A BIGGER STORY Week 3 Devotions (with Scripture)

Monday, July 7, 2025 - Read Psalm 133:1 – How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
God loves for His people to be at peace and to live in unity with each other. When we are saved by the blood of Jesus, we are united in Christ and with one another. Unity is not created, negotiated, or governed by a set of rules. Unity is bestowed upon us through the love of Christ and our job is to make every effort to keep it going, to maintain it, to “live together in unity.”

Tuesday, July 8, 2025 - Read John 17:20-23 - 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

During Jesus’ final prayer before being arrested, crucified, and resurrected, He looks forward to those who will put their faith in Him through the preaching of the Gospel. He prays for everyone who believes in Him in every era and on every continent for all time. Which means, Jesus prayed for you and me that night. And what did He pray for? UNITY! In a divided world, the greatest demonstration of God’s love and grace through Jesus Christ is seen in the unity of believers. “Lord, make us one so that the world may know the BIGGER STORY!”

Wednesday, July 9, 2025 - Read Ephesians 4:3-6 - 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Despite our differences, followers of Christ have three things in common: Our conviction about Christ – we are one in faith. Our confidence in Christ – we are one in hope. And our care for one another – we are one body. Unity is not something we produce; it’s something we maintain. We human beings are incapable of producing unity. It can only be produced by the Spirit of God. But once produced, it is our responsibility to keep this unity through our common love for Christ.  

Thursday, July 10, 2025 - Read Ephesians 3:6 – 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

The mystery of the Gospel is “to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (Ephesians 1:10), including people from all walks of life, ethnic groups, and nationalities. There will come a day when “a great multitude . . . from every nation, tribe, people and language,” will stand in worship before the throne of God (Revelation 7:9). Until that day, Christ’s church exists to break down the walls of division and build bridges of love and unity through the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

Friday, July 11, 2025 - Read Ephesians 3:14-19 - 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Paul’s prayer for every believer is that we would grow in our personal knowledge and experience of God’s great love for us as demonstrated through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s only when we dig down deep and begin “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” that we can be filled with the fullness of God and truly love our neighbor as ourselves. As you experience God's love, let it overflow into your relationships with others, sharing His love and grace with those around you.