Purpose & Calling Devotionals

God isn't looking at your ability. He's looking at your availability.

God isn't looking at your ability. He's looking at your availability. He'll supply the rest.

I told everyone there was one city I would never plant a church in: Dallas-Fort Worth. God has a sense of humor. Thirty families in a rented office asked Lisa and me to come, and everything in me said run. We stayed. Moses argued with God for two chapters before he said yes, so you're in good company if you're scared of what you're called to.

These devotionals on purpose and calling are for the person who doesn't know what they're supposed to do with their life, and the one who knows and is scared of it. Before you're called to a career, you're called to reach up, reach out, and reach in.

Start Here

A Life Re-Centered

Matthew 6:33

Matthew 6:33 calls us to seek God’s kingdom first, reminding us that a centered life begins not with striving, but with surrender and alignment to His presence and priorities. As we step into a new year, the invitation is to reorder our hearts around Jesus—letting Him be the foundation from which everything else flows.

All Devotionals

A Wide Berth

26:4-5

Proverbs 26:4-5 reads like a contradiction until you see it's a framework rather than a formula: sometimes silence answers the fool, sometimes a measured word does. Criticism has arrived as anonymous letters and now as posts, but the discipline stays the same — you don't have to read every word written about you. The wide berth isn't retreat; it's a strategy that guards your calling and the people who actually matter.

Wisdom That Destroys

James 3:14-16 exposes a counterfeit wisdom that looks impressive but runs on bitter envy and selfish ambition. James refuses to soften it, calling this wisdom earthly, unspiritual, and even demonic, because wherever envy and ambition live you find disorder and every evil practice. The hard truth is that this rot starts in the heart, not the environment, and naming the ambition we've dressed up as drive is where honesty begins.

The Talent in the Ground

John 10:10 and Matthew 25 remind us that Jesus calls us into abundant life, and that fear, delay, and playing it safe can quietly rob us of the purpose and gifts God has placed within us. This challenges us to stop burying what He has entrusted to us and to take one faithful step today toward the life He designed for us.

It Didn’t End in Round Eight

Isaiah 43:18–19 calls us to stop living trapped in past failures or former highs and to recognize that God is always creating something new. Even when life feels “over,” He specializes in comeback stories—reviving purpose, opening fresh doors, and turning what looked like loss into a future filled with hope.

Stay Salty

Luke 14:34–35 urges us to remain spiritually sharp and distinct, warning that a faith that blends in and loses its edge is no longer useful for God’s purposes. Staying salty means daily choosing passion over passivity, conviction over compromise, and closeness to Christ over comfort.

Questions

How long is each devotional?

About five minutes. One passage, a short reflection from Ed, and one thing to do or say that day.

I don't know what I'm called to do. Is that a problem?

Then you're the person these were written for. Ed says God isn't looking at your ability, He's looking at your availability. The passages here start there.

Is my calling the same as my career?

Scripture says the calling comes before the job title. Before you're called to a career, you're called to reach up, reach out, and reach in. These devotionals unpack all three.