Beyond The Bare Minimum: Living The Second Mile Life

This episode of All In with Pastor Jordan Easley has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you. Welcome to All In with Pastor Jordan Easley. Today's message is about to begin, and we invite you to prepare your heart and mind to hear an inspiring message from God's Word. We hope and pray for God to speak to you today as you seek to live your life all in for Jesus Christ. And now from First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, here's Pastor Jordan Easley. You know, there's a lot of things about Christianity that everyone knows, but there's some things that are still a little bit confusing. One of them is my very first point, and that is this. There's a big difference between becoming a Christian and actually being a Christian. Those are two completely different things. You see, becoming a Christian happens in a moment, a moment where you place your faith in Jesus Christ, a moment where you ask him to forgive your sins, a moment where you accept his grace, you receive his salvation, you're born again. How many of you have had that moment in your life? You can remember that moment, right? You were becoming a Christian, and that is a beautiful moment in your life. That's a beautiful moment in your story, but it's just that. It's just a beginning.

You see, being a Christian is more than a spiritual moment. It's a lifelong journey. It's a daily commitment to live differently, to love radically, to follow Christ completely. That's the message that Jesus was communicating in Matthew chapter five. As we're watching Jesus navigate the words of the Sermon on the Mount, we're seeing Jesus tell a different story about what it is to truly follow Christ. He was preaching to people who were following him with their feet. They were claiming to believe in him with their heart, but Jesus tells them, following me isn't like following other rabbis. When I'm talking about the kingdom of God, I'm not talking about a different religion or a different set of rules. Jesus told them, if you follow me and become one of my disciples, then you need to know I have some expectations for you. Think about that, disciple. Jesus says, I have expectations that you are the salt of the earth. I expect you to be the light of the world. I expect your life to make a real difference for my kingdom. Jesus said, I've called you out of this culture and I've called you into a new culture, a kingdom culture. And when you surrender to my standard,

your life will be set apart for my purpose. You see, when your life is set apart by Jesus, your life will be lived differently because of Jesus. Jesus didn't call you just to believe in him. Jesus called you to be like him. Somebody say amen to that. He's called us to be like him. That means choosing grace over revenge. It's choosing generosity over selfishness. It's choosing humility over pride. He's called you and I to live a counter cultural life. One that doesn't resemble the world. One that may not even make sense to the world. And in today's passage, Matthew chapter five, beginning in verse 38, Jesus is going to challenge us once again to a standard that goes against everything our flesh desires. He's gonna tell us not only to avoid revenge, but to actively choose love. He's gonna tell us not that we should meet expectations. He's gonna say we should go far beyond expectations. He's gonna tell us not to protect our rights. He's gonna say, lay down your rights for the sake of the gospel. According to Jesus, that's what being a Christian actually looks like. See, Jesus didn't call us to a title. He called us to a total transformation. And today, Jesus is going to give us some prime examples

of how that transformation should change the way that we live our lives. He said, if you're a kingdom citizen, by the way, show of hands, how many kingdom citizens do we have in the house? A lot of us, right? He said, if you're a kingdom citizen, number one, you should refuse to retaliate. Refuse to retaliate. Look at his words in verse 38. Jesus said, you have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you, don't resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. Now, if you're writing your Bible, circle that word slap. That's a interesting word, a very specific word for a very specific kind of slap. In fact, if you look up that word literally, it refers to a backhanded slap. That's why it says to hit you on your right cheek. If somebody backhands you with their right hand, guess what? or where they're gonna hit you, on your right cheek. And so it's a backhanded slap, which in the first century Jewish culture, it was considered to be a major insult to somebody else. And that's why it's so important that we understand the details of these words. Because a backhanded slap, it wasn't considered to be an act of violence.

Sometimes we read that, even as early Christians or children are like, somebody hit you in the mouth and you just let them hit you in the other. You know, you're like, what? This wasn't an act of violence. It was just considered to be a common insult. In our culture, if someone were to insult you with their words, you would call that a backhanded compliment, right? You've heard that before? That's where this comes from. This is a backhanded compliment. It's an insult to someone else. Well, in Jesus's day, 2000 years ago, there were two primary things that would make a Jewish person very angry. One would be if you spit in their face. Number two would be if you were to slap them with the back of your hand. In fact, if you notice, those two things happened to Jesus later on in the story. In fact, in Matthew 26, verse 67, it said, then they spat in his face and beat him. Others slapped him. Now, in this verse, that's the same word that Jesus is using here in Matthew chapter five. It's a backhanded slap. It's an insult. Hey, may I ask you a personal question?

If someone were to insult you to your face, if they were to humiliate you in public, if someone spit in your face right now because they were angry at you, if they backhanded you on the right cheek, what would your natural response be just in the flesh, right? What would your natural response be? What would you say? You got a fist out, you're ready. You said, I slap them back. Anybody else? Anybody just wanna knock somebody out if that happened to them? That would be my response. I think in the flesh, as a human being, if someone were to do that to me, my response would be to knock them out. Now, I think Jesus understands that about us. I think he understands the way that we're wired. And he also understood that the way the Jewish people were wired was the exact same way. So when he's speaking this word, he's speaking to people, understanding what is natural. But I want you to see that Jesus doesn't call us to the natural. He calls us as believers to the supernatural. And in this passage, he says, if someone slaps you on your right cheek, do what? He said, turn the other one to him. Let him slap you on the left.

That's not a natural response. Not for me. It's a supernatural response. Where I need the Lord if I'm gonna do that. Anybody else say amen to that? I need a whole lot of the Lord if that's gonna happen. But that's what Jesus is saying. He's like, you need a whole lot of the Lord for this. This is a supernatural thing. And what Jesus is communicating is this. Don't retaliate when someone wrongs you. That happens, doesn't it? Shake your head if you've ever been wronged. It happens. And when you're wrong, Jesus said, don't retaliate in the flesh. Don't let them see your natural side. Let them see the supernatural side. In fact, notice back in verse 38, Jesus tells us don't resist an evildoer. That word resist literally means to oppose or to fight back. Jesus said, don't do that. I know that's your reaction. But when someone hurts you, someone wrongs you, don't resist the evildoer. Don't retaliate in a natural way. So Jesus is speaking to us, Christ followers. And this is the message. He said, the life of a Christian

should respond to opposition differently than those in the world. And that's a challenge to us because we have to rely on Christ to make that happen. But when it comes to things like retaliation or revenge or retribution, Jesus tells us that we should have a different response in the spirit than other people responding in the flesh. In fact, Paul gives us further instructions in Romans 12, verse 19. He says, friends, do not avenge yourselves. Do you see that? Instead, leave room for God's wrath because it is written, vengeance belongs to me. I will repay, says the Lord. Lord said, revenge isn't up to you. Revenge is up to me. So he's saying you'll never get even by trying to get even because that's not your job. But at the same time, I want you to understand this as well. I do not believe that this verse is commanding Christians to be a doormat for bullies. I don't think this is Jesus saying, hey, you ought to get pushed around and be a victim of constant abuse. That's not what Jesus is suggesting here either. I want you to see, what does he say? He suggests two cheeks, not 38 cheeks. He didn't mention a hundred cheeks. He mentions two cheeks.

And this is a principle that he is preaching. In Romans 12, 18, Paul says it this way. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Well the way that's written says most of the time it is possible. However there are some times where peace simply isn't possible. You know I heard a story about a small man, a little man, that walked into a restaurant to have lunch one day. And as he walked into the restaurant, sitting down at the bar, there was a big burly man on a bar stool. This burly man walked over to him without any invitation or any preparation and he just walked up behind this little guy and chopped him on the back of the neck, dropped him to the ground and the little man's lying flat on his face, very upset and very confused. This big burly man stood over him after doing that and he said this, that's karate from Japan. What? So the little guy gets back up, he goes back to his booth and he starts eating his lunch again and he's just minding his own business when all of a sudden this big burly guy walks up to him about 15 minutes later but this time he picks up the little guy, puts him over his shoulder, slams him to the ground and with everyone kind of wondering what's going on, he stands above the little guy again and says this, that's judo from Japan. It's like what in the world? This guy finally just says, you know what, I'm out of here. He gets up, he walks out of the restaurant and everybody thinks the little guy just got, he got upset and he just left. But 15 minutes later this little man walks back in but only this time he returned, went right behind this big burly man, cracked him over the head, stood over him and said, that's crowbar from tractor supply, right? Listen, sometimes self-defense isn't only warranted but it's necessary. And today Jesus is reminding all of us that forgiveness, not revenge, should always be our first response.

So far in this message we've seen Jesus say in the kingdom culture you and I should refuse to retaliate but then he takes it a step further in the next verse and this is what you're going to hear him say. You should also release your rights, release your rights. Read verse 40, it says, as for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well. Always thought that was a really weird verse. Never really understood the backstory or really the meaning behind it until recently. You see, this situation that Jesus is describing here is actually very common in the first century. Remember, back in those days people didn't have many possessions. They didn't have a lot of things. So if someone were to sue another person or take them to court and they didn't have the money to pay the judgment, one of the most common things that people would possess was clothing. But there was a law in that day that was very clear to say you could legally take a man's shirt, which was the inner tunic. It was like an undergarment that everybody had. You could literally take a man's shirt but the law said no matter what happens you cannot take his coat. That's the Greek word hemation. You cannot take his hemation because it's an outer cloak. It's an outer garment. And the reason that was the law was because a man's coat, his hemation, was essential for survival. In those days the hemation was used as a blanket on a cold winter's night. In fact, in Exodus 22 it talks about that. It says in verse 26, if you ever take your neighbor's cloak, same word, as collateral, return it to him before sunset for it is his only covering. It is the clothing for his body.

What will he sleep in? And if he cries out to me, I will listen because I am gracious. So right here is another example of what this coat was and really how important the coat was in that day. So when I read that, I try to put myself in their shoes as I'm reading this text. And I'm trying to understand the cultural mindset as these Jewish people were standing on this hillside listening to Jesus speak this message they had never heard. I mean culturally speaking, every single Jewish person there that day knew my coat is protected. My coat, it cannot be possessed. It cannot be taken from me no matter what. Nothing legally can happen for someone to take my coat. My coat is my right. I am fully entitled to keep my coat. Well but then Jesus. goes up and he speaks up and in doing so he's going to say something that goes both beyond the law of the land and the Mosaic law and he's going to tell these people these Christians if you follow me and if you lose a lawsuit as a Christian and the judgment doesn't satisfy the plaintiff and there are still hard feelings between the two of you then you should voluntarily offer to give up your own coat offer to give them more than they deserve that way you'll not only be able to settle things legally but also morally ethically and relationally this idea goes completely beyond human instinct altogether am i right I mean it's almost like you and I have been hardwired to fight for our rights right we've been we've been hardwired to defend our rights and right here Jesus is going to tell us but to live as Christ sometimes means you must be willing to release those rights to release those rights and do things a little differently I heard a story about Bill Walton you guys know that name basketball player when he was a young man he was playing basketball for a coach named John Wooden and he found out very quickly that in order to play for John Wooden you also had to lay down a few rights see coach wouldn't had a rule

on his team against facial hair no questions asked you couldn't have any facial hair whatsoever and be a part of the team well one day Bill Walton showed up to practice after about a 10-day break and when he showed up to practice he had a full beard he walked up to the coach and coach looked at him and he said Bill did you forget something and Walton said what what coach are you talking about the beard coach is like yeah I'm talking about the beard so Bill Walton looks at his coach John Wooden and says hey coach I need to tell you how I feel I feel like I should be allowed to keep the beard after all this is a free country after all this is my right as a citizen coach wouldn't looked at him he said do you really believe that he said yes sir I do I believe that very much and coach wouldn't looked at him and he said well Bill I need you to understand something I have great respect for individuals who stand up for the things in which they believe great respect I really do and if you believe that that's your right if I were you I would die for my right to defend what I believed in Bill Walton looked at his coach almost surprised like wow coach are you serious that's awesome it's great to hear how you feel and then he said is that it and coach wouldn't said yes sir that's it and I just want you to know that this team is really gonna miss you you see the coach determines the standard on the team the coach determines the standard on a team and if you want to play on that team you've got a rise to that standard and in the same way Jesus determines the standard for Christianity and he lets us know if you truly want to follow Christ there's also a standard in which we've been called to live here's what we've heard Jesus say so far today if you're a follower of Jesus you should refuse to retaliate if you're a follower of Christ you should release your rights and the third thing Jesus is going to say to us today is this if you're gonna follow Jesus be prepared to run the extra mile run the extra mile look at verse 41 Jesus says and if anyone forces you to go one mile go with him too when Jesus spoke these words Israel was an occupied territory meaning it was controlled by the Roman Empire the Romans were in charge and they were enforcing their laws over all the people and in those days there was

one particular Roman law that absolutely outraged the Jewish people it was a law that they absolutely hated because this law said that a Roman soldier could force notice that word in the text they could force a Jewish person to carry all of their stuff for one mile so if you're a Jewish person you came face-to-face with one of the soldiers in town they could look at you and at any point they can say here you go you've got this for the next mile every burden I have you're carrying it for one mile they would take off their helmet they would hand them their sword all of their heavy equipment their knapsack all of the things they were carrying were now to be carried by the Jewish people for a mile and the Bible says they were being forced to do this sometimes without warning you know history tells us that Jewish boys would mark off the one mile marker from their houses indicating the exact distance that they had to walk whenever they were forced to do so you would walk that mile to the very foot you can imagine these little boys walking to that line and they would walk to that line and on that drop their stuff, they would look at that Roman soldier probably with a look of disgust, then walk back and begin to head home. It's easy to understand why these Jews hated the Romans so much. They were bullied, they were being oppressed, and it had to be humiliating and very inconvenient to do what the law was requiring them to do. So understandably so, in that day, the Jewish people were trained to do the what? The least amount required. The least amount. They lived by this principle that said, I'll do what I have to do, I'll walk the mile I have to walk, but man, I ain't walking a step further and I've got to go. And that was the common understanding in that day. You can just imagine the expressions on the faces of the people as Jesus spoke these words for the very first time. Can you imagine, with that kind of as the mindset, that as the cultural understanding, can you imagine Jesus saying, but guess what? If someone forces you to go one mile, go with them two.

That had to be like a say what moment in the Bible. If you're in the crowd, you're like, what did he just say? He did not just say what I think he just said. Did he just say what I think he just said? He did, didn't he? It had to be one of those moments. Because that is something that no Jew would do on their own. It was completely unnatural and had to sound crazy to the people. But once again, Jesus shows us when you go that first mile, it's required. But when you go the second mile, it's rewarded. This is the only thing that made sense in that day. And it's the only thing that makes sense for today. Why would I go beyond the natural, do something that requires the Lord, which is supernatural? And the reason is because you are serving a supernatural God. And that supernatural God says, when you will go that first mile, that's what's required. When you go the second mile, you're not walking for him, you're walking for me. Can you see Jesus saying, when you walk the second mile, you're not walking for them, you're walking for me. And I'm the one who rewards the second mile. And that's so true in both principle and promise. In Matthew chapter six, verses three and four, Jesus teaches that acts of righteousness and obedience done with the right heart are seen and rewarded by the Father. So in essence, when we go beyond obligation, when we serve others beyond expectation, it not only represents the character of Christ to other people, but the Bible says it positions our life to be blessed by our God. Colossians 3, 23 says, whatever you do, do it from the heart as something done for the Lord and not for people, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. And then he reminds you once again, you serve the Lord Christ. Listen, going the second mile was never a suggestion from Jesus.

If you're a kingdom citizen, going the second mile is an expectation of Jesus. He said, this is the standard. If you're following me, this is the standard. If you believe in me, you go the second mile in everything you do. So far, we've seen him say, we must refuse to retaliate. We must release our rights. We must run the extra mile. And lastly, we must respond with radical generosity, respond with radical generosity. In verse 42, Jesus said, give to the one who asks you and don't turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. This is one of those verses where a lot of people have questions and we kind of wonder, where's the line for what he was talking about that day. Now the implications here is that a person doing the asking has a real, genuine, legitimate need in their life. And I believe Jesus clearly says here, if you're a Christian and you come across someone that has a real legitimate need in their life, you should be quick to help meet that need. Now does that mean that you're required to respond to every foolish need you come across? Does that mean you're supposed to give something to everybody that holds up a sign on the side of the road? Does it mean that you're supposed to give to every single person who sends a request to your email inbox? Man, I hope not, or we're all in trouble. I get hundreds of those messages every single week. And sometimes those messages in your inbox, they even appear at first sight to seem legit. For instance, this week I received nine different messages, nine different messages from people or organizations that I do not know anything about. I don't know them. They don't know me. But all nine of those messages were asking me to give money. to help feed orphans.

Now, we love feeding and taking care of orphans in this church, we do. But man, when you get nine requests, at some point you're just like, seriously? I always send a response to these kind of requests. In fact, I did that this week. And here's what I typically say, something like this. I say, I'm not gonna give you money today. Not until I know more about you, know more about your organization. But in the meantime, I'd love to connect you with our national or our international mission agency and see how we can serve you, how we can come alongside you, and how we can help meet the needs of the kids that you're serving. And man, when I send messages like that, I'm talking about 99.9% of the time, I never hear another word from them. I don't know where they go, but apparently they went somewhere else. But that happens all the time. People are always asking. Every single week in our church right here, and probably every other church in this town, we'll have a large number of people that we don't know show up on our doorstep asking us to give them money. And they'll say, I need money right now for whatever reason, to feed my kids, or to pay for a hotel room, or to buy a bus ticket,

or to pay for some gas in my car. And we will always respond to that and say this. We are not gonna give you money right now. However, we want to meet you at your point of need and come alongside you. We may offer to feed them a meal, or to give them groceries through our manna pantry for the whole week, or find out how we can bless them in the name of Jesus. And we say this over and over again. And you'd be shocked at some of the responses that we get. Understand, we always offer to help. But when we say we can help you, we want to pray for you, we want to come alongside you, God loves you, we want to share the truth with you, many times people get so angry, so irate, that they will scream profanity in our face. You're like, why is that? Well, it's because we don't immediately give them the cash that they're asking for. You hear me when I say this, there is a big difference between people looking for help and people looking for a handout, amen? Have you seen that in your own story? There are a lot of people that are looking for a handout today. But the truth is, there are also many people in our community, people even within our church family, who have very real, legitimate needs in their life. And Jesus tells us, part of being a Christian,

part of having a heart of generosity that reflects God's heart of generosity is seeing those needs and doing everything that you can to help meet those needs. That's what God's called us to do in the family of God. The Bible says in Psalm 112, verse five, good will come to the one who lends generously. It's the same thing Jesus is saying in Matthew five. He said, give to the one who asks you and don't turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. That word give, by the way, is the Greek word didomi. It's literally translated to give freely and to bestow upon someone with no expectation of return. So it's saying, man, you see someone with a legitimate need, you ought to be willing to give to that person in a way where you don't even expect to get it back. Proverbs 19, 17, kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord and he will give a reward to the lender. Once again, when you go the second mile, you're not giving it to them, you're giving it to him. And he promises that he will reward those who demonstrate a second mile generosity in their spirit. Listen, we as a church model the second mile principle when it comes to how we steward the resources God entrusts us with. And you need to know that. As a giver, as a supporter of this church family, you need to know that this is a church that does what God's telling us to do.

Last year alone, we gave over $1.4 million to help meet needs missionally right here at home and around the world. That's a lot of money. But $1.4 million were given to do what Jesus is telling us to do. We gave hundreds of thousands of dollars through the manna pantry. We fed countless families in this community. In the past year, we've built homes for the needy. We've dug wells in villages that didn't have access to clean drinking water. We've served widows and orphans and we've helped displaced children be placed in foster homes with Christian parents. We've supported the homeless. We've given designated dollars to keep people warm during the winter months. That's just the tip of the iceberg, but you need to know that's the heart of our church. Generosity isn't about what's in your wallet. Generosity is about what's in your heart and what's in our heart as Christ followers ought to look like the God that we serve. And that's not just true for. us individually, that's true for you as a family, that's true for us as a church family, that's true for you as a business owner. I believe that our heart for generosity oughta look like God's heart for generosity as well.

And then you need to know as a church, we're never gonna do the least amount required. That's not what God's called us to do. God's called us to go beyond the bare minimum and live a second mile life as individuals, as families, and as a church. And we're gonna continue doing that in the future. But I want you to think about this personally today. Go beyond the church and think about you. And ask this question, ask can I say right now without a shadow of a doubt that I am living a second mile life? I mean, in all four of these categories, are we able to say yes, Jesus, as a follower of Christ, that's the life that I've signed up for? I mean, go through all four of those once again. What is a second mile life? That means refusing to retaliate. Listen, when someone wrongs you, does your supernatural response look different than the natural response of others? Think about that. How do we respond when people insult us? Are we giving grace or are we seeking revenge? He said release your rights. In other words, trust God and let go of those things that you feel entitled to. Are you running the extra mile? Think about that. Are we demonstrating love

or are we going beyond what's expected? Are we going beyond that which is obligate, the obligation? Because he said, you know what, we're all obligated to run one mile. But when you go the second mile, that's where God gets the glory. The fourth one, respond with radical generosity. He's saying give as God has given to you. When I think about the second mile life, I think about the life of Jesus. And think about how Jesus modeled every single thing that we've talked about today. It's not like he just tells us to do it and didn't do it himself. No, Jesus lived a second mile life himself. Jesus didn't retaliate. When he's facing the worst opposition in the world, what happened? He modeled grace. He modeled strength. Jesus gave up his rights. Philippians 2, seven says he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant. He became human for us. Think about how Jesus demonstrated that. Jesus walked the extra mile, did he not? That extra mile went all the way to Calvary. His extra mile ended at the foot of the cross. And last but not least,

Jesus gave us way more than we deserve. Hey, what has Jesus given you? Forgiveness, grace, mercy, salvation, eternal life. Jesus modeled the second mile life. And you know what? He said, I have an expectation for those of you who follow me that your life is lived in that same way. But you know what? We won't unless we are fully surrendered to Jesus. If I get that in your notes today, you won't live like Jesus until you fully surrender your life to Jesus. So you try to live the second mile life in the flesh, guess what? You're gonna fall short every single time. Because naturally, that's not the way we're wired. But supernaturally, through the power of God, being equipped by God, we can live the life that God's called us to live. And our life will make a difference for him. Becoming a Christian is easy. Being a Christian, not so much. But Jesus said, if you truly are a Christian, people will notice. Because you'll love differently than anybody else. In John 13, verse 35, it says that Jesus said, everyone will know that you're my disciples if you love one another. So in other words, when you receive the love of God,

you should have a desire to reciprocate that same kind of love to people around you. Hey, why should we demonstrate these characteristics? Why should we trust God as we live the second mile life? Well, he says in 1 John 4, we do these things, why? Because Christ first loved us. So let me just challenge all of us today, those of us who know Jesus, to live for Jesus. And let me challenge us all to go the extra mile in your kindness and your patience and your faithfulness and your generosity and your devotion and your love and how you express it to other people. God says, everybody goes the first mile. When you go the second mile, you put a smile on my face. Isn't that good? Let's put a smile on his face this week. Lord, today, I thank you for your word, I thank you that God, all of us are on a journey and God, for those of us who've been saved, I know you have saved us and equipped us for such a time as this. Lord, prepare us to make a difference for you, for your kingdom. Allow us to live differently because of what you've done in our life and Lord, I pray as we demonstrate the love of Jesus to other people, they will see the difference you've made in our life and they'll want that. And Lord, today, if there is someone in this place within the sound of my voice that doesn't know you as personal Lord and Savior, they've never experienced salvation that comes only through Jesus. Lord, I pray that today would be the day of salvation. Lord, if there's someone here today that has uncertainty about eternity, God, I pray that you would clear that up in the name of Jesus and save their soul today. Lord, for those of us who've been saved, help us live like it.

Lord, I pray that we'll live our life understanding we belong to you. You are our God, our Savior, and our Lord. Help us to live surrendered to who you are and surrender to the life you've called us to live. Lord, thank you for including us in this work, this mission, and in this church. I pray that we will give glory to you through our life today. It's in Jesus' name we pray. All God's people said, amen and amen. As a pastor, the best advice I can give you for your daily walk with Jesus is to start each day in the Word. While this may seem obvious, many people struggle to find the time to pause for just a few moments every single morning and to spend time with the Lord. I want to help you find the right balance to start your day by offering easy-to-read daily inspiration through the All In Daily Devotional email. Each daily devotion includes a passage of scripture and some food-for-thought commentary that can be read very quickly. These few minutes can help center your mind on Jesus and prepare you to face the day's challenges. You can subscribe right now by scanning the QR code on the screen or by visiting our website at GoAllIn.tv. I pray these devotionals bless and encourage you. And thank you once again for tuning in. And I look forward to seeing you next time on this station for a new episode of All In next week. Until then, may you stay strong in your faith with Jesus and continue to go all in with Him. Hey, we never want to end our broadcast without giving you the opportunity to know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. If you'd like to make the decision to trust Jesus and want to know more about what it looks like to follow Jesus, get in touch with me right now.

Follow the instructions at the bottom of the screen so that we can pray for you and also put information in your hands right away. Today we celebrate your decision and look forward to being a part of your personal journey of going all in with Jesus Christ. This episode of All In with Pastor Jordan Easley has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you. We hope today's message encourages you as you strive to live your life fully committed to Jesus Christ.