means, see our "Know Jesus" page.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Ephesians 2:4-5 (CSB)