Scriptures: Psalms 34:9, Psalms 23:1, Isaiah 58:11, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Philippians 4:19

No Way! 

Honor the Lord! You are his special people. No one who honors the Lord will ever be in need. 

Psalm 34:9 (CEV) 

Ever feel like nothing is going right, and nothing ever will? Like there’s no way your impossible dreams will ever come true? 

Amanda Berry Smith must have felt discouragement many times in her life. Born a slave in 1837, her family was separated from her dad on another plantation. However, with her grandmother’s prayers and father’s hard work, they earned their freedom. Still, they were poor. Amanda married a soldier and had a baby, but then he died in the Civil War. Talk about hard times! 

Amanda kept believing in a mighty God. Eventually she became a traveling Bible teacher telling people in America about Jesus. An opportunity came to go to England, and within a week she was on a ship headed there. She preached in England for over a year when a door opened for her to go to India… and then Africa! This former slave and poor widow had no way to make these things happen. But God did! She honored him, and he took care of her. 

When you feel like there’s no hope, you can pray to the same God as Amanda. Are you going to give up, or keep asking and watching for how the Lord will work? Where there is no way, God can make a way! 

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

Grab a piece of paper and make up a doodle-code for each key word or phrase in our verse, such as a cross shape for Lord. Then write today’s verse in doodles. 

• honor =
• you =
• people =
• need =
• Lord =
• special =
• no one =

PRAY 

All-powerful God, thank you for taking care of me. When things seem hopeless, please show me the way.

Scriptures: Philippians 1:6, Psalms 40:5, Isaiah 55:10-11, 1 Corinthians 1:7-8, Philippians 1:9-10

God Sees the Little Guy 

God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won’t stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns. 

Philippians 1:6 (CEV) 

Ever feel like a little kid in a big world? How can God keep track of you when he’s got bigger things going on? Zhang Boli knows that feeling. 

In 1989, Zhang and thousands of others in China met in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. They were protesting the government and demanding freedom when suddenly the authorities sent in tanks and troops. They killed hundreds and hunted down the ringleaders. 

Zhang fled to the north and hid with an old farming woman. He met Jesus when she asked him to read her handwritten copy of the book of John from the Bible. When he later tried to flee China for safety, he got lost in a blizzard and almost died. How scary! Trudging through the snow, he promised God he would serve him if he lived through the night. He did survive and kept trudging on. 

Despite a few additional bumps in the road, he finally made it to America, where he became a pastor. Today, he continues to help the Chinese people. Out of all his troubles, God worked out his plan for Zhang. 

So, keep trusting God. Even though you are young, God sees you and is using everything in your life to help you grow in Christ. 

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

Know someone who is a strong Christian? Ask them how God has used their experiences to make them who they are. Ask the following prompts about those turning points in their lives. 

• How they learned about Jesus:
• Who prayed for them:
• A hard time God brought them through:
• What Jesus is teaching them now:

PRAY 

Lord, thank you for what you do for others and me. Please keep leading and growing me.

Scriptures: Isaiah 58:6, Psalms 147:11, Proverbs 14:31, Matthew 25:40, 1 John 3:17

Their Way vs. God’s Way 

I’ll tell you what it really means to worship the Lord. Remove the chains of prisoners who are bound unjustly. Free those who are abused! 

Isaiah 58:6 (CEV) 

“If I say anything, I will lose all of my friends.” 

We’ve probably all had that fear, but Angelina Grimké knew it was true. When this South Carolina slave owner’s daughter spoke out against slavery in the early 1800s, she lost her friends and most of her family. 

Angelina had to move to Pennsylvania. There she continued to have compassion for the slaves and to speak out against slavery. She wrote letters and booklets that caused riots and book burnings. She gave speeches all over the northern states. At one talk, a mob outside threw rocks into the windows. Angelina spoke louder, saying the slaves had to endure worse things. 

How did she stay so brave? She wrote a letter to a friend detailing how she was poor and defenseless in herself, “but rich and strong in the help which our Master is pleased to give.” Jesus helped her! Even when she lost everything, she chose to follow Jesus and worship him with her obedience. 

How about you? Are you bowing down to what others say so you can fit in? When you choose God’s way, you can trust he will take care of you. 

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

Communication matters! When someone says something that is against what God says, it’s important to stand up for what is right by letting them know what they said is wrong. God can help you find the words. Practice what you might say by writing a few responses in a journal or on some paper. 

PRAY 

God, I want to choose what is right and good, even if it costs me. Please give me strength.

Scriptures: Psalms 103:3-5, Psalms 103:9-10, Isaiah 58:11, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Ephesians 3:20-21

From Thief to Giver 

The Lord forgives our sins, heals us when we are sick, and protects us from death. His kindness and love are a crown on our heads. Each day that we live, he provides for our needs and gives us the strength of a young eagle. 

Psalm 103:3-5 (CEV) 

“Stop! Thief!” 

To George Müller, it wasn’t an insult. Back in the 1800s, George was just a kid and often stole from his father and others. He acted like it was a game—until he landed in jail at the age of 16. His father bailed him out. What truly changed him, though, was when he went to a Bible study and met God. George gave his life to Jesus there. 

But what could Jesus do with a former thief? He could use him to save thousands! God led George to open orphanages in England. Kids who were homeless and stealing food for survival now had a place to go to be cared for and educated. George never asked people for money for the orphans, but he always asked God to provide for them. And God did! He sent people with food or money just when they needed it. 

By the end of his life, George Müller had given away the equivalent of over 100 million dollars. This former thief died with very little money to his name, but thousands of people came to know Jesus through him. 

God forgives and changes people that way and uses their lives for the better. There’s nothing you’ve done, no pit you’ve fallen into, where God can’t rescue you and then use you to do amazing things! Are you ready to change the world? 

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

Which phrase from this week’s Scripture passage means the most to you right now? In a journal or on some paper, draw that phrase. Make notes about how God has done this for you or write a prayer asking him to do it for you. 

PRAY 

God, I may make a mess of my life, but you can fix it and use it. I want to be used by you to change the world! 

Scriptures: Psalms 51:10, Psalms 51:1-2, Ezekiel 18:31-32, Matthew 16:24-25, Colossians 2:13-14

Changing Everything 

Create pure thoughts in me and make me faithful again 

Psalm 51:10 (CEV) 

Knives flashing in the dark. Cursing. Fights. Hatred because of the gang he belonged to. Nicky Cruz’s life as a New York City street gang member was full of all these things. 

As long as he could remember, Nicky was surrounded by violence. During his childhood in Puerto Rico, his parents abused him, practiced witchcraft, and called him a son of Satan. When he moved to New York, he decided to be the toughest on the streets. 

A pastor started talking to Nicky about Jesus’s love, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t have the courage to admit he was wrong and change his life. Instead, Nicky beat, mocked, and avoided the man. But with death all around him, he began to realize he had to change. He listened to the brave pastor who kept talking to him until one night he prayed. 

Nicky knew he needed a completely new life. He needed a new heart with new desires, thoughts, and feelings. He asked Jesus to forgive him and take over his life. And Jesus did! Nicky’s nightmares stopped. Joy replaced hatred. Telling people about Jesus became his new passion! 

If Jesus could do it for Nicky, he can do it for you and the people you care about. Pray and ask him to help you change today. 

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

What bad thoughts, feelings, and attitudes do you struggle with? Write them in a journal or on some paper. Think about what you want your heart to be filled with. Ask Jesus to change your heart. 

PRAY 

Jesus, thank you for your love. Please forgive me and change me. Take control of my heart.

Scriptures: Psalms 40:3, Psalms 103:10, Isaiah 43:25, Matthew 16:25-26, John 12:24-25

An Attitude Adjustment 

…and you gave me a new song, a song of praise to you. Many will see this, and they will honor and trust you, the Lord God. 

Psalm 40:3 (CEV) 

Stubborn and hot tempered, Betty Olsen just couldn’t seem to get it right. She was always angry, and it often boiled over. Where did all her anger come from? She was sent far away to another country for school because her parents were missionaries. Then her mom died. Later, Betty resented that her dad remarried. 

Though Betty wanted to serve God, and even be a missionary, she couldn’t seem to get over her anger. But then, a pastor started to counsel her. Slowly, Betty gave God total control of her life and God helped her to stop being angry. She changed her tune and had an attitude adjustment. God has the power to change willing hearts! 

Betty was sent to work at a Vietnamese hospital in 1964. When Betty and other missionaries were captured and placed in terrible conditions, Betty stayed strong and helped others. When the guards threatened to shoot them, Betty stubbornly told them only God would decide when they die. Confused, they lowered their guns. 

Sadly, she died while in captivity. Still, the other missionaries remembered her kindness to everyone. That’s the kind of change only God can make in someone’s life! 

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

Go on a spy mission: Observe the people in your life. Make special note of one person who has a positive attitude. Watch how this good attitude affects others. Jot down a few notes in a journal or on some paper about what you learned from their good attitude. Then pray for God to help you have an attitude adjustment where needed, too! 

PRAY 

God, thank you for changing people’s attitudes, including mine.

Scriptures: Psalms 34:6, Psalms 28:8, Psalms 33:17-18, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Philippians 4:19

More than Enough 

I was a nobody, but I prayed, and the Lord saved me from all my troubles. 

Psalm 34:6 (CEV) 

Preena needed help. Amy Carmichael also needed help. 

It was 1901 in India. Amy had come to the country from Ireland to tell people about Jesus’s love. Now, a little girl named Preena stood before her, desperate to escape from people who wanted her as a slave. 

If Amy kept her, they would need protection from those wicked people—not to mention food, clothing, a home, and so much more! 

At that time, as a single woman from another country, Amy didn’t have much power or money. Preena had nothing. But with the Lord, these two nobodies had more than enough! 

Amy was willing to do whatever God said. In the face of great danger from awful enemies, Amy rescued Preena and then hundreds more children, too. She even used coffee to stain her skin so she could blend in and go places to save more kids. The Lord kept them safe and supplied everything they needed. 

Amy was brave because she knew a powerful, loving God was helping her. She was absolutely confident her God cared for these little children. She watched him help them again and again. 

Maybe you feel powerless to help the nobodies in your world. Ask God to show you what you can do, and watch for great things. 

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

Rewrite today’s Scripture verse in a journal or on some paper to help you commit the verse to memory. As you do, ask God to show you a tangible way that you can help a nobody this week. After all, in God’s eyes, they are certainly not a nobody, but they are somebody very important and loved! 

PRAY 

God, help me do big and small things to help others. You care for the nobodies!

Scriptures: Psalms 42:8, Psalms 37:4, Psalms 145:19, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 3:20-21

When God Sings 

Every day, you are kind, and at night you give me a song as my prayer to you, the God of my life. 

Psalm 42:8 (CEV) 

The stars surrounded her. All she could hear was the drone of her little plane, oh—and a Mexican-band radio signal crackling through her headphones at times. She banked the plane and saw the twinkling airport lights. She thanked God for this great gift and repeated over and over in her head the words from today’s Bible verse: “his song is with me” (from the ESV Bible translation). 

Ever since she could remember, Elizabeth Greene loved and wanted to serve God. Her second passion was flying. By the age of 16, she had saved enough money to take flying lessons. A few years later when World War II broke out, she joined the Air Force. She was placed in the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) unit, an elite group of women who flew planes around the world to where they needed to be for battles. She was grateful for the experience, but her heart’s desire was to use flying for Jesus somehow. 

After the war, she got that chance. Elizabeth helped start an organization called Mission Aviation Fellowship. She began flying missionaries and their supplies around the world. Using her gift of flying to help spread the word about Jesus was the best life she could have dreamed. 

What dream do you have for your life? With God on your side, you can do amazing things! 

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

When do you feel happy and close to God? Ask him to show you how to use things you love to tell others about Jesus. Write today’s verse in a journal or on some paper. 

PRAY 

Thank you, Jesus, for giving me unique things that I’m interested in. I want to use them to shine the light of Jesus everywhere I go!