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This plan breaks down the individual components of First15 by sharing God's desire for each of them. The majority of First15 is dedicated to encountering God and learning about his character, but we also cover some teaching and tools that will help in pursuing God. This week we will get back to the basics and learn some spiritual disciplines that will help us encounter him in deeper, more transformative ways.

You and I have been given the invaluable gift of communication with God. Last week we learned about making the soil of our hearts soft and receptive to God. This week we’ll learn different ways to receive the seed of his word. May your communion with God flourish as you engage in continual conversation with your loving, present heavenly Father.

God’s goodness over our lives far exceeds anything we’ve experienced. We’ve only yet splashed around in the shallows of God’s deep love and mercy. In order to dive deeper into the fullness of life available to us, we must learn how to posture our hearts. May your relationship with God be enriched this week as you position yourself to receive all your loving heavenly Father has to give.

God has much to offer you and me, but we often fail to grasp it. In this plan, we explore how waiting on the Lord and sitting patiently and intentionally at his feet positions us to receive God’s promise of strength. May God guide us to a better understanding and experience of his promises.

May God empower us to live with open hands and an open heart, ready and willing to receive all that he longs to give.

We’re going to take a look at seven principles found in Romans 12 that describe the marks of a true Christian. The intent of studying this passage is not to condemn or lead you to comparison. Instead, let Paul’s teaching fill you with a deep, transformative longing to wholeheartedly pursue the life God intends for you.

Faith is the undercurrent of everything we do as followers of Jesus. Without faith we lose all that Christ died to give us while here on earth. It is by faith we access the peace, joy, guidance, love, and purpose that comes from restored relationship with our heavenly Father. In this First15 plan, we’re going to seek an increase in faith in response to God’s faithfulness. May you experience a greater depth of intimacy with your living, Almighty, and loving heavenly Father.

Loving others is one of the most important and difficult commands Jesus gave us. We are messy, needy, and broken people. We constantly have to deal with our wounds and the wounds of others, but if we can learn to love others well, a rich and life-giving relationship will be our reward. May you receive the love of your Father given you by his grace and be empowered to love others.

Perhaps today, God would shift our focus upward to see the faces we pass on the streets or the elevator. How much could a kind word or smile help someone having a rough day? Let’s try to take our eyes off ourselves and see those we pass every day and don’t seem to notice. Could God want to use you to minister to someone you don’t even know? Let’s find out.

We’ll focus on the simplicity the Christian life is meant to be marked by. Jesus summed up our purpose with two statements: love God and love people.

One of the most powerful marks of a believer is transcendent peace. This world offers us no reason to be peaceful. It offers us no reason to be without stress, burdens, cares, and total frustration. But we serve a God who offers us peace in the midst of any circumstance. We serve a God in whom all true peace finds its source. May you discover the heart of your heavenly Father to bring you peace this week.

Love is the foundation of all we do, all we are, and all we hold on to. God’s love has given us meaning, beauty, redemption, and purpose. Through God loving us, we become sons and daughters; we become saints.

Throughout Scripture, we see countless examples of God meeting with man and countless lives being transformed as the result. These examples are in Scripture to stir our faith and fill us with a desire to meet with our Creator.

As believers, we’ve been given the Holy Spirit as a Helper, Teacher, Friend, and seal for the promised inheritance of eternal life with God. His presence, guidance, and wisdom in our lives are our greatest gifts while here on earth. Through him we have access to direct connection with our heavenly Father. Through him we receive spiritual gifts to empower us. And through him we are able to bear the incredible fruit of abundant life.

James 2:26 tells us, “Faith apart from works is dead.” If we are going to experience the fullness of life offered to us through our faith we must be those who put our words into action. We must not profess to love God on Sundays and live as if he isn’t present, real, or good on Monday. May your faith come alive this week as you seek to be a doer of the word.

The majority of First15 is dedicated to encountering God and learning about his character, but every now and then, we will cover some teaching and tools that will help in pursuing God to greater depths. We will get back to the basics and learn some spiritual disciplines that will help us encounter him in deeper, more transformative ways.

It’s vital to the Christian life that we as sons and daughters of the most high God allow our affections to be stirred by the loving, powerful nature of our heavenly Father. Too often we feel that God is distant or separated from us. Too often we allow misconceptions or lies to place a rift between us and our experiencing God. So as we spend time this week focusing on God’s character, allow who he is to stir up your desire to know him even more.

Plan Overview: 1. Be Honest 2. Talking with God 3. When Your Mind Wanders 4. Learn to Listen 5. Be Still

Christmas is a time where we as believers celebrate God’s heart to write himself into our story. Only in Jesus was the veil torn allowing God’s manifest presence into the earth. We owe all that we have to Jesus. We owe all that we have to Christmas. May these four days be filled with joyful worship as we celebrate our newborn King.

This study, brought to you by First15, is designed to accompany you on your journey through the Lent season, and provide encouragement as you spend time in God's presence and intentionally seek Him over the next 40 days. We hope this is a helpful resource for you!

You and I have been given the invaluable gift of communication with God. Last week we learned about the process of making the soil of our hearts soft and receptive to God. This week we’ll learn some different ways to receive the seed of his word. May your communion with God flourish as you engage in continual conversation with your loving, present heavenly Father.

Until we gain an understanding of the immense value and availability of encountering God, we will never consistently engage in this foundational, vital practice. As we discover God’s heart to meet with us in order that we might experience the depths of his love, I pray that your life would be marked by a new grace to consistently and powerfully encounter the living God.

Having consistent and transformational encounters with God while on earth is meant to be foundational to the Christian life. May this devotional be filled with transformational encounters with the living God as we learn what it is to seek the face of the one who has formed us, knows us and loves us unconditionally.

Just as we experience aspects of one another while growing in friendship, we share the wonders of God as we seek to simply know him. He calls us to value our relationship with him so that, above all else, our love for Him is more significant compared to others. May you encounter wonderful aspects of your relationship with your heavenly Father as we wholeheartedly seek to know him with all we are.

God designed us to see him, know his character, and let the truth of his goodness lead to deeper relationship with him. Augustine wrote, “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” In seeing God for who he is, our hearts are stirred to find rest in his goodness. May your heart stir at the revelation of God’s wonderful character.