Living in Love: Journaling, Remembrance, and Community

Jan 10, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Remembering Our Identity and Home in God

The journey of faith begins with remembering who we are in God and where our true home lies. It's a profound truth that we are not adrift but anchored in Him and connected with one another. This foundational understanding shapes our identity and reminds us of the common ground we share as we are continually being transformed by His grace. Resting in this truth allows us to live from a place of security and belonging. [32:49]

Ephesians 2:19-22 (ESV)
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Reflection: When you consider your daily life, what specific thoughts or feelings arise that remind you of your identity as a beloved child of God and your belonging in His household?

Day 2: Abiding in God's Love, Like a Sunflower

Just as a sunflower consistently turns its face towards the sun, we are invited to orient our lives towards God's love. This intentional focus helps us avoid distractions and remain rooted in His presence. Abiding in Christ means making our home in His love, allowing it to be the constant location of our being. This deep connection ensures our joy is full and complete, as we live out His commandment to love one another. [59:16]

John 15:9-10 (ESV)
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.

Reflection: What is one practical way you can intentionally turn your focus towards God's love today, allowing it to be the primary orientation of your thoughts and actions?

Day 3: Cultivating Gratitude: Shifting Our Focus

In the midst of life's challenges, cultivating a practice of gratitude can profoundly shift our perspective. By intentionally reflecting on the goodness of God, even in the small things—a bird, a flower, a sunset—we are reminded of His faithfulness. This practice helps us move from negative thinking to positive thinking, recognizing that God fills our lives with beauty and joy. It's a powerful way to acknowledge His presence and provision in every moment. [35:40]

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Reflection: Reflect on your past week. Can you identify three specific moments, no matter how small, where you sensed God's goodness or faithfulness, and how did acknowledging them shift your perspective?

Day 4: Navigating the Wilderness: Our "In-Between" Journey

Our spiritual journey often feels like a "bumpy ride," a wilderness experience between salvation and the promised fullness of heaven. This "in-between" stage is a time for growth, for shedding old ways, and for deepening our relationship with God. It's where we learn obedience and discover who we are becoming as children of God. Though challenging, this journey is essential for our spiritual formation, moving us towards the abundance and joy that awaits. [45:38]

Romans 8:24-25 (ESV)
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Reflection: When you consider the "bumpy ride" of your current spiritual journey, what is one aspect of your character or understanding of God that you sense is being refined or deepened in this "in-between" season?

Day 5: The Shema: Loving God with All Your Being

The ancient command to "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (the Shema) remains a powerful practice for us today. It's an invitation to integrate our love for God into every aspect of our lives—our thoughts, actions, and deepest affections. This command, reiterated by Jesus, also implicitly calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves, making it a holistic practice of devotion and relationship. [54:19]

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 (ESV)
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Reflection: Considering the Shema, what is one specific area of your life—be it your thoughts, daily activities, or relationships—where you could more intentionally express your love for God with "all your heart, soul, and might" this week?

Sermon Summary

A voice draws a line from a simple morning image—a sunflower turning toward the sun—to a theology of spiritual formation rooted in memory, practice, and love. The narrative insists that growth is not a one-off conversion but a wilderness journey: an in-between season where identity, community, and obedience are formed. Journaling and other concrete practices (Sabbath, reciting scripture, communal rhythms) serve as means of remembering who God is, who God’s people are, and what God is making them into. These practices do not earn God’s affection; rather, grace supplies the power to engage in disciplined effort. The life of faith is portrayed as active participation—reciting the Shema, celebrating festivals, shaping calendars—to keep the heart focused on God and others.

Scripture anchors the argument: the Exodus narrative maps the trajectory from slavery to promised land as an image of rescue, formation, and destiny. John 15 reframes the goal as abiding in love—living in the location of God’s affection so that joy may be complete and love for neighbor flows naturally. Community appears both as the setting where love is practiced and the mirror that reveals pride, envy, and hidden desires; honesty within community and the habit of writing truthfully about inner life become instruments of repentance and restoration. Testimonies about journaling show it exposing distortions, cultivating gratitude, and preserving highlights that otherwise vanish into discouragement.

A robust pastoral theology emerges: God has given all that is needed for life and godliness—promises, practices, and community—and believers are called to “make every effort” to support faith. Spiritual disciplines are framed practically: choose two to four habits suited to one’s season, embed them in daily rhythms, and let them shape calendars and conversations. The final invitation is reflective: do believers truly believe that love for others springs only after experiencing God’s love? The urgency is pastoral and practical—practice remembering, practice abiding, and practice loving—so that the pilgrim journey toward fullness becomes a lived apprenticeship in divine love.

Key Takeaways

1. Be like the sunflower Keeping gaze fixed on the true source simplifies spiritual life: distraction fragments devotion and produces anxiety; a fixed orientation cultivates coherence of heart and purpose. The discipline of fixity—through prayer, scripture, or a daily habit—rewires attention so that temptations lose their novelty and grace becomes visible in ordinary moments. This is not moralism but a training of perception to see God’s presence in the small and the ordinary. [34:21]
2. Wilderness forms identity and community The in-between of the wilderness is where a people learn who they are: freed from an old system, learning covenantal habits, and forming mutual dependence. Hard seasons disclose idols, shape desires, and teach obedience that a single conversion cannot produce. Treat the wilderness as a classroom where memory practices and shared rituals teach a new way of living together. [41:11]
3. Grace empowers steady effort Grace is not opposed to work; it is the strength by which faithful effort becomes possible without turning into performance. Spiritual disciplines are means of enjoying God’s love, not bargaining chips to obtain it; effort shapes character when sustained by the Spirit. Choose practices that fit the season and let grace multiply the return on faithful investments. [50:09]
4. Abide in love, practice community Abiding is about location—making home in God’s love so love becomes the grammar of action toward others. Community both reveals selfishness and offers repentance, forgiveness, and growth; honest practices like journaling surface illusions and invite healing. Love learned in solitude must be tested and deepened in relationships where mercy is practiced. [58:02]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[33:24] - Sunflower: Fixing the Gaze
[36:44] - Journaling and Daily Gratitude
[40:03] - Exodus as Spiritual Story
[41:11] - Wilderness: Identity and Formation
[47:34] - Grace, Effort, and Practices
[51:56] - Israel's Rhythms: The Shema
[58:02] - Abide in Love (John 15)
[1:05:46] - Community and Honest Journaling
[1:10:27] - Questions for Quiet Reflection

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading

John 15:9–12
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

2 Peter 1:3–8
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Deuteronomy 6:4–9
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Observation questions

According to John 15:9–12, what is the specific goal or result of Jesus speaking these words to his disciples?
In 2 Peter 1:3–5, what has God already provided for us, and what is the specific command given to believers in response?
Looking at Deuteronomy 6:6–9, what are the various physical and conversational ways the people of Israel were told to remember God’s commands?
The image of a sunflower [34:10] is used to describe a specific spiritual posture. What does this flower do, and what does that suggest about how we should handle distractions? [34:21]

Interpretation questions

The wilderness is described as a place to "establish identity and community" [41:11]. Why is this "in-between" season necessary for moving from the "slavery" of the past to the "promised land" of the future?
It is noted that "grace is not opposed to effort" [50:09]. How does the power of grace change the nature of the "effort" we put into our spiritual lives compared to just trying to work harder on our own?
In John 15:9, the word "in" describes a location—making a home in God's love [59:16]. What is the difference between visiting God’s love occasionally and "abiding" or living in it as a permanent residence?
Community is described as a setting that "exposes our lack of love" [01:09:05]. Why is it actually a gift from God when our "ego" or "ugliness" is revealed through our interactions with others? [01:07:19]

Application questions

A sunflower stays fixed on the sun to grow. What are the primary distractions in your daily life that pull your gaze away from God? [34:21] What is one small thing you can do tomorrow morning to "fix your gaze" on Him instead?
Journaling is a way to "know the truth and let the truth look back at you" [01:06:41]. If you were to write honestly about your inner life today, what is one "truth" about your heart that you’ve been avoiding?
The "Shema" was a practice of reciting truth morning and night to prevent "spiritual laziness" [49:44]. Do you have a rhythm for remembering God’s promises? If not, what are two or three simple habits that might fit the current season of your life? [51:02]
We are on a "love journey" where we learn to love others only after experiencing God's love for us [59:37]. Do you truly believe you are "the beloved" of God right now, regardless of your performance? How would believing this more deeply change the way you react to people who annoy or frustrate you?
Community life often "strips the ego of its many illusions" [01:07:59]. Can you share a recent time when a relationship or a conversation revealed a "false god" or a selfish desire in your heart? How did you move toward confession and restoration? [01:08:32]
God has granted us "all things that pertain to life and godliness" [47:48]. Which of His "precious and very great promises" do you need to rely on most heavily this week to get through a "bumpy" part of your journey? [44:38]

Sermon Clips

52s

#ExodusIdentity

“So you know the backstory, the exodus out of slavery through the wilderness into the promised land. We are part of that story. The exodus, a one time event of rescue and salvation. The wilderness, a time to establish identity and community, a time to get to know God, to live in obedience, a time for them to get Egypt and slavery out of their system and to become children of God. Moving from being a slave to a people of God. Moving towards the promised land, a journey beyond the wilderness and the destiny that's promised.”

52s

#EncounterAndAwakening

“There was a time when most of us or some of us here or hopefully all of us had, an encounter with God. For some, it was a wow or moment, and we moved from our Egypt to salvation. For others, it was a slower, deliberate, and not even intentional, but a seeking and a searching and a question. Somehow we woke up and thought, yeah. I'm loved by God. And there was that meeting. And for those of us, whether it was an abrupt moment or a progress, there was that sense of I am saved.”

33s

#JourneyInLove

“So we are actually on a love journey. And this in between stage or our pilgrimage or the in, the stage or the quest is a quest of being in love with love as our god loving us towards love. Now how complicated is that? You got it? We are to live in love. We're journeying in love towards love because god is love, and we are to make our home in love. So we're on a love journey.”

45s

#JournalTheJourney

“So what has journaling got to do with the exodus story that we started last week as a image, as a picture of spiritual formation? When God's people came out of slavery, went through the wilderness, and were promised that there's a land beyond. Well, if they hadn't have journaled, we wouldn't be reading their story. You got it? Because people journal in different ways. I don't journal like that. I don't journal like the artist out there. I journal. But because people do it, we are invited to be part of this story.”

52s

#BumpyFaithJourney

“But, you know, for most of us, it's been a bumpy ride ever since. Bumpy. Ups and downs. There's been mountaintops. There's been plateaus. There's been times when we didn't even know that god loved us or there was a god or whether these Christians actually knew what it meant to love one another, let alone me loving them. There's times when the bible was dry, the sermons were boring, and going to church was a pain in the neck. Been there? But we kept on doing because somehow God has put a taste in our mouths, a taste in our lives for God. And we have experienced moments of joy.”

29s

#FindYourSpiritualPractices

“The grace we have is the power we use to make that effort. So this is where spiritual exercises fit in or disciplines or practices. They are given us or the graces given to us that we can use. There's hundreds of them. You just need to find your two, three, or four that work for you in the season that you're in.”

37s

#RememberingPractices

“Well, I look back and I think, were there any practices God gave the children of Israel in the wilderness? You could probably name some. The practices were there so that they could learn to love God and their neighbor. They wouldn't forget who their god was, who brought them out of Egypt. They wouldn't forget who they were in their community. They wouldn't forget any of the good things of God and how they should live.”

45s

#CalendarShapesPractice

“So they had their festivals, their Passover feasts. They had Sabbaths. They had lots of things they were engaged in. Note work, work, give, do this, do that. They had a whole list of activities throughout the year. In fact, look at this. Their calendar shaped their practices. I liked that. What does your calendar look like? Does that what does your day look like, your week, your month? Does it shape the practices of remembering who you are and who your god is?”

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