Hello Caleb, I was struggling to find a devotional so I’ll just write my own. Let’s start with seven days, then go from there. You ready? Good! Let’s get going.

Here’s how to get the most out of this: before you begin, spend some time in prayer asking God to help you commit to the full seven days. It may not sound like a lot, but usually when we try and step out in faith, things seem to just come up—often outside of our control. So invite God into this process… I mean, after all, it is for Him.

Each day will have a Scripture reading, brief teaching, insight questions. Remember, the goal is not to get done, but actually practice the art of spending quality time with God.

Helpful hints:

Read the Scripture through completely, then go back and break it down. This will help you understand the context and avoid misinterpreting something.
Journal your responses. Even I am tempted to just think of the answers in my head, but there is something special that happens when we write our answers out. Not only do we tend to retain more, but seeing the words either written or in text allows us to engage with our thoughts visually—making abstract ideas more tangible. (Think about how when you were a kid, the movie heroes were great, but the story really came alive when you played with the action figures… when you could touch and feel the story.)
Be completely honest with yourself during this time of growing close to God. Resist the temptation to give “churchy” answers, or respond with safe answers. In that first prayer before beginning a good thing to ask is that God would make known the parts of yourself you may have been avoiding or aren’t even aware of.
Enjoy this time. Our words have power… even the ones we think in our mind. Start telling yourself know that you’re looking forward to growing in your faith and being more intentional in your pursuit of God.

Again, Caleb, I’m really looking forward to getting to know you and serve you. And I know God is eager to have you draw closer to Him as well. Know that I’m praying for you and ready to encourage and support you as needed. It’s going to be hard work, but you’ve already proved that hard work doesn’t scare you.

Quick Thoughts
Tim Elmore writes in his book Habitudes for Communicators that “people only change when they: know enough that they can; hurt enough that they have to; and/or care enough to want to.”

During my sophomore year, to get laughs, I was a jerk to one of my fellow teammates on the swim team—it definitely would have been classified as “bullying” by today’s standards. She was actually cute and very pleasant, but for some reason—and I’ll understand if you never want to listen to me again, haha—when she would get out of the pool I would make a sniffing noise and say, “Anybody smell that? Smells like wet dog.” (Bro, see what I mean… what’s my problem?!)

The thing about swimmers is that they tend to be strong. So one day when I pulled this shenanigan she curled her fists and headed right toward me. Gulp. Next thing I know she was pummeling me, like hard. Really hard. (And of course I wasn’t going to fight back.)

After she exhausted herself, by which I mean the strength finally left her as I watched her spirit break, I remember immediately going to prayer. I’ll never forget praying that I’d give up being funny if to get laughs meant hurting someone else.

For me, I finally cared enough and I allowed God to work on my heart—to change me. While I don’t know the change you are searching for, I do know this: we should strive to be our best selves and that means being opening to growth even if what we’re wrestling with seems insignificant or harmless. We should want to be better tomorrow than we are today—especially as leaders.

My prayer for you Caleb is that God would use this time to supernaturally mold you—just as He has done and continues to do for me—toward a more intentional and intimate relationship with Him.

Scripture Reading
Read Proverbs 1:1-33; Romans 12:2

Talk It Over

How would you explain to a friend, that doesn’t attend church, what it means to fear the Lord?
What kind of knowledge have you received from the Lord because of your personal reverence or worship toward God?
(Verse 8) Where could you obey the instructions of your parents more intentionally?
What’s something foolish you know you need to either cut back from doing or remove completely? Why does this even matter?
What was most useful for you from today’s devotional?

Prayer
Start by giving thanks and confessing areas you know have weakened your relationship with Him. What do you need? Ask for it. What do you need to let go of? Ask Him to help you lay it down. Throughout, take time to be still and listen. Prayer is a conversation, and overtime, you’ll begin to hear Him more and more.

My prayer for the longest time was (and still is): “Lord, help me want to love You, to know You and to serve you.”

Have a great day man!

Quick Thoughts
I probably would have been around seventeen or eighteen years old when I started working on the second phase of my flight training: the instrument rating. I had completed my “first solo” at sixteen and within a year or two had obtained my private pilot’s license—which the training was mostly straightforward.

The instrument rating differs from the private training as the pilot shifts their focus from outside to inside, learning to fly without using visual cues like the horizon. This training teaches the pilot to trust the instruments—not how they feel—when operating in clouds or areas of low visibility. One might call this the “faith” portion of the training: believing in and trusting in that which cannot be seen.

To replicate such an environment, the pilot being trained wears special glasses, called a “hood,” that prevents them from seeing outside of the cockpit. To further complicate things, the instructor will simulate instrument failures by covering certain instruments periodically.

My instructor began to really put me through the ringer during this phase by covering some of the most necessary instruments. This forced to navigate via an imprecise and archaic system that dated back to the 1930s—yes! Thirties! Over and over we’d fly approaches in this manner, and it seemed like I’d never get it. So naturally I felt like I should quit.

I don’t remember when I confessed my struggle to my father, but I do remember his reaction. He said I could NOT quit. Now, sometimes there are things we need to quit. As a matter of fact I wrote about them HERE. However, other times it’s best to stay the course whether we want to or not.

I remember being upset to the point of tears about his decision—thinking that he didn’t understand just how difficult it was. What I couldn’t grasp at the time was his wisdom: to not burn down the entire forest to clear out one tree. He was teaching me about commitment.

We see that today in Proverbs two. The writer is calling for commitment: to search for wisdom like treasure. Why? Verse 5 says so that “you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God” which produces understanding and wisdom. (What good is it if when trying to pass through a closed door one knows all the components that comprise the doorknob but does not understand how it works—or possess the wisdom as to whether they should even pass through in the first place.)

Here’s the thing, as you dive deeper, get ready for life to push back against your progress. We all live by certain “instruments” that help us navigate life. But as some of those become “covered,” when life seeking God intentionally starts to get difficult, resist the urge to quit. G.I. Joes says, “knowing is half the battle.” The other half is understanding how to fight and having the wisdom to chose to do so.

Scripture Reading
Proverbs 2:1-22; James 1:5-8

Talk It Over

Why is committing to seeking God’s understanding and wisdom personally important to you?
What is the difference between knowledge, understanding and wisdom?
When it comes to faith and life, what are some things you desire to have a deeper knowledge, understanding and wisdom about?
School life is plagued by drama. What piece of knowledge, understanding or wisdom (or combination thereof) is missing that causes the drama you encounter?
In this pursuit, this commitment to faith, James instructs us not to doubt when asking for wisdom. Where is God calling you to trust Him more, to be more dependent on Him?
What was most useful to you from today's devotional?

Prayer
Continue to give Him thanks for the ways He’s interacting and revealing Himself to you. And also, pray (“cry”) for wisdom. But as a caveat: trust Him. Be cautious not to put limitations and expectations on God. Pray in faith and “without doubting.” And again, spend some time being still.

Quick Thoughts
Have you ever noticed how seemingly insignificant things can make a huge difference. For instance: the comma. I love the meme that reads, “I like cooking my family and pets.” Followed by, “Don’t be a psycho, use commas.”

Our faith has some of its own idiosyncrasies. Take for instance the words belief and trust. We use them interchangeably. For example: “I believe in God,” or “I trust in God.” But do they mean the same thing? This short story puts these two word’s definition to the test:

   Onlookers gasped with amazement as Marvin, the tightrope-walker extraordinaire, masterfully crossed Niagara Falls on a three-inch tightrope, all while simultaneously rolling a large wooden barrel in front of himself. After arriving safely to the platform, Marvin addressed the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, do you believe I could cross back to the other side with someone riding in the barrel?”
   Knowing his track-record for success and having just watch him pull off his last walk with such precision, the audience replied, “Yes! We believe you could roll that barrel back with someone inside.”
   A smirk came across Marvin’s face as he asked, “Who is willing to volunteer?” The audience fell silent. The audience believed, but they did not trust.

But wait, the author of Proverbs 3:5 writes, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…” whereas Jesus says in John 3:15, “… so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.” Here’s the little thing that makes all the difference: cultural context.

In our dictionary, belief is an acceptance of something as true. So naturally we might say we believe in Jesus—we accept the Gospel as truth. But as noted above (given our Western cultural usage), belief can be divorced from trust—that’s how we can say we believe in God but still not trust Him with our finances, relationships, future, etc. So let’s go to the original context used in Scripture.

In verse 5, trust in its original sense means to “believe in a person or object to the point of reliance upon.” As for believes in John 3:15 it means, “to believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance” in someone worthy.

What commonality did you see? Reliance, right? Which is to say dependance: to trust “on another for support.”

In their original context, both trust and believe are meant to elicit, or draw out, the same response from us: dependance on God. (What does God want to hear from His people more than anything? It’s, “I need You.”) He knows this is the most freeing thing we can do and it displays the truest love toward Him (as we recognize all that He generously provides); our response becomes an authentic obedience:

We can joyfully tithe, because we know He already abundantly provides for our needs.
We can have a healthy marriage that glorifies Him because both husband and wife put aside their selfish ambitions and seek the will of the Father during times of struggle.
We can find peace in times of disappointment when not getting what we thought was supposed to be our “dream job” because we trust where He leads us will far exceed our own expectations.
We can experience peace and comfort when we experience loss of a loved one by trusting in His sovereignty. (I could go on and on.)

When we truly trust, our commitment to Him increases because we realize all good things come through Him. (How foolish it would be to center our life upon anything other than Him.) And that’s what this Proverb is all about: trusting that if you put God at the center, even should you experience hardship, you will be able to lay your head down on the pillow at night in peace—your “sleep will be sweet” (verse 24). We can trust that He is able.

We have an abundance of casual Christians who are missing their incredible calling to make an impact in this world, and ultimately for the Kingdom, because they believe, but don’t trust.

Scripture Reading
Proverbs 3:1-35; John 3:15-18; James 2:14-24

Talk It Over

What are some things you find difficult to wholly trust God? (Think about the things you’re trying to handle on your own apart from Him.)
Where in your life do you underestimate God’s power? (For example: one may believe God can heal a major illness, but in their heart they might struggle to trust that He can or will.)
What “good” are you currently withholding from others? (Verse 27)
What was most useful for you from today’s devotional?

Prayer
Later in the Book of James, the author mentions that we often don’t pray for what we need, which we hit on yesterday, but then he goes a step further to mention that we don’t receive because we ask with the wrong motives (James 4:3). Today in prayer, ask God to search your motive for the things you ask of Him. Ask that your desires would become the same as His desires. I often pray that He would give me eyes to see as He sees, and a heart that breaks for what breaks His.

Quick Thoughts

Over halfway through! Hopefully you’re already sensing a deeper connection with God through your time spent reading and engaging with His Word.

Okay, so we’ve covered the fear of the Lord, intentionally committing to pursue His guidance and wisdom, and then trusting that guidance and wisdom. Today we’re going to look at an area to put into practice these truths we’ve been exploring.

Proverbs 4:23 reads, “Watch over your heart with diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” So we are to intentionally care for our inner self: our feelings and thoughts, etc., guarding them above all other things guarded because our thoughts drive our actions, and our life is the culmination of all our actions. “Garbage in, garbage out,” as they say.

Proverbs 5 addresses our first “heart” area to “watch over”: Purity.

I don’t envy your generation. Sure, sexualization has continually escalated throughout the generations, and different cultures throughout the ages have explored their sexuality outside the guidance and wisdom of God. But for your generation, seemingly innocent platforms like Instagram (and of course Snapchat) promote and even celebrate sex on the world’s terms.

So how does one care for the purity of their heart? 2 Timothy 2:22 instructs us to “flee from youthful lusts…” since our body is vessel for the Holy Spirt, to be used for His purposes. Philippians 4:8 reminds us to “[fix our] thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Why does this really matter? Okay, so marriage is designed as a means to glorify God, right? And a faithful marriage does just that when two completely different people become one under God. In a healthy marriage, it’s not perfect, but it is filled with love, patience, kindness, forgiveness, grace, mercy, etc. (And sexuality expressed between the two inside of God’s plan isn’t limiting, but life-giving to the marriage.)

So you want to honor God and prepare for a healthy marriage now? It starts with Fleeing and fixing. Two words that could save almost every marriage. The only thing I would add would be the wisdom from James 5:16 in that we are to “confess [our] sins to one another, and pray for one another so that [we] may be healed”—contextually meaning the restoration of spiritual health.

In short, find a friend that sticks closer than a brother and keep each other accountable in fleeing and fixing, and diligently watching over all matters of the heart. This will help you to not “trade the ultimate for the immediate,” as Pastor Craig Groeschel says.

Scripture Reading
Proverbs 5:15-23

Talk It Over

What does the author mean when he writes, “Drink water from your own well”?
What apps, movies, or other media do you consume now that has the potential to damage your marriage one day?
As a Christian teen, what’s the question about sex or sexuality that you’ve never asked, or has been asked but needs further clarification?
Who can you trust to keep you accountable to a pursuit of purity?
What are some things you can fix your thoughts on that are “excellent and worthy of praise”?
What was most useful for you from today’s devotional?

Prayer
Ask God to search your heart for areas of impurity. Since today’s focus is toward sexuality, think about areas of lust, or ways you might be tempted to objectify women—or see them as objects for personal gain. Pray for the strength to not just resist, but to flee when the purity of your heart is under attack. Ask God to mold you into a man of God who is worthy of a woman of God by fixing your thoughts on that which is pure.

Quick Thoughts

Hey man! Hope you’re having a great weekend. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your desire to grow closer to God. I also am enjoying the Snap STREAKS! and random snaps.

So yesterday you read about intentionally caring for your inner life, specifically about purity. In today’s reading you will be reminded to guard against harboring unhealthy pride.

So what does that even mean? For some it might be a narcissistic arrogance, or that overly extroverted fratty quarterback. But truthfully there are so many little nuances of pride that seek to infect our hearts.

Here’s the one I struggle with from time to time: that I can do it—what ever it is—by myself. A silly example is when we try to bring all the grocery bags in at once. My pride causes me to never want to ask for help—thinking I’m more capable than I am, or that I don’t want to “owe” anyone. Jerry Seinfeld says he laughs when he sees a mattress tied to the top of a car cruising down the highway, observing the driver with his arm out the window resting on top, apparently ready to hold the mattress down should the rope break—“I got it; I got it,” verbalizing the driver’s thoughts.

Why is this important? Think back to day 3 when you read about what God wants to hear from us: “I need You.” You see, it’s only natural for us to want to be independent… heck, it’s an American value—a right even! But we have to be careful not to shoulder more of what’s not ours to carry. And to do that we only need to do more of what you’re doing right now: abiding in Him (spending time with Him).

Still, it’s so tempting to try and force God’s plan forward or circumnavigate it with our own plans. But we do well to remember the counter-cultural wisdom found in Psalm 27:14: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.”

What does that look like practically? Enjoy today. Man, I think it’s totally awesome you want to be a FBI agent, and I believe that is totally doable for you—you have the work ethic, attitude and capacity to achieve that role. However, live for today. Make the most out of today. Stop and be present. Embrace all the goodness around you. Sit under a tree and be completely content with who you are right here and right now. Sure, the future is exciting to fantasize about and work toward, but like you’ve already discovered, life moves quickly.

Many people have been dying to get to some level of “making it,” to be able to satisfy their pride, which revels in being identified in accomplishments and titles. But they moved so quickly what they found themselves doing was just dying… life had passed them by.

We’ll talk more about this over a phone call, but this is probably one of the most important topics we’ll ever discuss. Have a great day! Enjoy your Sunday. No, seriously. Enjoy it!

Scripture Reading
Proverb 11:2; Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 10:38-42

Talk It Over

What are some things you try to handle on your own, but know you should ask for help? What does it look life for you to ask for help? What makes it hard?
You’ve talked about the pressures of school like testing, etc., but dig deep; what’s a real worry. (Spend some time thinking about it; you might not even be aware that this is a source of stress for you.)
Looking at the example of Martha and Mary, what are your distractions, like things that are good, but probably keeping from being still with God and embracing the joy of being present in each moment like we talked about above?
What was most useful for you from today’s devotional?

Prayer
This is a great time to ask God to search your heart for areas that you struggle to depend on Him or His people. To ask Him to reveal to you any secret pride that might be setting you up for a fall or hardship. Take whatever your “I got it; I got it” thing is and invite God to shoulder the load—this is that whole putting trust into action.

(This might be a bit of a struggle to process individually, so we’ll chat about it soon.)

Quick Thoughts

Okay, I have a confession to make: I have “What’s Next Syndrome.” StrengthsFinder identifies this as having the achiever mindset, meaning I have a “constant need for achievement,” and that I feel “as if every day starts at zero” (Clifton StrengthsFinder).

I’ve heard that presidents struggle after leaving the Oval Office. Think about it: they spent their life chasing achievement and then made it to the pinnacle of their pursuit. What’s next? The writer of the critically acclaimed book, turned major motion picture, Eat, Pray, Love shares in a TED Talk how she struggles having peaked as an author in her forties. She knows every book forward will be compared to her bestseller and will fall short.

For me it was soloing at 16, then my private, instrument, commercial, multi-engine-instrument-commercial, and airframe and powerplant licenses, certificates and ratings… all by 20 years old. Then I went to an airline, quickly excelled and was hired to fly jets as a first officer a year later. And finally, captain, my ATP (the Airline Transport Pilot certificate). The highest possible certificate attainable, not to mention being given command of a jet airliner. From 16 to 24 I spent achieving.

I made it; then asked, “What’s next?”

I’m not questioning where God has led me since, but if I’m completely honest, there were (and are) areas that I allow ambition to seep into my heart and wreak some havoc. Just like purity and pride, misdirected ambition can be toxic to our heart and cause us to be discontent no matter what we achieve.

To guard against this we must obtain our identity solely vertically (from God) and not horizontally (the world), as Paul Tripp writes in Dangerous Calling. Otherwise, we’ll never be satisfied and always be chasing “What’s next”—lacking gratitude and joy.

The cool part is that ambition surrendered to God’s plan is a powerful thing! Being ambitious toward the things He has for you is a great way, as Paul writes to the Ephesians, to live a life “worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1). Peter reminds us that “God has given each of [us] a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts.” We are to “[use] them well to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10).

So we commit our plans to the Lord by trusting His guidance and timing. And we can do this because: “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men” (Proverbs 18:16).

Now, this is a bit out of the original context, but I like what a pilot friend of mine had to say about this verse. He pointed out that when we use the gifts we’ve been given, those gifts will bring us before—connect us to—the right people who can move us forward in the plan God has for us. No doubt by now you’ve heard the axiom: “It’s not what you know. It’s who you know.” Well, you don’t have to worry about “What’s next?”—your future—because of Who you know (Who knows you): the Creator of the Universe!

Work hard, yes! Yet be ambitious toward that which will bear fruit—a return for your efforts; pursue the understanding, developing and implementing of your God-given gifts.

Scripture Reading
Proverbs 18:16; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; Romans 12:5-8; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 4:10-20

Talk It Over

What something you’re worried about doing that might “completely screw up” your future plans?
Have you ever taken a spiritual gifts assessment? If not, at some point you can do so here: HERE. If you have, what are yours?
Be completely honest: describe a future you fear. (Maybe it’s a life not lived up to your perceived potential, like not achieving your desired career goals; or a child born with a debilitating illness, etc.)
What are some ambitions you have that might not be the healthiest to pursue?
Where are you tempted to receive your identity? (Horizontally versus vertically.) (For example, I met with a guy recently who said he won’t feel like he “made it”—so be content—until he’s made his first million. I can be tempted to find my value as a youth pastor in how many students attend service, etc.)
What was most useful for you from today’s devotional?

Prayer
Use your time in prayer today to thank God for your ambition and offer it to Him as a way to trust Him and His plan for your life. Ask that He would help you to understand your spiritual gifts and for opportunities to use them in service to others and the Kingdom.

Quick Thoughts

Day seven already! I’m really proud of your commitment to the devotional. My prayer is that you found the past seven days meaningful in your walk with God. And now that you’ve practiced carving more time out in the mornings, that you’ll keep this momentum going by choosing another devotional—which we can talk about during our call tonight.

Let’s jump into it: If you’re like me, you have trouble saying “No” to things. Not in a peer pressure kind of way, but in the way of finding yourself overcommitted after saying “Yes” to a lot of good things. I believe it’s in Jim Collin’s book Good to Great where he writes, “Good is the enemy of great.” The basic premise is that we aren’t able to deliver to our full capacity when our resources are stretched to thin. (If only Rome had understood this.)

Part of knowing your gifts and calling, and finding your identity vertically, is so that you can confidently say “No” to good things (even when the pressure is on), and “Yes” to the—fewer—best things. Think quality over quantity, which you’re discovering isn’t the norm anymore, especially in relationships.

So what’s part of the solution? Priorities. Not just said priorities, but actually lived priorities. Another part is identifying concerns versus responsibilities. In his book Leading On Empty, author Wayne Cordeiroy claims that 85 percent of the things we do can be delegated to others—unfortunately that’s not quite accurate for a high school student, sorry. However, the next part is: about 10 percent of what you do can really only be completed by you, and that last 5 percent, definitely only you can do it—no one else.

Identifying and focusing on your responsibilities—the 15 percent—is a better use of your energies since only you can accomplish them, versus worrying about the things—concerns—outside of your control.

In short: responsibilities are the things you can control, concerns you the things you cannot control. For example: you may not be able to control the drama (concern) at school, but you can walk away from it (responsibility).

This takes a while to develop, and in many ways I’m still working through my own overcommitments. However, it’s never to soon to start identifying and living your priorities, honing your gifts and working toward operating in the sweet spot of your calling. And when you do, this is what happens: saying “No” means doing less. Doing less equals margin time. Having margin time allows you to not only do those fewer things better and more effectively, but also have more time to seek God. And in seeking God He helps you to further clarify and live your priorities even more intentionally, and the cycle repeats. It’s a beautiful thing.

So the last thing in this study we’ll specifically address to “watch over” is to becoming overcommitted. Doing too much zaps the joy from the things your doing and opens your heart to resentment. Be on guard by learning to say “No”; and be okay with not doing everything, because having boundaries in your life is a healthy thing.

Scripture
Proverbs 25:16-17; Matthew 5:34-37; Genesis 1:1-10; 14-19

Talk It Over

Write down your priorities, then take a moment to assess whether or not you are actually living these priorities. (You can assess them by examining where you spend your time, energy and resources).
What are some of the things you say “Yes” to that have you overcommitted right now? Or where are you tempted to say “Yes” when you should say no? What makes saying “No” hard for you? (For me, it’s that I don’t like to disappoint people… so I have to dig deep and understand why I need people’s approval, etc.)
Why are boundaries important, and what are some personal boundaries you have in place? Why did you chose to implement those particular boundaries? And did they help? Why or why not. Are there any additional boundaries you need to add?
What was most useful for you from today’s devotional?
What was most useful to you overall from the past 7 days?

Prayer
Ask God to help you develop and live the right priorities. Ask Him to keep investing in your spiritual growth, and help establish clear and healthy boundaries so that you can live a life worthy of your calling—shedding the good for His great.