The Crosswalk Devotional: A Daily Devotional Christian Podcast

What does it really mean to crucify the flesh and follow Jesus daily? Romans 8:13 reminds believers that true spiritual life comes through surrendering sinful desires and living by the power of the Holy Spirit. In this devotional, Hannah Benson explores the biblical meaning of “taking up your cross,” showing how God leads us into deeper peace, freedom, and abundant life through daily surrender.
Highlights
Romans 8:13 teaches that living by the Spirit requires putting sinful desires to death.
Jesus modeled surrender in Gethsemane by choosing the Father’s will over His own.
Carrying your cross means daily surrendering control, pride, and self-centered desires.
Honest prayer and dependence on God are essential in seasons of struggle.
Abundant life is found in God’s presence, not in comfortable circumstances.
God often asks us to release things we tightly cling to so He can fill us with peace.
The Holy Spirit gives believers strength to walk in obedience and freedom.
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Full Transcript Below:
What Does Crucifying the Flesh Really Mean?
By Hannah Benson
Bible Reading:
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13 ESV).
What a way to start a devotional. Aren’t devotionals supposed to be uplifting and encouraging?
Yes.
Aren’t they also supposed to be challenging?
Yes.
What does this verse mean?
Jesus tells us in the Gospels to take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23), but what does that actually mean? Most of us don’t have a physical cross we’re called to bear.
Jesus’s cross was by no means easy for Him to carry, even though He is the Son of God.
He had to humble Himself, even to the point of death. Death by a cross was not only humiliating but the most excruciating death imaginable in those days. Matthew 26:39 (ESV) says: “And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.’”
Yes, Jesus wanted to save humanity and was willing to endure death on a cross if it was the only way. But Gethsemane shows us that as a man, if there had been any other way to accomplish the mission without the agony of the cross, He would have taken it. He chose the nails because there was no other way to save us.
Matthew writes that His “soul was very sorrowful, even to death” (Matthew 26:38b). Luke 22:43, 44 (ESV) includes that as He prayed, “And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Have you ever known anyone who has been so stressed or in such great agony that they sweat blood?
We can’t even begin to imagine how much Jesus loves us to not only die for us, but to endure the most unimaginable death possible.
If He bore the cross for us, can we not bear ours if He asks us?
But that doesn’t mean we are called to carry a literal cross.
So, what does it mean to “carry our cross” each day and to “put to death the deeds of the body”?
It starts with honesty, with ourselves and with God. Like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, it’s okay to admit we wish there was another way. Like David in many of the Psalms (Psalm 13 is a great example of this), it’s okay to tell God we’re struggling with anger towards Him.
Second, we need to be willing to surrender. As Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39b). Job is another example. He had to surrender everything he didn’t understand, his desire for answers, and recognize that God was in complete control (Job 42:2-3). What about Paul? He begged God to remove the thorn from his flesh, but God responded: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Just as the angel came to strengthen Jesus, we must rely on God’s strength to help us. We cannot rely on our own strength to carry us through.
We may want to be angry, and maybe we even think we have a good reason for it. Our flesh will tell us we have a right to hold grudges, that we deserve what we want, and that we need to be the ones in control. Sound familiar?
News flash.
We were never meant to write the stories of our lives. We may think we want to hold the pen, but that is no way to live.
Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). Abundant life comes through death and surrender. He tells us in Matthew 16:25 (ESV): “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Jesus wasn’t just talking about physical death here. As believers, we need to die daily to our wants, desires, and even the things that may be good. Anything we desire more than God needs to be put in its proper place in our lives.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
Sometimes, dying to ourselves might mean sacrificing the very thing we hold dear, what we clench in our fists and refuse to yield. You know what I’m talking about?
There have been seasons in my life where the Lord allows something I’d considered good to be removed from my life. Sometimes it’s shocking, and it hurts. Okay, let me rephrase that. Usually, it always hurts.
We were never meant to hold the pen or be the director of our story. Only God can do that.
In Psalm 81:10 (ESV), God tells the Israelites: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”
If we want to experience the abundant life Jesus has for us, then we need to “open our mouths.” If we cling to the past and what we think we want, then we don’t have hearts open to what the Lord has planned.
Don’t mistake the word “abundant” for “easy” or a life filled with material goods. The abundance Jesus promises isn’t found in our circumstances. If it were, Paul wouldn’t be able to write about overflowing joy while sitting in prison. While sometimes God does bless us circumstantially, the abundant life He promises us is found in His presence as we draw near to Him.
When God gently pries our fingers open, it’s not to leave us empty-handed. It’s to make room for His peace, which is our portion, and His presence, which fills us to overflowing.
We need to die to ourselves each and every day.
Romans 8:13 tells us that if we put these things to death, we will live. Not merely survive, but truly live.
Today, if you’re clenching your fists around something that God is asking you to yield, be honest. Tell Him you don’t want to let go. Tell Him it hurts. And then, by His strength, let it go. Whatever He asks you to surrender will pale in comparison to the abundant life He desires to give you.
Pray with me: Dear Father, I’ll be honest. I’m tired of trying to hold the pen. I admit that I’ve been clenching my fists around my plans, my timing, and my “good” things, afraid to let go. Thank You for the unimaginable way You love me and for Your death on the cross so I may live. Please give me the strength I don’t have on my own to put my self-will to death today. I open my hands and my heart to You. Fill the empty spaces with Your peace and help me to trust Your presence is my greatest good. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
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Honoring mothers is deeply connected to honoring God’s design, care, and provision for our lives. In 1 Timothy 2:15, Scripture highlights the sacred role of motherhood and reminds us that God values faith, love, holiness, and perseverance within it. In a culture that often minimizes motherhood or focuses only on parental imperfections, this devotional calls believers back to a biblical perspective of gratitude, forgiveness, and honor.
Highlights
God commands us to honor our fathers and mothers as an act of obedience.
Motherhood is a sacred calling established by God.
Many mothers carry hidden struggles while doing their best to raise their children.
Honoring mothers reflects our reverence and obedience toward God.
Forgiveness may be necessary in strained mother-child relationships.
Scripture emphasizes faith, love, holiness, and perseverance in motherhood.
Choosing honor over resentment brings healing and glorifies God.
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Full Transcript Below:
Honoring God by Honoring Our Mothers
By Lynette Kittle
Bible Reading:
“But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” - 1Timothy 2:15
It seems like these days many women are resisting the call to motherhood and forgoing having children. At the same time, bitterness towards mothers is also on the rise, with too many adult children resenting their mothers’ noble yet imperfect attempts at mothering, looking at their flaws and weaknesses more than their strengths and sacrifices.
But even if the world turns its back on mothers and motherhood, believers in Jesus Christ are called to embrace motherhood and honor their mothers, respecting God’s design and plan for motherhood, and the place of honor He has given them on earth.
God cares about how we treat, speak to, and speak about our mothers and mothers-in-law. It matters to Him because, as His family, it reflects on Him how we treat and speak about them.
As the Apostle Paul explained in Ephesians 6:2-3, “‘Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise—so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
So grave was it under Old Testament law to dishonor one’s mother and father that it brought deathly punishment. “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death” (Exodus 21:17).
Even if our mothers have totally failed us, God calls us to forgive them and to recognize the God-ordained sacredness of them carrying us to life in their own bodies. Author and speaker Joyce Meyers shares how her mother failed to protect her growing up from her father’s sexual abuse.
In many ways, she found it harder to forgive her mother than her father. Still, in her parents’ later years, God called Joyce to care for them, something she initially resisted.
But even for mothers who have totally failed us in life, God calls us to honor Him by honoring them, even if they don’t deserve it.
Most women begin motherhood with little to no experience, learning and growing as they go, starting out as greenhorns and discovering along the way how to handle the endless hours of motherhood’s tremendous responsibilities.
Too many women enter motherhood with unaddressed and often unknown issues in their own lives, revealing underlying weaknesses and issues they may have no real understanding of or skill to handle.
Because it is a trial-and-error sort of relationship, sadly, some mothers feel like failures long before their children grow up and point fingers at their mothering deficiencies.
Still, even in their weaknesses and failures, and regardless of their struggles and faults, mothers are treasured and loved by God. We are commanded to honor the position God has given them on the earth. As ons and daughters, God calls us to honor Him by honoring our mothers.
Doing so is an act of obedience and glorifies God.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
Are you honoring your mother this year? What about your mother-in-law? If you’re finding it difficult to do so for various reasons, ask God to help you honor Him by honoring them this Mother’s Day. As well, if you’ve disrespected them in the past, ask for their forgiveness so you can begin anew in your relationship with them.
Further Reading:
29 Beautiful Bible Verses About Mothers that Will Honor Mothers in Your Life
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Serving others in the middle of everyday exhaustion reflects the heart of Christ more than many weary moms realize. In The Gospel of Mark 9:35-37, Jesus redefines greatness by calling His followers to become servants of all and by welcoming children with love and honor. For overwhelmed mothers juggling homeschooling, deadlines, laundry, meals, and nonstop interruptions, this passage offers deep encouragement: caring for children is holy work that matters deeply to God.
Highlights
The Gospel of Mark 9:35-37 reveals that true greatness in God’s Kingdom is found in serving others.
Motherhood is not separate from serving Jesus—it is one of the ways believers worship Him daily.
Welcoming and loving children reflects Christ’s heart and honors God.
God’s grace sustains moms through exhaustion, overwhelm, and constant responsibilities.
Everyday moments with children create opportunities to share the Gospel naturally.
Jesus sees the hidden sacrifices and faithful service of weary mothers.
Choosing gratitude over complaint helps realign focus during difficult seasons.
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Full Transcript Below:
Encouragement for the Weary Mom
By: Emily Rose Massey
Bible Reading:
“And He [Jesus] sat down and called the Twelve [disciples], and He said to them, ‘If anyone desires to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all.’ And He took a little child and put him in the center of their group; and taking him in [His] arms, He said to them, ‘Whoever in My name and for My sake accepts and receives and welcomes one such child also accepts and receives and welcomes Me; and whoever so receives Me receives not only Me but Him Who sent Me’” (Mark 9:35-37, AMP).
As a mom of four boys, my “quiet time” is not really quiet: it’s full of tiny distractions and interruptions from these little ones. Nap times are quite short, and to-do lists are quite long. My days seem to go by in the blink of an eye, and I’m often left exhausted, only getting the chance to pray “Help me, Lord” in between homeschooling, my writing deadlines, continuous snack requests, laundry loads, and diaper “loads.” Knowing very well that this season in life won’t last forever, I have learned to cast my cares upon the Lord and soak up the few moments I can in the word of God, because it is what I need to realign my focus when I’m tempted to complain. I know that His grace is sufficient, but it is easy for my heart to become overwhelmed.
The other day, a passage in Mark 9 met this momma right among the blissful chaos with encouragement:
“And He [Jesus] sat down and called the Twelve [disciples], and He said to them, ‘If anyone desires to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all.’ And He took a little child and put him in the center of their group; and taking him in [His] arms, He said to them, ‘Whoever in My name and for My sake accepts and receives and welcomes one such child also accepts and receives and welcomes Me; and whoever so receives Me receives not only Me but Him Who sent Me’” (35-37, AMP).
Intersecting Faith & Life:
By putting my sons and my role as a mom and wife above my desires and my life’s goals, I have been serving Jesus this whole time! And if serving Jesus, worshiping Jesus!
And if that wasn’t uplifting enough, Jesus calls out our service to children specifically in verses 36-37. When we welcome our children into our lives and make them feel loved and accepted every day, we are also welcoming them in the name of the Lord Jesus every day. Jesus compares being the servant of all, a high position in the Kingdom of God, to those who welcome children into their lives. What an honor!
So to all my tired and overwhelmed mommas out there, take heart! Every time you embrace your child and serve your family, you are embracing Jesus and, even more so, your Heavenly Father, who is not going to leave you to raise your children alone!
Let us welcome Him into our blissful chaos as we raise up our children to trust in Him and receive His love into their lives so that they may point others to Him and His Kingdom. Instead of becoming overwhelmed and stressed out, let us look for opportunities to praise God and give thanks that He would give us the privilege of embracing little ones every day. May we have eyes to see opportunities to share the Gospel with our children in everyday moments. God’s grace is available to us to give us the strength when we are feeling overwhelmed and weary. Let us be fervent in laying our lives down for the Lord in all that we say and in everything we do… laundry loads and all.
Further Reading:
Matthew 18:1-4
Philippians 2:3-7
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Overcoming anxiety and finding peace starts with training your thoughts through faith, truth, and intentional habits. Psalm 16:7 reveals how God counsels and steadies our hearts—even in the quiet, vulnerable moments of the night when worry tends to rise.
This devotional connects faith with the practical reality of how our minds work. Left unchecked, our thoughts often drift toward fear and negativity, especially in overwhelming seasons. But peace isn’t out of reach—it’s cultivated. Through consistent practices like prayer, Scripture, and renewing our thinking, God begins reshaping our inner world. While transformation may feel slow, it’s deeply powerful. As we learn to focus on God’s voice over our fears, we begin building new patterns of peace that steady us in every season.
Highlights
Our minds naturally drift toward worry without intentional focus
Peace is built through consistent, faith-filled thought patterns
God’s truth can reshape how we respond to anxiety
Spiritual practices and practical tools work together for healing
Lasting change takes time—but progress is happening beneath the surface
God meets us in our overwhelm and leads us toward freedom
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Full Transcript Below:
Training Our Brains Toward Peace
By: Jennifer Slattery
Bible Reading:
I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. Psalm 16:7 NIV
According to mental health experts, our brains, left untended, drift toward negativity. That’s probably why what-if thinking hits hardest and feels most relentless as we’re trying to drift off to sleep. If you’ve listened to many Faith Over Fear podcast episodes or follow me on social media, you might have heard me talk about my “no-good-horrible-terrible-really-bad year” (that actually lasted for three). It was a season of complete overwhelm that felt never-ending.
Initially, I endured intense anxiety nearly from the moment I stepped out of bed until I finally fell asleep. There were some nights when this hyper-alert state, and all the stress chemicals flooding my body, kept me awake for over 48 hours at a time. This went on long enough that I began to fear I’d remain perpetually exhausted and never again experience God’s peace.
This felt particularly frustrating because I was actively investing in my spiritual health. I still read my Bible each day, often numerous times—including in the wee hours of the morning when I needed reminders of God’s presence, purposes, and promises. I prayed constantly. I simply practiced sitting with the Lord in silence, placed sticky notes with relevant Scripture throughout the house, and memorized and regularly recited verses declaring Christ’s power and grace.
None of those practices seemed to help, or at least, not enough to quiet my overwhelm.
I began finding relief once I started actively focusing on retraining my brain through grounding techniques, listening to biblical content throughout the night, and seeking support from a counselor. With the Holy Spirit’s help, intentionality, and consistency, my anxiety steadily decreased. Now, while my amygdala, our brain’s alarm system responsible for fight-or-flight responses, still gets triggered on occasion, those unpleasant bursts feel much fewer and shorter-lasting, with ever-lengthening periods of peace in between.
While I highly doubt David, ancient Israel’s second king who wrote today’s verse, understood neuroplasticity (our brain’s ability to grow and change throughout our lives), he seemed to recognize the importance of “taking [his] thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ,” as 2 Corinthians 10:4 encourages. When his circumstances felt hopeless, and his soul weighed down with sorrow and fear, he regularly turned to God, sought His help, and meditated upon His unchanging and immutable truths.
“I will praise the Lord who counsels me,” he wrote, indicating a close connection with his heavenly Father in which he actively listened. He also seemed to elevate God’s voice above his overwhelm, a skill that takes practice and determination, and that, apparently, led to the latter part of today’s verse where his heart, so filled with truth, “instructed” him at night—perhaps when he most struggled with fearful thoughts.
Intersecting Life &Faith:
I’ve experienced chronic anxiety for as long as I can remember. For years, I assumed this was simply my plight, caused by genetics and biochemicals. I didn’t realize how past experiences, including an unpleasant childhood, had trained my brain to remain hyper-alert to threat. (It’s hard, if not impossible, to feel at peace while constantly scanning one’s environment for danger.)
I also didn’t understand the ways and speed at which our neural pathways grow and change. I expected grounding techniques, like diaphragm-breathing, to provide instant calm. When that didn’t occur, I assumed those tools simply didn’t work for me. Again, I was simply an anxious person.
I now recognize that our thoughts take time to change. According to Dr. Curt Thompson, a Christ-following psychiatrist who studies the brain, our neural pathways, or thought channels, grow at the rate of two millimeters a day. That’s a slow transformation! While that fact might feel discouraging, to me it provided focus and hope. Focus because it helped me comprehend the power of every intentional or automatic thought. In other words, my brain was changing—for better or worse, toward increased peace or fear. This knowledge sparked a determination to do my part, as best as I was able. It also helped explain why this initially felt so hard (and at times, still does). I’d spent a lifetime building and deepening those unhelpful channels.
In the Faith Over Fear episode titled “Breaking Negative Patterns: How to Rewire Your Brain for More Peace and Less Anxiety,” Dr. Alan Weissenbacher compared our neural pathways to freeways. Rerouting our thoughts involves dismantling the unhelpful freeway upon which they’ve historically traveled while building new roadways. If today’s devotion resonates with you, perhaps check out that episode. I also invite you to subscribe to my free daily Faith Over Fear emails designed to help you build holy mental highways. Reach out to me through my website if you’d like me to add you.
If you struggle with ongoing anxiety, I pray you walk away from today’s discussion with this: You aren’t stuck in your overwhelm. Peace is possible! The Lord, your Prince, or source, of peace will lead you to increased inner tranquility and, dare I say, joy. Perhaps He’ll encourage you to try the steps I shared here. Or, He might guide you differently, in a way uniquely effective for you. But you can trust His heart to see you live in the freedom He purchased through His death on the cross. When anxiety hits, ask Him to show you the healthiest response in that moment, believing He’s helping you dismantle the neural pathways that threaten to enslave you while leading you to your best self and most fulfilling life.
Further Reading:
Philippians 4:4-8
Isaiah 26:3
John 14:27
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Corporate prayer and national repentance have shaped history, and Scripture like Jonah 3:10 reveals how God responds when people turn to Him together. Praying as a nation isn’t symbolic—it’s a powerful, biblical practice that invites God’s mercy, guidance, and restoration.
This devotional highlights how God has consistently responded to unified, humble prayer—from the city of Nineveh to moments in American history. When people come together, set aside differences, and seek God collectively, it reflects dependence on Him rather than self-sufficiency. National prayer isn’t about politics or performance—it’s about hearts aligning with God, turning from sin, and trusting Him to lead, heal, and sustain a nation. Just as individuals are called to pray, communities and countries are invited to do the same.
Highlights
God responds to corporate prayer and genuine repentance
Biblical examples show entire cities and nations turning to God together
Unity in prayer reflects humility and dependence on God
National prayer invites God’s mercy, healing, and direction
Spiritual battles require spiritual responses—not just physical solutions
Setting aside differences for prayer strengthens collective faith
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Full Transcript Below:
Why Praying As a Nation Matters to God
By Lynette Kittle
Bible Reading:
“When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He relented and did not bring on them the destruction He had threatened.” - Jonah 3:10
As America celebrates 250 years as a nation, some ask, does it matter if our nation prays together on the National Day of Prayer? Does God even pay attention to or hear us when we pray corporately as a nation?
The answer is “yes”: it matters to God, and we can be assured of this because the Bible provides plenty of evidence that He often calls us to corporate prayer for a city or a nation.
Most of us are familiar with the well-known biblical passage 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says, “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
As in the story of Jonah and the wicked city of Nineveh, God called for the entire city to pray and repent, and even the animals were included in the city’s prayer, fasting, and repentance.
As Jonah 3:4-8 describes, God led an entire city to repentance through corporate prayer:
“Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from His fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
In Jonah 3:10, we read of God’s gracious response to their corporate prayer: He relented rather than sending destruction.
Likewise, looking back at America’s Founders, we see that they recognized the importance of corporate prayer and that establishing a nation’s future doesn’t just involve fighting a physical battle for victory, but also a spiritual one.
They demonstrated this when they officially met and came together for the first time on September 7, 1774, as the Continental Congress of the United States, opening with prayer and the reading of Psalm 35 by Rev. Jacob Duché, which begins with, “Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.”
This was no easy feat, either, as the outspoken members had to set aside their denominational differences to pray together, uniting members who were Congregationalists, Anglicans, Quakers, Dutch Reformed, Baptists, Lutherans, Puritans, and Presbyterians, coming together to overlook their differences, joining in one accord, praying for a common goal.
American Conservative radio talk-show host and writer, Dennis Prager, explains, “Ultimately, they wanted people to be free to practice their religion and relate to God in their own way. They all knew God is the source of liberty.”
Providence Forum Executive Director Dr. Jerry Newcombe points out how historians find in George Washington’s writings and actions during the Revolutionary War that he relied heavily on prayer, believing that with the tremendous odds set against them, victory could only come with God’s help.
As well, “The Great Awakening absolutely helped the cause of independence,” writes Newcombe. “Even before the Great Awakening, the ministers, especially the ones from New England, helped shape the thinking of the Colonists as to their God-given rights.”
Christian historians believe the spread of “The Great Awakening” across the colonies greatly influenced and strengthened Patriot leaders leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, during which prayer and fasting played a critical role in helping America establish its freedom.
In Miracles in American History, author, historian, and speaker William J. Federer writes about the many national calls to prayer leading up to and throughout the formation of the United States of America.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
Are you planning to join our nation in praying for God’s divine guidance and protection over our country? If not, consider praying with millions of believers across our land who will be praying together during this year’s 250th Anniversary, National Day of Prayer.
Further Reading:
A Prayer to Take Part in Our Nation’s National Day of Prayer
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