DAILY DEVOTIONAL

A 5-Day Reflection Guide

Sermon Series

Alive

Week & Topic

ALIVE

This Week’s Big Idea

This week’s devotional is drawn from our ALIVE series, originally shared during the Easter season. But resurrection isn’t an Easter message—it’s a Christian life message. The empty tomb isn’t simply something we celebrate once a year; it changes how we live every day. This week, we’re going back to those truths and asking a simple question: If Jesus is alive, what does that mean for the way I live today?

Today's Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:20–22 (NIV) “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”

John 12:24 (NKJV) “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”

Today's Seed

There’s a huge difference between burying something and planting something. From above the ground, they can look exactly the same. Something becomes covered and disappears into the dirt. You can’t see it anymore. Nothing appears to be happening. Buried says it’s over, but planting says, something’s coming.

On Friday, Jesus looked buried. He had been arrested, beaten and crucified. His body was taken down from the cross, wrapped in grave clothes and placed inside a borrowed tomb.

A stone was rolled across the entrance. To the disciples, it looked final. They weren’t waiting outside the tomb counting down to Sunday morning. They were grieving. Hiding. Afraid. They thought it was over.

But Jesus had already told them how to interpret what was happening. A seed was going into the ground. What looked like burial was actually planting. And Easter morning forever changed the meaning of buried. Because buried things are finished.

Planted things have a future. Resurrection isn’t pretending painful things aren’t painful. It means we can surrender even those places to a God who knows how to bring life out of death.

Your surrendered pain may feel buried—but God can turn it into testimony. Your obedience may feel hidden underground—but eternity may reveal a harvest you cannot see today.

Surrender can feel like loss, but we can surrender, because resurrection means God gets the final word.

Friday wasn’t the final chapter, and the cross wasn’t the end. And perhaps you may discover that what feels buried today wasn’t buried after all, it was planted!

Beneath the Surface

Paul calls Jesus the “firstfruits” in 1 Corinthians 15:20. The Greek word aparchē refers to the first portion of a harvest—the beginning that points toward more to come. Jesus’ resurrection wasn’t an isolated event. It was the beginning of the harvest. The firstfruits were proof that death had not won and that more life was coming.

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Buried things are finished. Planted things have a future.

Tend the Garden

Spend a few quiet moments reflecting.

1. Is there an area of your life you’ve already labeled “finished”?

2. What makes that situation feel buried rather than planted?

3. How would your perspective change if you believed God could still bring something redemptive from it?

4. What pain, disappointment, repentance or hidden obedience do you need to place into God’s hands today?

water the seed

Think of one situation in your life that feels buried. Instead of asking only, “Why did this happen?” begin asking, “God, what could You grow from this?” You don’t have to manufacture an answer. Simply surrender the situation and give God permission to reinterpret what you have called finished.

Grow this in me

Father,

Thank You that Friday was not the final chapter. When something in my life feels buried, help me remember the empty tomb. Teach me not to call finished what You may still be working in. I surrender my disappointments, my pain, my broken places and the things I cannot understand. Turn pain into compassion. Turn broken seasons into testimony. Turn repentance into freedom. And when my obedience seems hidden and nothing appears to be happening, give me faith to trust what You are doing beneath the surface. Because Jesus is alive, death does not have the final word. What I surrender to You is never wasted. Help me trust that planted things have a future.

In Jesus’ name, Amen

Resurrection isn’t just something we celebrate. It’s a reality we step into. The same Spirit. The same power. The same life. Jesus is alive—and because He lives, we can live ALIVE.

Looking ahead

Day Three — The Same Spirit Lives in You

It’s possible to believe Jesus rose from the dead and still think of resurrection as something that happened a long time ago. But Paul makes an astounding statement: “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.” Tomorrow we’ll move from the empty tomb to what resurrection means on an ordinary Tuesday—the same Spirit, the same power, the same life.