5 Daily Habits to Strengthen Your Faith This Year

Speaker A00:00:00

Have you ever been in a crowded room but felt completely alone? You smile, you nod, you make small talk, but inside you feel invisible. And then you go home and you just get into this scrolling.You're looking at vacations and promotions, happy families, perfect couples, all filtered joy. And it feels like everyone else is living and you're just on the sidelines watching. You're surrounded by digital noise.But on the inside, there's this deep, quiet ache, a hollowness that another show on Netflix can't even touch. A hollowness that another hour of scrolling can't heal. Because it's not entertainment that you need. It's not distracting that you need.It's connection, it's meaning, it's presence. It's a deep spiritual emptiness, a feeling of being disconnected, not just from others, but, dare I say, disconnected from God.And if you've ever felt like that, like you're going through the motions, trust me, you're not alone in that. So let me ask you this question. Have you been busy but still empty inside? Just think about that for a second.Have you been busy but still feel empty inside? Because a year ago, that was me. My faith felt like a movie that I was just watching, not a life that I was living.Sure, I knew the words, I knew the verses, I knew the right answers. But my heart felt far. And I really couldn't figure out why. Because I wasn't doing bad things. I just wasn't doing life giving things.And then I discovered something.Now, I'm not going to tell you about anything trendy or complicated, and certainly not flashy, but just five intentional daily habits that brought my faith back to life. Now, it didn't happen overnight. Was it some magic pill? But steadily and quietly and faithfully. And so today I want to share them with you.And I'm not doing this to put more pressure on you. I just want to give you a path. I want to give you a way home. Because what if you're not broken? You're just drifting. Truth unveiled.Light breaking through the dark. You're worthy remains when the world falls apart. Hey, friend. I'm Ralph Estep Jr. And this is Truth Unveiled with Ralph. Here's the heart of the show.We live in a world disliked. It's confusing. And to be honest with you, for me, it's spiritually exhausting. And every week on this show, we just slow down a little bit.We take that noise and we hold it up to the word of God because you don't need more opinions. I could give you opinions, but you don't need those.What you need is the truth that will steady your soul, truth that brings you home, truth that helps you walk with Jesus in real life. So my goal today is simple. I want to help you go from that empty feeling to feeling alive again. Are you ready to come back to God one step at a time?Well, let's get to it. The truth is, we live in the most connected time in history. And if we're looking at it honestly, we might be the loneliest generation ever.We've got apps for everything. I open up my iPhone. There's an app for every single thing. But the truth is, we don't have any peace. We've got constant information.We're bombarded from all directions, but we don't have any quiet. Sure, we've got entertainment on demand. We can do whatever we want. 24 hours to take. I remember, as a Kiwi say, there's nothing to watch on tv.That's not even an issue anymore. But we don't have any deep joy. So culture tells us to lie. It says, just hustle harder, achieve more. Look the part.Stay busy, stay visible, stay impressive. And we've let our days get packed with work and errands and kids and the deadlines and the bills. But our faith.Faith gets pushed to the back edge, doesn't it? Yeah, maybe an hour on Sunday, if that. Now, a lot of people aren't even doing that. And I'm not judging you.Or maybe it's a quick prayer when things break. How many times you found yourself there. Maybe you post a verse on your social media, but you don't really absorb it. And then we start to drift.Now, we're not drifting into scandal, but we're drifting into distraction, into this constant numbness, into a feeling of, I'm fine. And, yes, we speak the language of Christianity, but there's a gap.There's a gap between what our head knows and what our heart is really experiencing. And that gap right there creates spiritual emptiness. This lukewarm routine. It's comfortable, yeah. It's predictable. It's safe. But it's hollow.What if your soul is starving quietly right now? Because the quietest drifts aren't dangerous. You don't notice them in one day. You notice them when you wake up.And like I was feeling, you feel far from God. And over time, you can't remember just how you got there. Well, let's put some truth under this feeling.The US Surgeon General warned about an epidemic of loneliness and isolation and reported that about one in two 50% have experienced loneliness in recent years. And that matters, because loneliness isn't just a mood. Loneliness is a doorway. It's a doorway to numbness. It's a doorway to compromise.And it's a doorway to deep despair. And it's not only social, it's spiritual, because your soul was designed for relationship with God. And there's something else here.Listen to this one. A very large majority of Americans still believe in a soul or spirit. That's a great thing. So we see the hunger there. There's awareness there.But that daily connection to that is declining, and it's declining fast. Daily prayer has dropped significantly over the past couple decades. And when prayer becomes rare, peace becomes rare as well.But I don't want to be all negative today. There is hope. There are signs of a hunger returning.Research has shown a rebound in Bible reading in the US And I think that's a great thing, especially among younger generations. So hear me on this. People are hungry. Maybe you're hungry right now. People are opening up the book again.But many just don't know how to turn reading into that relationship. Sure, they're holding the map in their hands, but they just don't know the way home.So let me ask you, what if you don't need more guilt, but you just need a better daily rhythm? And see, for me, it came to a head on a random Tuesday night. Nothing miraculous about it. I was lying in bed.I had my phone in my hand, like so many of us do, just scrolling endlessly. And I wasn't doing it because I really enjoyed it, but I didn't know what else to do. And I felt this profound emptiness.And at that moment, I looked at my life and all the noise around it, the busyness and all the effort, and I realized something just deeply crushing. None of it was satisfying, the deep longing in my soul. And I wasn't just tired. I was spiritually starved.I was on an island, just spiritually starved. And in that very moment, I whispered the most honest prayer I had prayed in a long time. I said, God, I don't want to live like this.I feel so far from you right now. Please show me the way back. Now you can notice that wasn't some polished prayer, not some super religious prayer. Honestly.It's what I call a true accountant's prayer. Just surrender and I'll never forget it. That prayer became the start of coming home. And I just anchored it by God's unchanging word.So let's get right to God's word right now. Let's start with our first scripture today. And it comes to us from the book of James, chapter chapter four, verse eight.And it says, come near to God and he will come near to you. And I just want to give you a little context here.James wrote to scattered believers all over the world, believers under distinct pressure, believers tempted by worldliness, believers that were being pulled into conflict. This wasn't a cute suggestion for them. It was a wake up call. It was a decisive command. Let's bring this into today.First, I want you to notice the order because this is profound. You come near, then he comes near. See, God is inviting us to participation. That relationship isn't accidental. You come near, then he comes near.Second thing, it exposes the real issue. God isn't the one who drifted. We're the ones who drifted. His love never shrank. He's loved us the same the whole time, but our attention did.Thirdly, this is hope. If you feel far away right now, God isn't gone from your life. He's ready, he's near and he's waiting.What if the distance you feel is drift and not rejection? Because it's really easy to say, well, God has rejected me, but what is it saying? Draw closer and he will draw closer to you.Getting back to my story. So I realized something. I couldn't do this alone anymore. Which leads me to our second scripture reading.And it comes from the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 24 and 25. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Not giving up, meeting together, but encouraging one another again.That's Hebrews, chapter 10, verse, verses 24 and 25. You might be saying, ralph, why do you repeat that? I want you to go look at the word of God and verify what I'm saying.My grandfather was a great guy. He said, go prove what the preacher's saying. And I don't pretend to be a preacher. I'm just an accountant giving you some faith ideas.But go check it out. So let me give you some historical context here.Hebrews was written to believers under a massive amount of pressure, where following Jesus was getting costly. I'm talking about losing your life. Costly public faith could mean loss. I mean loss of your life.So the temptation for these Christians was to withdraw, to isolate, to hide. But this passage screams something that says, don't, don't do that, because isolation will weaken your faith. Well, let's fast forward to today.First thing is, faith is a we faith. It's not an I faith. It's not a you faith, it's a we faith. Well, culture screams something completely different.Culture screaming to us, individualism. But scripture calls us to family. We gotta be community together. Second thing, the word spur. Now spur is very active in language.Isn't it like stirring a fire. You can think about. I was, I built a fire in my house last night. It's very cold here where I'm at in Delaware.The temperature when I got up this morning was 10 degrees. So got to the end of my day. We have a nice fireplace and I built that fire at about 20 minutes into it. I had to go over and stir a little bit.Spur is another word just like that, like stirring a fire. If you don't stir, if I just let that fire sit, it just dies down over time. So this Bible verse is telling us to spur this, to stir it.Third thing, habit of not meeting. That's a real thing here. Because that isolation becomes a habit. You ever know anybody that doesn't leave the house anymore?It didn't start off one day. It became a little bit, a little. And then it was just normal for them. Those habits shape you. So let me ask you this.Are you consuming church or contributing to a family? And then I hit the next verse, get back to my story. I hit another verse that I'd seen everywhere, but I never actually heard it correctly.And it comes to us from Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 11. Again, that's Jeremiah 29:11. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to give you hope and a Future. Again, Jeremiah 29:11.And see, this wasn't spoken to comfortable people. I'll give you a little historical context here. This was spoken to exiles.These are people who were displaced, people who were discouraged living in a foreign land. They felt forgotten. And what's the reassurance God's giving them? God says, I still have plans for you.So let's bring this into today's modern day culture. First thing, God's plans are good. Even when life feels bad. You might be living in a season right now.You're like, Ralph, my, my world sucks right now. It's terrible. It's a terrible situation. Well, guess what? I got hope for you today. God's plans are still there. And God's plans are still good.You might not see it right now, but God loves you and he's still got good plans for you. Second thing, his promise is about his character, not your timeline. And that's not easy to hear sometimes because we might be living in a Storm.We might be in a season of despair. Maybe you're dealing with a medical issue or some family issues or some relationship issue, but God is promising you his character.And he might not like his timeline, but God's got a plan for your life. Third thing, God works in the waiting. God doesn't work after the breakthrough. God's working right now in that waiting period.And maybe right now, let me ask you this. Are you refusing today because you can't see tomorrow? And that's a hard one, because we want it done yesterday.We live in this culture right now where everything happens right away. We go grab our phone, we can scroll to exactly what we want, we can have knowledge at our fingertips.But maybe God's just sitting back and going, wait a minute, dude, I'm still here. I got a plan for you. But you're going to go through a season in your life.It may not be the breakthrough, but maybe the work is in that whole time where you're waiting for that breakthrough. And I found, in my anxiety, I found an anchor. And this is from Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 to 7. Again, Philippians 4, 6, 7.And listen, I'm going to encourage you right now. Write this one down. Impart this on your mind and your heart. Again, Philippians 4, chapter 6 and 7. Do not be anxious about anything.But in every situation, by prayer, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds. Again, Philippians 4, 6, 7. One of my favorite verses from the Bible.It's so reassuring, isn't it? And here's the historical context. Think about this. Paul wrote this from prison. Paul was in prison. Think about that for a second.He was chained, he was uncertain. But what is he speaking about? He's speaking about peace. Not some shallow positivity. Not like, oh, that's such a glowing message.No, he was talking about battle tested peace. Let's talk about how that compares to our modern day culture. First, the command isn't never feel anxious. He's not saying that to us.We are going to have anxiety. We are going to have seasons of feeling anxiety. He just says, don't live there, don't camp there, don't put your tent there.Yes, you're going to have that. You're a human being, you're a fleshly being. You're going to have those times when you're going to feel anxious. You just can't live there.I was living there. Second thing, God gives us an alternative. What does he say? He says prayer plus Thanksgiving.Sometimes it's not easy when you're in that tough situation to think about praise. How can you be grateful for this?But when you are grateful, when you put that prayer plus the Thanksgiving, reach out to God and say, I know what you're doing here. I can't see it all, but man, I'm so thankful for what you're giving me today. That gratitude shifts your focus.And what's the third thing, biggest piece of it all? Peace is promised. Now, he's not saying you're going to have a problem free life. Guess what, friends? You are not going to have a problem free life.But what does he promise you? Guarded hearts and guarded minds. Let me ask you right now, what anxiety are you carrying that God never assigned to you? It's not for you to carry.And I remember that prayer in my bedroom was the beginning of transformation in my life. And listen, it wasn't some lightning bolt, some loud thunderous thing, applause from heaven. It wasn't God speaking out to me.It was just a slow rebuilding, a steady return, a daily rhythm. I didn't need a new personality. What I needed was new habits.Because what I found is that spiritual life is built the same way for physical strength is built. Right now, I'm in a season of learning how to exercise. I've lost almost £200 in the last 10 years in this past year.And a little bit, I've lost almost £80. Now, listen, I didn't do that in one day. It was all built just the same way. You've got to build this spiritual habit.Small repetitions, doing it daily, but being consistent. So today I want to share with you five habits. And I want you to hear this clearly. This isn't about earning God's love. You've already got it.This is responding to God's love. These are the coming near things. This is a way to stop that drifting and actually start living again. Because think about this.What if your faith feels weak because it's just been unfed? It's just been starved? Well, let's stop that today. Here's habit one prayer as a first response, not the secondary plan. You think about.This relationship is built on communication. When you have a relationship with somebody, you communicate with them. Relationships fail.If you can't communicate and see my prayers in my life, and I'm speaking about me, my prayers have become a rushed to do list. Just check this off, check this off. Okay? Lord, I need you to do this. This, this.I was giving God this petition of prayers that looked more like A wish list. And I changed just one thing. That prayer became my first response, not my last resort. And yes, I'm going to be honest with you.It felt awkward at first and my mind would go blank. I felt silly. So I stopped trying to be impressive. And I started being very honest, like a child talking to a father.And maybe you've never had that strong relationship with your dad. I didn't have that relationship. I didn't know what this looked like, so I had to really understand this.But I started talking to God like he was my dad. I said things like, God, I'm tired. That was a prayer for me. God, I'm distracted. That was a prayer for me.God, just help me today get through the next 10 minutes, the next half an hour, the next hour. That's where I started. That was the first thing I did.And over time, it's kind of funny, actually, prayer stopped feeling like a duty and it started feeling like air, like it was the breath that I needed. So let me ask you right now, when pressure hits and pressure hits all of us, is prayer your reflex or is it your afterthought?You need to train your mind, train your habit to be that reflex and not that afterthought. Here's the second habit that I highly recommend, and that's word as daily bread.I think that word in the scripture is used intentionally, that daily bread, because you can't love someone you don't know. Can't love my wife if I don't know her. If I don't communicate with her, I don't understand her.And you can't know God deeply without hearing from him regularly. So stop trying to win the Bible game and start trying to be formed by it. You don't have to read the whole thing this weekend.You don't have to read it all today, just one chapter a day. Maybe just make one journal page, not some checkbox. Well, I did my Bible today. No, let God speak to you.And I remember when I was going through this myself, I asked simple questions. Yes, I questioned God. I asked questions like this, what does this show me about you, Lord? So I've read this scripture.What is this telling me about God? What am I supposed to learn from this?At the same time I turned that on me, the mirror turned back to me and I said, what does this show about me, Lord? What is this telling me about me compared to what is to show me about your character? And what do I need to change in my character?And it led me to this question. What do I Obey today. Do I obey you, Lord, or do I obey the things that culture has taught me? And, friend, I'll tell you what worked for me.That word started feeling alive in me again. And listen, it wasn't like the Bible was rewritten for Ralph. The Bible hadn't changed, but I had changed.I slowed down and I started getting back in that communion with God. And I'm asking you right now, are you reading the Word or are you letting the word read you? That's a tough one, isn't it?Here's my habit number three, community over isolation. We talked about this a lot earlier. What I have found is faith wilts in isolation, but it flourishes in community.Because for so many years, I'd become a spectator. Like I was at a football game. Yeah, I was attending, I was listening. And then service was over. I was out the back door quick.I was back in the parking lot, back on my way home. And I started to wonder why I stayed stuck. So I took a scary step. And listen, it was scary for me.You might not think this, but I'm kind of an introvert. And I joined a group at church. And I didn't join that group because I was confident. I joined it because I was desperate.And in a room of imperfect people being honest about real struggles, I realized something. Everyone around me was feeling the same way. The people that I had thought, oh, they've got it all together.I see them in this group and they're like, ralph, we're broken, just like you, dude. And I found encouragement there. And I found accountability. I found prayer, and I found a family. And when that family grew, guess what happened?My faith got warmer because love was present. Let me ask you right now, who knows your real life, not just your Sunday smile? We all can put on that Sunday smile. Hey there. Good to see you.How you doing? But who knows your real life? Who knows what makes you tick? Here's my habit number four, service that reconnects the soul.See, something shifts fundamentally when you serve, because service pulls you out of yourself. When you're having a rough day. The best thing you can do, I have found, is serve somebody else. Because it breaks that trance of self focus.We spend almost all day focusing on ourselves. How do we think about this? How are we going to respond to this? But service turns faith into movement. So I started asking one question daily.I'm going to encourage you to ask this question to Lord, how can I bless today? And honestly, it's one of the main reasons I do my daily. Financially confident Christian show. It's a daily show.You can find that@financiallyconfidentchristian.com and I encourage you to check it out. But that's my daily give back. But I want to get back to service now. For me, sometimes it was smart.It was just a simple text to somebody, hey, how you doing today? I know you're struggling with something. It was a phone call or maybe a prayer for somebody or just a kind word.When I saw somebody in the grocery store, I saw somebody in my practice here just, hey, how you doing today? Sometimes it was practical, helping someone carry a load, like physically carry something.Sometimes it was listening without rushing to get past the conversation. Listen to me for a second. How many times have you been engaged in conversation? But, man, you can't wait to be done with that.You got to learn to listen, learn to share that experience. Maybe for you it's serving at church. I started doing that myself, and.And what I found surprised me, that serving what I thought was going to drain me. I was like, oh, I'm going to be doing 10 more things. I got no time for this. But that serving didn't drain me. It actually healed me.It healed me because I was now connected to God's heart. So let me ask you right now, what if your emptiness is cured by obedience? Sort of counterintuitive, isn't it? Well, here's my fifth habit.Gratitude and forgiveness daily. It's what I call soul maintenance. Because gratitude keeps you soft. It's easy to get hard in this world, my friend, isn't it?But gratitude will keep you soft. Forgiveness keeps you free. But if you're living in that bitterness, it just clogs your spirit. That entitlement kills your joy.So for me, I just ended days differently. I ended days with three things I'm thankful for. It might seem like a silly exercise, but really lean into that. These weren't huge things.They were small things. Maybe I was thankful that I had a meal that my wife had prepared or that I was able to spend some time with my boys.Or maybe it was just a moment of peace during the day or a kind conversation. I recall talking to somebody I hadn't talked to for a while. And at the same time, I learned to practice forgiveness.Now, listen, forgiveness is not easy, but it's necessary. And I'm gonna stop right here for a second and tell you, forgiveness isn't approving wrong.A lot of people say, well, Ralph, if you're gonna forgive somebody, you're approving their wrong. That's not at all. What I'm saying, it's not about approving wrong. It's releasing the right to keep poisoning yourself.Because when you have that unforgiveness in your heart, you know what you're really doing? You're poisoning yourself. You're not punishing them, you're punishing yourself. So I let that go. And slowly peace started to return.Not because life became perfect. I'm going to tell you right now, life is not perfect.But as I let go of those things, as I lived in gratitude, as I pushed that forgiveness out to the world, my heart became lighter. So let me ask you right now, who do you need to release?Think about that person right now that you've got them tied up, but you are so angry with them. And these things could have been from childhood. It could have been any kind.Maybe a parent, a child, a former spouse, whatever that looks like for you. Who is it right now that you need to release? Because guess what? You're just poisoning yourself. Who do you need to release so you can breathe again?You're not taking away their breath, you're taking away yours. And I know there's a lot of things I covered there, but now I want to give you a model.I want to give you a simple daily framework, a handle that you can remember. Remember this when you wake up, when you feel empty, and when you feel that drift in your life, I want you to use this word, renew.R, E, N, E, W. Just five letters, but it's five daily moves, and it's a daily return to God. It starts with R. What did I start with? I said reach out in prayer.So before you grab that phone, before you start scrolling news, before you inject yourself into the world's chaos, just reach out in prayer. Just 10 minutes if you can. Maybe five minutes. One minute if you must. Just simple words, honest words, like the accountant's prayer. Father, I'm here.You think about that. That's a prayer to God. You're saying to God, I want a relationship with you, dude. I want to be connected with you. Father, Father, lead me.I start my day every morning with this. I say, lord, what is your will for me today? How will I live in your will?And then I end it with, father, give me strength today because I need his strength. Guess what? You need his strength as well. Let's move on to E. And that is engage with the word. So we start with prayer.And then we went right to engage with the word. Just one chapter, maybe just one psalm, maybe just one paragraph. And Just read it slowly, maybe underline something.Just write one sentence of how that made you feel and then ask, what do I obey today? Don't aim for volume, aim for that connection. Just one little tidbit which leads to and nestle into community.Best thing I can tell you is text someone. Just share a Bible verse with them. Share a little thought or share an encouragement with them. Show up somewhere, join a group, serve with the team.Ask for prayer. It's okay to ask for prayers. It's okay to say somebody, I'm not. Okay, we did a show about that a couple weeks ago.Ask for prayer, solicit those prayers, but at the same time, give encouragement to other people. Because your faith, if you want your faith to grow, it needs people. And it's not perfect people. It's people who are present in your life.Now we move on to E. Extend your hand in service. I want to encourage you to bless one person daily. Do one hidden act of kindness. You don't have to be on the TV about it. Just do one little thing.Pray for somebody by name. How many times have you prayed for somebody by name? Help somebody without having to put it on Facebook or YouTube.Serve without getting the applause, because this turns faith into love. And then we come to the letter W, and that's walk in gratitude and forgiveness. I want to encourage you right now, end the day with thanks.Name three gifts from God and ask, is there anyone, Lord, that I need to forgive? Yes. I'm saying to you every day, before you put your head on that pillow, ask God, is there anyone I need to forgive?Did somebody cut you off in traffic? Did somebody at work kind of give you that side eye? And you're like, you got to let that go. You got to release that weight.You got to sleep with a lighter heart. So let me ask you, which letter do you need most today? Now, let's make this doable. And I'm not expecting you to do everything at once.I just want you to take one step, one habit, and just focus on one letter. Because change begins just like it did with me, with one intentional decision. So let me ask you right now, what's your one next step?Not your next 10 steps. Maybe you start the morning with an R. Just reach out in prayer before anyone else gets your attention. Even two minutes counts.Then bring that W into your home at dinner. Ask one question of your family. What's one thing you're thankful for today? Maybe you go around the table doing it. It's a great exercise.This isn't about Preaching, it's about being grateful and just sit back and watch what it does. And maybe at work, you bring that E into your workday. Just one verse on a sticky note, you put it right there on your computer.Or one truth to return to and then practice E again and extend your hands to somebody. Bless one person. Maybe if you get up from your work someday, walk around a little bit and just say hi to somebody. Bless them with a smile.Encourage someone who looks worn out. Listen without multitasking. I'm talking about, stop what you're doing and pay attention to somebody. Listen to what they're saying to you.How many times have you had a conversation like, oh, yeah, I hear what you're saying. You're not paying attention to them. Listen to them. Turn everything else off, disconnect from everything else and listen to them.And serve without needing credit. You don't need credit for everything you do. Maybe at church. Don't just attend church, nestle into church. That's the end.I encourage you, join a small group. I think they are so under appreciated, the small groups. That's where you really can grow your faith. Join a serving team. Ask the leader to church.Your church would love to hear if you said, hey, where can I help out? Church leaders would love to hear from you. Because I want you to hear this. Church is not a show. A lot of people think church is your show.It's up on the stage and unfortunately I'm going to say something kind of counterculture and negative. But look, church has become a show to a lot of people. But it's not a show. It's not some production. Church is a family.It might happen in a church building, but the church itself is a family. And a family grows when everyone participates. Your family's not going to grow if people are just on the sidelines watching it.Here's some ideas in your mind. You know, I'm getting ready to get on my soapbox again. Audit your inputs. Audit what's coming in.If your phone is forming you, it's also going to drain you. Maybe create a simple boundary. No scrolling for the first 15 minutes of your day, or no scrolling for the last 15 minutes.Say to myself, that is sacred time. That is the time when I reconnect to God.I look at the gratefulness, I forgive those people who have slighted me, and just take that time and replace it with prayer, replace it with scripture, and maybe just replace it with stillness. Because we live in a noisy world where things are going on all the time around us. So Let me ask you right now, what are you feeding your soul?Harsh question. But I asked that out of love. Because what you're feeding your soul is what is it producing for you? Because that's really the question, isn't it?So this week's challenge, I want you to do. Renew for seven days. Now listen, I'm not expecting you to be perfect. I've used the word intentionally many times today because that's the key.Write those letters on paper, put it on your mirror and ask each day, which letter do I practice today? And friend, right now I want to speak gently here. Some of you feel emptiness because you're not just drifting.You're completely disconnected from God. Not by accident, but by sin, by that self rule, by you running your own life. But there is good news here.Jesus came to this earth to close that distance. He lived a life that you couldn't live. He died at that. That you deserve. That I deserved. But guess what? He rose again. And he offers forgiveness.He offers new life. He offers a new heart and a real relationship with God. Not some fancy religion, not some discipleship, not relationship.And if you want to surrender to Jesus today, or maybe you have and you need to come back to him today, just pray with me. Say this in your own words. But Mia, just speak it out loud wherever you are right now, Lord Jesus, I need you. I admit that I have sinned.I've gone my own way, Lord. And I've tried to fill emptiness with everything else. But today I believe that you died for my sins, Lord. I believe you rose again.And so right now, I turn from my old life, my old ways, Lord. And I trust you as my Savior and my Lord. Please forgive me. Make me new. Fill me with your spirit.Teach me to walk with you daily, starting right at this moment. Thank you for saving me, Lord. And I ask this in Jesus name. Amen, friend. If you prayed that, I want you to hear this. Welcome home.God's not disgusted with you. God is not distanced from you. God has welcomed you because you belong to him. What if today is the day you finally come home?Well now let me close this slowly because I want you to think I want this to sink deep today. That emptiness you felt, maybe you're still feeling, it isn't proof that you're hopeless. It's proof that you were made for more. You are made for God.You are made for his presence. And you don't get there by trying harder anymore. You get there by coming closer to him.By coming near those small steps, those daily habits, that steady rhythm. That's how drift is reversed and that's how warmth returns. And that's how faith truly becomes alive again. So here's today's message in just one line.Spiritual renewal isn't found. It's not going to be found. It's built through daily nearness to God and friend. You don't have to do this alone.That's why we built the Truth Unveiled Community. The Truth Unveiled Community is a place to be encouraged. It's a place to be strengthened. And it's a place like we talked about. Renew together.And I want to encourage you right now. Go to TruthunveiledwithRalph.com/join again. That's truthunveiledwithRalph.com/join.And when you join, you're going to get our free resource called the Family Digital Wisdom Guide. Because much of our emptiness today comes from what's discipling our minds at home.So let's take some time right now and bring wisdom back into your house. Let's bring peace back into your heart and and let's bring nearness back into your faith. And let's see this Lord right now. Draw my friend near.Restore what's grown cold, heal what's grown weary. Fill what's been empty and lead them home one day at a time. And we ask this in Jesus name again. I encourage you.Join us today at truthunveiledwithRalph.com/join. Thank you for joining me today. I truly love you. God bless you and I hope to see you again next week.