5-Day Devotional: Missional Connection & Mutual Refreshment

Day 1 — Connected to Those We Can’t See
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16:1–4


Believers in Corinth joined a weekly collection for Christians they would never meet. Gospel connection creates a family that stretches across distance, culture, and circumstance. Like the Choctaw giving to the Irish famine victims, love in Christ doesn’t wait for visibility — it simply responds to need. The Spirit forms in us a heart that gives even when we won’t see the results this side of glory.

Prayer: 
Lord Jesus, widen my heart beyond what I can see. Teach me to love the unseen members of Your body with joy and generosity. Free me from the idol of convenience, and let my connection in You produce refreshment in others. Amen.

Action Step: 
Choose one global or local ministry serving believers you do not know personally and give a small but intentional gift this week.

Quote:
“Wherever there is compassion, there is Christ.” — J.I. Packer

Day 2 — The Costly Beauty of Hospitality
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16:10


Paul urges the church to give Timothy not minimal acknowledgment but extravagant welcome. Gospel hospitality rolls out the red carpet for weary saints — not because they’ve earned it, but because Christ welcomed us when we were at our worst. Hospitality becomes an embodied blessing: easing burdens, restoring courage, and lifting shame.

Prayer:
Father, make my life a doorway of welcome. Help me receive others the way You have received me in Christ — fully, joyfully, and sacrificially. Replace hesitation with love and reluctance with readiness. Amen.

Action Step:
Invite someone who is weary (or on the margins of your community) into your home, schedule, or circle this week with no expectation of return.

Quote:
“Hospitality is letting God use your life and home for His purposes.” — Rosaria Butterfield

Day 3 — Jesus Absorbs the Ultimate Cost
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16:13–14


Standing firm, acting with maturity, and loving sacrificially all flow from Christ’s substitution. Jesus experienced our thirst, disconnection, and rejection so that we might receive refreshing connection in Him. Because He absorbed the greater cost — shame, status-loss, suffering — we can absorb the smaller costs of time, money, and emotional effort.

Prayer: 
Lord Jesus, thank You for absorbing the cost I could never pay. Let the cross break my selfishness and reorient my heart to grace. Help me count it joy to bear small costs in light of Your great love. Amen.

Action Step:
Identify one area where you’ve been resistant to sacrificial love (time, resources, emotional energy). Do one concrete act of costly love today.

Quote:
“At the cross Jesus stands in the place where we ought to stand, bearing the weight we were too weak to carry.” — Fleming Rutledge

Day 4 — Refreshment Goes Both Ways
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16:17–18


Paul openly admits he needed refreshment — a beautiful sign of mature humility. Christian connection isn’t one-directional charity; it is mutual strengthening. When we open our lives to others, we not only refresh them — we discover our own thirst. And we find that God meets us through ordinary believers who carry extraordinary grace.

Prayer:
Holy Spirit, make me humble enough to receive refreshment and courageous enough to offer it. Remove pride, fear, and isolation from my heart. Let Your grace flow freely between me and others. Amen.

Action Step: 
Share one area where you need encouragement or prayer with a trusted believer today.

Quote:
“We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Day 5 — Living Out Our Connection in Christ
Scripture: John 15:4–5 + 1 Corinthians 16:19


Our truest bond is not ethnic, cultural, or social — it is our union with Christ. His welcome is what enables us to welcome others. His refreshment is what empowers us to refresh others. As we stay near Him, the Spirit produces a costly, joyful love that moves toward people who cannot repay us and may never even thank us.

Prayer:
Jesus, thank You for placing me in Yourself — for welcoming me when I had nothing to offer. Let Your love move through me toward those You love. Make my life a display of Your sacrificial, refreshing grace. Amen.

Action Step:
Ask God to reveal one person you can intentionally refresh this week. Then do something small but specific to honor, encourage, or strengthen them.

Quote:
“Christian love is not efficient. It is extravagant, poured-out, patient, and willing to be interrupted.”
— Makoto Fujimura