Day 1: The Cost of True Discipleship
Reading: Mark 10:17-22
Devotional: Jesus looked at the rich young man and loved him — and still let him walk away. That tension is worth sitting with. Love does not always mean removing the hard call. Jesus asked the young man to surrender the very thing he trusted most. The question was never really about money. It was about where his deepest loyalty lived. Today, consider what you are holding tightly. What would be hardest to lay at the feet of Jesus? The invitation has not changed. Come, follow — fully, not partially.
Reflection Question: What is the one thing in your life that feels too costly to surrender to God?
Day 2: The Impossible Made Possible
Reading: Mark 10:23-27; Ephesians 2:8-9
Devotional: When Jesus declared that entering the kingdom of God is beyond human ability, the disciples panicked. Their entire framework for understanding God’s favor collapsed in a single sentence. Then came the word that changes everything: but. With man it is impossible, but not with God. Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that salvation is received, not achieved. It arrives as grace, accepted through faith, with no room left for boasting. You cannot thread that needle. You were never meant to. God does what you cannot. Rest in that today.
Reflection Question: In what areas of your spiritual life are you still trying to earn what God has already freely given?
Day 3: What You Cannot Lose
Reading: Mark 10:28-30; Matthew 6:19-21
Devotional: Peter’s question was honest and deeply human: we gave up everything — are we going to be alright? Jesus answered with a promise wrapped in a warning. What is surrendered for the sake of the gospel is returned a hundredfold — not always in the form expected, and not without persecution along the way. Jim Elliot wrote that he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. The things of this world are temporary. The things of God are eternal. What you release into His hands, He multiplies beyond measure.
Reflection Question: What has God restored or provided in your life after a season of loss or surrender?
Day 4: First, Last, and the Upside-Down Kingdom
Reading: Mark 10:31; Luke 14:11; 1 Corinthians 1:26-29
Devotional: The kingdom of God operates by a logic the world finds offensive. The first will be last and the last will be first. Status, wealth, and religious achievement do not determine standing before God. The disciples left everything and became, in the world’s eyes, the least — and yet they became the foundation of the church. God consistently chooses what the world overlooks. If you feel small, overlooked, or underqualified today, take heart. The upside-down kingdom has a place reserved for those who humble themselves and trust entirely in Christ rather than in their own credentials.
Reflection Question: Where in your life have you been tempted to measure your spiritual worth by outward success or status?
Day 5: Grace in the Turning
Reading: Luke 15:11-24; Romans 10:9-10
Devotional: Salvation is not found in striving — it is found in turning. The father in Luke 15 does not wait for his son to complete a checklist before running toward him. He runs at the first sign of return. Romans 10:9-10 describes salvation as a matter of the heart and the mouth — believing and confessing, not performing and earning. The moment you turn toward God, you find that He has already been moving toward you. As the sermon declared, salvation is in the turning, not the earning. Turn today. He is already running.
Reflection Question: Is there an area of your life where shame has kept you from turning back toward God? What would it look like to take that first step today?