Monday 15th – The Well-watered Garden – Part 2.
A continuing story from John Partis
Some moments change everything—not because circumstances suddenly become easier, but because truth brings understanding where there was once confusion.
In Part 1, an unexpected family outing became far more significant than anyone anticipated.
Now, the story deepens.
Questions long buried begin to surface. Painful gaps in understanding start to make sense. What once felt like rejection begins to look very different through the light of revelation.
But this is more than a story about the past.
It’s about healing.
About compassion replacing hurt.
About relationships that may not be beyond restoration after all.
And just when it seems the most important discovery has already been made… another unexpected moment brings something remarkable to light.
A moving and beautifully unfolding story of grace, reconciliation, hidden treasure, and the God who restores dry places in ways we could never predict.
Perhaps this is the question to sit with this week:
What if understanding someone’s hidden pain could change everything? Look out for Part 2 this week on Bearing Kingdom Fruit
Friday 29th – Who Are You Trying To Please?
Our Sermon on the Mount devotional journey continues with Part 9: Who Are You Trying To Please?, written by Jill Partis.
Some of Jesus’ words comfort us. Others quietly search the hidden places of our hearts.
This is one of those reflections.
It’s possible to do all the right things outwardly and yet be driven by the wrong motivations inwardly. To serve faithfully, give generously, pray sincerely—or so it appears—while quietly craving approval, affirmation, or recognition from others.
But Jesus always looks deeper.
This next devotional invites us into an honest heart check—not simply about what we do, but why we do it.
Whose approval shapes our decisions?
Whose praise do we long for?
And what happens when our desire to be accepted by people begins to compete with our desire to please God?
This is a thoughtful and gently challenging reflection on authenticity, hidden motives, and the freedom that comes when we learn to live for the audience of One.
As we prepare for this next step in our journey through the Sermon on the Mount, perhaps the question to sit with is this:
Am I living from the security of God’s acceptance… or striving for the approval of others?
Join us this week as we continue exploring the beautiful, searching words of Jesus.
