READ: PSALMS 13:5-6; 149:1-5; ISAIAH 42:10-12; EPHESIANS 5:19

Sometimes I find myself in an empty house, and I can’t stop myself from singing at the top of my lungs. I tend to belt numbers from The Sound of Music, especially “Climb Every Mountain.” There’s something about hitting those high notes, with the sound filling the space around me, that brings me great joy.

Our voices, lifted in songs of praise, bring glory to God. Not just in church during worship, but all the time. In the car, singing along to your favorite worship playlist…softly humming a hymn to yourself…or, my favorite, when you’re all alone and can sing out with your entire being.

God doesn’t care if you can carry a tune or if your voice sounds even halfway decent. It’s your heart that counts. When you take the time out of your day to glorify Him, it’s music to His ears. We don’t worship to sound good or because it’s a good Christian thing to do. Our worship is supposed to be an outpouring of the gratitude we feel for what God has done in our lives and in the lives of others, what He is doing in the present, and what He promises to do in the future.

We rejoice that God delights in us—though we were messed up, broken people, He loved us and made us blameless in His sight (Psalm 149:4; Colossians 1:22). We praise Him for His majesty (Psalm 8:1), and because He is always right (Psalm 119:172). We sing because He is powerful, faithful, and full of unfailing love (Psalm 59:16). Finally, we sing to point the world to the hope we have in Christ—the one who died and rose again to save us from sin and death (Psalm 66:2).

Worship brings glory to God, and it takes our focus off ourselves. When we’re praising, our eyes are open to the ways God is moving and working, and we are reminded of how good He’s been to us. Incredible things happen when we choose to worship, even when it doesn’t make sense. Think of Paul and Silas in prison—as they prayed and sang through the night, God sent an earthquake that freed all the prisoners, and ultimately, this miracle led to the salvation of the jailer and his family (Acts 16:22-34). So let’s rejoice—because God is so faithful and good to us! Sing a song of praise to the Lord! • Hannah Ruth Johnson

• When does it come naturally for you to worship God? When do you find it harder to offerasong of praise?

• What are some of God’s qualities we can rejoice in? (Hint: read Psalm 103:8)

I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me. Psalm 13:6 (NLT)

READ: EXODUS 15:2-3; PSALMS 46:1-3; 59:16-17; EPHESIANS 1:15-23

In life, I tend to approach a problem thinking I can handle it all by myself, like a toddler taking on a task that’s obviously too big for them. I think, “I know tons of things—I can reason my way out of this mess, and I don’t need anyone’s help. I can do this, right?”

Unfortunately, reality sets in as I try to solve everything and I discover that I am not strong enough to put my world to rights. I am a fallible human with limited resources and a small amount of strength. If I rely on myself and my own strength to get through things, then I will end up crushed by the troubles of life. I need someone who’s bigger than me and my world to take care of the trials infiltrating it.

When we try to solve everything in our own strength, we are doomed to fail. But when we recognize that God is the only one strong enough to calm the storms in life, then something amazing happens. Once we’ve put our trust in Jesus, God gives us His strength so we can bear—and even overcome—the trials.

When Jesus was on earth, His strength was evident when He healed people and performed miracles. It was this divine power that changed people’s lives and raised Jesus from the dead. And that same power lives in us through the Holy Spirit! As Christians, God’s strength is something we can rely on. And when we do, it changes our lives for good. • Morgan A. Mitchell

• When are you tempted to rely on your own strength? Why do you think that is?

• Relying on God’s strength might look like reading the Bible to find wisdom and guidanceabout your situation, telling God how you feel, asking Him for help throughout the day, turning to other believers for help and support, praising God with songs, and resting in His presence. What are some ways you could implement at least one of these practices in your life?

• When we rely on God’s strength, that doesn’t always mean our trials will resolve in the ways we want them to. But it does mean that His strength is with us in the midst of our trials. We can know that He sees us, He loves us, and He cares about what we’re going through. And, one day, Jesus will return to raise us from the dead and put the whole world to rights, getting rid of sin and brokenness forever. How can these truths encourage us in the midst of our trials?

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7 (NIV)

READ: ACTS 9:1-22; 2 TIMOTHY 1:5; 3:15

Of all the conversion stories in the Bible, none are more dramatic than the Apostle Paul’s. Before knowing Jesus, Paul—also called Saul—was one of the most vicious, violent persecutors of the early church. Brilliant in intellect, he used his mind to orchestrate beatings and deaths against the converts of this new religion called Christianity, fearing it threatened his Jewish faith.

His conversion story has been told and retold countless times. He was traveling the road to Damascus when he was blinded by a great light and the voice of Jesus asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4).

Saul’s conversion was so dramatic that the leaders of the fledgling church didn’t believe him at first. It took a good amount of time before they finally accepted the truth: Saul the persecutor was now a disciple of Christ.

My conversion was nothing like that. My brother shared the gospel with me when I was twelve, and I prayed a simple prayer while sitting on the side of my bed. There were no fireworks, no lights, certainly no voice from heaven. Later, my story of conversion was mostly met with shrugging shoulders and blank stares. I wasn’t a rebel or criminal before my conversion, so afterward, few people noticed any differences.

But, like the Apostle Paul, I was different, even if nobody really saw it. I was a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). The death and resurrection of Christ that was sufficient to convert Paul in ancient Israel also covered a twelve-year-old in California. Maybe you don’t have a Paul conversion story either. Whatever your story, your sins are forgiven and you’re a new creation in Christ, all based on His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection. • Mike Hurley

• If you’re a Christian, how would you describe your salvation story?

• If you know Jesus as your Savior, you are a new creation. Jesus has freed you from the power of sin and death. And one day, when you see Jesus face to face, you won’t struggle with sin and its effects anymore, because sin and death will be gone forever (1 Corinthians 13:12; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Revelation 21:1-5). How might remembering that we are forgiven and that we are new creations help us rely on Jesus through the ups and downs of life?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (CSB)