7 Day Devotional

Day 1: More Than Information

General • Refresh: A Summer Collection (Vol. 3) •

“But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” — Matthew 16:15–16 (NLT)

Day 2: You Have to Work at It

General • Refresh: A Summer Collection (Vol. 3) •

“Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, ‘You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember…'” — Matthew 16:8–9 (NLT)

Day 3: Know His Character

General • Refresh: A Summer Collection (Vol. 3) •

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” — Psalm 46:1 (ESV)

Day 4: Know Where to Find Him

General • Refresh: A Summer Collection (Vol. 3) •

“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!” — Psalm 139:7–8 (ESV)

Day 5:

General • Refresh: A Summer Collection (Vol. 3) •

Day 1: More Than Information

General • Refresh: A Summer Collection (Vol. 3) •

“But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” — Matthew 16:15–16 (NLT)

Devotion

There are two ways to know someone. You can know about them — gather facts, hear stories, repeat what others have said. Or you can actually know them — through time, through experience, through the kind of closeness that changes how you see everything.

The Pharisees knew about Jesus. They knew the law, had studied the scrolls, and could predict the weather by reading the sky. Yet when He stood in front of them, they didn’t recognize Him. They demanded a sign because they had information without relationship, knowledge without intimacy.

Peter was different. He’d watched Him heal and teach and confront and weep. And somewhere in all that time together, revelation broke through. It wasn’t just the studying that developed their knowing, but presence. Jesus said it plainly: you didn’t learn this from any human being. My Father revealed it to you.

Knowing God is not primarily an intellectual exercise. It is a relational one. The Greek word ginōskō (to know) implies experiential, intimate knowing. The kind that grows through time together, not just information consumed. This week is an invitation to go beyond what you know about God and into actually knowing Him.

Reflection

Honestly, would you say your relationship with God is more informational or relational right now? What does that look like in practice?

Peter’s revelation came through time spent with Jesus. Have you had that experience before? Where in your life are you creating space for that kind of proximity?

Prayer

Lord, I know things about You. But I want to actually know You the way Peter did, through time and presence and revelation that only comes from being close. Today I come not just for information but for encounter. Reveal Yourself to me in a way that goes beyond what I’ve read or heard. I want to know You for myself. Amen.

Day 2: You Have to Work at It

General • Refresh: A Summer Collection (Vol. 3) •

“Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, ‘You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember…'” — Matthew 16:8–9 (NLT)

Devotion

Jesus warned the disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees and their minds went immediately to bread. They were thinking naturally when He was speaking spiritually. They were close to Him physically but hadn’t yet made the deeper connection.

This is one of the most common gaps in our relationship with God: physical proximity without attentiveness. Any authentic relationship requires work/effort.

Getting to know someone follows a pattern: a decision to pursue, a desire that fuels the pursuit, a direction that develops over time, a delight that keeps you returning, and devotion that makes the relationship unmistakable to everyone around you. That same progression applies with God. Knowing Him requires intention and attention, learning to prioritize Him and incline your willingness towards Him. Your walk doesn’t have to look perfect, but you should move with purpose.

Reflection

Which stage of the knowing process describes where you are right now: decision, desire, direction, delight, or devotion?

Prayer

God, I’ve been nearby without being attentive. Present without being engaged. Forgive me for thinking that proximity was enough. I want to know You deeply through intention and with time. Give me the desire and the direction to keep moving toward You. I am in this for the long haul. Amen.

Day 3: Know His Character

General • Refresh: A Summer Collection (Vol. 3) •

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” — Psalm 46:1 (ESV)

Devotion

When you know someone well, you can describe them. Not just their name or what they look like, but how their behaviours and mannerisms. You would be able to guess how they respond under pressure, what they’re like when things are hard, whether they show up when it matters. Character is what someone is like when the circumstances strip away the performance.

The writers of the Psalms knew God’s character because they had experienced it across every kind of season. They wrote from grief and from triumph, from exile and from rescue. Within those 150 chapters, they built a portrait: God is good. God is great. God is a refuge, a fortress, a rock, a shield, a shepherd, a helper, a healer, and a judge who is also a defender. Their experience with Him was so pronounced, so life-changing, that they wanted others to know too.

This is the gift of the Psalms: someone else’s experience with God becomes the material for your own faith. His reputation precedes Him.

Knowing His character means that even when you can’t see what He’s doing, you know what He’s like. He is our very present help. He is the same in the valley as He is on the mountain. Character is what you count on when circumstances are unclear.

Reflection

What characteristic of God do you know about but haven’t yet learned to count on personally? What would it look like to trust that specific attribute this week?

When life gets hard, which names or descriptions of God do you most naturally reach for — and which ones feel distant or theoretical?

What has God shown you about His character through your own experience that you could write down as your own “psalm”?

Prayer

God, I want to know Your character so well that I trust it before I see it in action. Good. Faithful. Refuge. Healer. Defender. Rock. Let these stop being words I repeat and start being truths I count on. Teach me Your ways through my own experiences with You, and let what I learn fuel someone else’s faith too. Amen.

Day 4: Know Where to Find Him

General • Refresh: A Summer Collection (Vol. 3) •

“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!” — Psalm 139:7–8 (ESV)

Devotion

When you know someone, you know how to reach them. You would have their phone number, an address, or their favourite places. One of the most disorienting things about a difficult season is feeling like you’ve lost the thread of where God is. Not just that life is hard, but that He seems far — unreachable, absent, and silent.

Psalm 139 makes a staggering claim: you cannot go anywhere He is not. Not to the heights, not to the depths, not to the darkest place, not to the most distant corner of the earth. His presence is not conditional on your circumstances, your spiritual state, or your feelings. He is omnipresent, Jehovah Shammah: the God who is here.

God is not simply present the way furniture is present in a room. Psalm 46 calls Him a “very present help in trouble.” That is presence with purpose. Wherever trouble is, He shows up to be help in the middle of it. You don’t have to find your way to Him from a distance. He is already where you are, near to the broken-hearted, near in the valley, near in the season that feels most abandoned. Knowing where to find Him means knowing He has already found you.

Reflection

Where in your life right now does God feel most absent? What does it do to you to hear that His absence is never the reality, only the feeling?

What practices do you have to reach God in your daily life?

Prayer

Lord, I’ve been trying to find You when You’ve been here all along. Near to me in the hard places. Present in the middle of what I’ve been struggling through. Today I stop searching and start acknowledging. Jehovah Shammah, the God who is near. Open my awareness to Your presence in this ordinary moment. Amen.

Day 5:

General • Refresh: A Summer Collection (Vol. 3) •