The Crosswalk Devotional: A Daily Devotional Christian Podcast

How can you pass your faith on to the next generation? Sharing stories about God’s faithfulness, answered prayers, and the ways He has carried you through difficult seasons can have a lasting impact on children, grandchildren, and younger people in your life. Your testimony doesn’t have to be dramatic or perfectly presented to encourage someone else to trust God.
Psalm 78:2-4 reminds us of the importance of telling the next generation about God’s power and the wonderful things He has done. The faith stories you share can help younger people see that God is not only part of Bible history—He is active, present, and trustworthy today. Whether you’re talking around the dinner table, spending time with family, or encouraging someone at church, everyday conversations can become opportunities to share your faith and leave a spiritual legacy that points others toward God.
Highlights
Why sharing stories of God’s faithfulness can strengthen the faith of the next generation

What Psalm 78:2-4 teaches about telling others what God has done

How stories of answered prayer can inspire younger people to develop their own prayer lives

Why you don’t need to be a Bible scholar or public speaker to share your faith

Practical ways to talk about God with children, grandchildren, and younger people in your community

How your testimony can help younger people connect God’s faithfulness in the past with hope for their future

Questions to help you identify opportunities to encourage someone younger through your own story of God’s work

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Full Transcript Below:
Tell the Next Generation
By: Whitney Hopler
Bible Reading:
“I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old – things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.” – Psalm 78:2-4, NIV
My paternal grandmother, Lena Wyckoff, told me many memorable stories about how God worked in her life before she passed away at age 98. She emphasized how God was close by her side through everything she experienced – in good and bad circumstances alike. Grandma’s long life was full of highs and lows. She enjoyed lots of love in her life from family and friends, yet she was widowed young and suffered a lot as a single mother afterward. She faced many challenges, but she overcame them all with God’s help. Along the way, Grandma stayed close to God through prayer and recorded the details of how God answered her prayers. She shared wonderful stories with me about the power of prayer and God’s faithful answers to prayers. Thanks to Grandma’s stories, I was inspired to build my own prayer life with God.
Think back to the stories you heard when you were growing up. Maybe a parent, a grandparent, a Sunday school teacher, or a close friend sat with you and shared about how God was working in their lives. They told you about the prayers God answered, the times God brought them through difficult seasons, and the wonderful ways God showed his love. Those stories were not just nice memories from the past. They were living seeds of faith planted into your heart to help you understand who God is and how well he cares for you.
In Psalm 78:2-4, the Bible reminds you that you have an important role to play in God’s plans by passing along the stories of how God has worked in your life. God wants you to share his praiseworthy deeds, his power, and the wonders he has done with the next generation of people, like your descendants, and other younger people you know.
You don’t need to be a biblical scholar or an experienced public speaker to share inspiring stories of God at work. All God asks you to do is be an honest witness of how he has worked so far in your life. You can do so well just by sharing genuine stories about God in your everyday conversations with the people you know. God will bring you lots of opportunities to tell the next generation about him. You can tell stories whenever you’re spending time with your children and grandchildren – especially during family meals, when everyone is paying attention to family conversations. You can also share your stories with young people you know from your church and other places in your community. Get to know a few younger people as friends, offer to pray for them about the concerns they share with you, and share stories of how God has helped you in similar situations.
When you share your stories about God, you help younger people make connections between God’s faithfulness in the past and the hope they need for the future. Every time you share a story of God’s wonderful work in your life, you help a younger person see that God is real, active, and trustworthy today. You help them realize that the same God who performed wonders in the Bible, and who guided believers throughout history, is ready to guide them in their own lives right now.
Never underestimate the power of your positive influence on the next generation when you share your stories about God. Even the simplest stories you tell younger people about God’s wonderful work in your life can help them learn and grow closer to God.
So, ask God to help you notice the opportunities he gives you to share your faith stories, and to share the Gospel message in fresh ways through those stories. Your stories have eternal value!
Intersecting Faith & Life:
As you consider why it’s important to share stories of God’s wonderful work with younger people, reflect on these questions:

Who in your past faithfully shared God’s wonders with you, and how did their words inspire you to grow closer to God?
What’s one story of how God answered your prayers that you can share with someone younger this week?
What fears might hold you back from sharing your faith stories, and how can you rely on God to help you overcome those fears?
How can you make plans in your schedule regularly to talk about God with the young people around you?
Who is a young person in your life right now who needs encouragement? How can you pray for that person today and share an encouraging story with him or her?
Further Reading:
Joel 1:3
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
Psalm 145:4
2 Timothy 1:5
Psalm 71:18
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What has God grown in you this year? As the year comes to a close, it can be easy to focus on what remains unfinished, what didn’t go as planned, or where you wish you had grown more. But reflecting on your year through the lens of faith can help you recognize the spiritual growth, lessons, answered prayers, strengthened relationships, and deeper trust in God that may have developed along the way.
God often grows something meaningful in us through ordinary days, difficult seasons, waiting, disappointment, and unexpected opportunities. Like gathering a harvest, taking time to look back can reveal how God has been shaping your character and drawing you closer to Him. Reflecting on His faithfulness can help you celebrate progress you may have overlooked, give thanks for what He has taught you, and carry those lessons into the year ahead with greater faith and purpose.
Highlights
How to recognize the spiritual growth God has cultivated in your life this year

Why we can overlook meaningful growth when we focus only on what remains unfinished

How difficult seasons, waiting, and disappointment can produce lasting spiritual lessons

Practical ways to reflect on answered prayers, changed priorities, and deeper faith

Why remembering God’s faithfulness can strengthen gratitude and hope for the future

How to gather the lessons God has grown in you rather than simply moving on to the next season

Encouragement to look back with gratitude and trust God with what He will grow next

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Full Transcript Below:
Gathering What God Grew in You This Year
By Melinda Eye Cooper
Bible Reading:
So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. - 1 Corinthians 3:7 NIV
An interesting thing happened this year. Two tomato plants grew in the exact spot we’d planted them last year, but they shouldn’t have. My husband had pulled the plants out of the landscaping last Fall when they were done producing.
We planned on putting a couple more plants there again this year because they’d grown well in that shaded spot beside the house. But strangely, in spring, when we began preparing the landscaping for flowers, two healthy-looking plants were growing in the exact same place we planted them the year before.
“Are these tomato plants?” he asked after he finished pulling weeds, preparing to plant flowers. Thankfully, he didn’t pull them out thinking they were some kind of weed.
I examined the two healthy plants and couldn’t stop the excitement in my voice. “They sure are. Wow.”
“That’s really weird. I pulled those out last fall when they were done making tomatoes,” he said.
We were shocked but happy we didn’t have to buy any plants.
We checked with some family members to find out if tomato plants will just automatically grow back the next year in the same place. One person told us that it had happened to them before but the tomatoes that grew back were small and not as good.
With this knowledge, we didn’t have great expectations but were curious about these mysterious plants, so we kept our eyes on them, making sure they were watered.
Those plants grew absolutely huge and took over the landscaping on that side of the house. They produced the best crop of tomatoes we’ve ever grown. All without us even doing a thing except for giving them some water, and my husband tied them up to keep them off the ground, for the most part.
Apparently, the plants found the perfect spot to grow.
We gathered tons of tomatoes. I learned how to use a water bath to can them. Some are in the freezer. I gave many to neighbors, and ate a lot of delicious bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches and fresh salads. No store-bought tomato can compare to the heavenly taste of a homegrown one. They’re just better in every way.
God really knows how to grow good things.
And thankfully, He does the same thing with us.
In the referenced Scripture, Paul is speaking about church growth. I love how Paul says God makes things grow. That statement is so true. We can try all we want, but without God, we’re not going to grow well. We may get head knowledge, but true growth is a changed heart, and the most important thing.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
When we seek God by reading the Bible, speaking with Christian friends about questions we have, or going straight to God in prayer, we’re growing spiritually. It is a slow process, for sure.
What God produces within us through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit is really good stuff – the fruit of the Spirit.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
Like I gathered an unexpected bumper crop of tomatoes, and figured out the best way to use and preserve them, how can we do this with what God has grown in us?
(I’m so glad you asked.)
This good fruit of the Spirit is incredibly beneficial and is evidence of God’s work in our lives. He’s changing us, helping us become more like Jesus, slowly but surely as we grow.
Speaking to each of these fruits would probably be a long devotion or even a book. So, I’ll keep it short and sweet.
One way we can know God has grown something good within us is when we can forgive someone we love for causing us pain and continue to love them through forgiveness. We don’t allow bitterness or resentment to take hold.
We gather what God grew in us and give them some grace and mercy as He has given us.
God has a purpose in pain, and often it is the catalyst for our own spiritual growth.
Not to say we forgive and forget what happened, but that we recognize none of us is perfect, and we all make mistakes. And with genuine forgiveness on our part, we can move forward a little wiser and love others in a better way. We choose to show love and forgiveness even when it’s hard. That can be a big point of growth.
We’re a work in progress, and thank goodness, God’s growing us to be more like Jesus. We’re changing for the better.
With Jesus deeply rooted in our hearts, we’re planted in the right spot.
God will nourish, and we will surely flourish.
Father, thank You for the powerful Holy Spirit and for His help in life. I need Him every moment of every day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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What does it mean to say, “The Lord is my portion”? When life feels uncertain, we can be tempted to measure security by what we own, accomplish, or can control. But Scripture points us toward a deeper source of contentment: God Himself. When we recognize the Lord as our portion, we can find hope and stability even when circumstances change or the things we depend on are taken away.
Making God our portion means trusting that His presence, faithfulness, and promises are enough. It does not mean we will never experience loss, disappointment, or uncertainty, but it gives us something circumstances cannot take away. Instead of placing our hope in temporary possessions, relationships, success, or earthly security, we can turn our hearts toward God and remember that He remains faithful in every season. When the Lord is our portion, we have reason to hope, persevere, and rest in His goodness.
Highlights
What it means to make the Lord our portion and source of hope

Why earthly possessions and circumstances cannot provide lasting security

How trusting God can bring contentment during seasons of uncertainty or loss

Why God’s presence and faithfulness are greater than anything we can gain or accomplish

How to shift our hope from temporary things to the promises of God

Why recognizing God as our portion helps us persevere through difficult seasons

Encouragement to find lasting hope and stability in the Lord rather than in circumstances

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Full Transcript Below:
The Lord Is My Portion
By Cindi McMenamin
Bible Reading:
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I wait for Him.” (Lamentations 3:24 NASB)
Life was going well, and I had been assigned to write an article called “10 Ways Your Life Looks Different When God Is Your Portion.” I read through every verse in the Bible about God being our portion, our refuge, our reward. And I prayed that God would make me a person who saw Him as my portion.
As I was writing the article, I also prayed for insight about the hurts and disappointments people would be experiencing as they read the article, so it would be a comfort and encouragement to them. I thought of my mother, who was sinking into depression as her husband was sinking deeper into the disease of Alzheimer’s. I thought of a reader who had just lost a dear friend. I thought of someone who may just be receiving the news that they’d lost their longtime job.
“God, give me Your words that people will most need to read for their hearts to be encouraged,” I prayed.
I turned in the article and didn’t think about it for a couple of weeks. Until the day came that the article was published. I read through it once again, emailed a link of the article to my mom so she could read it, and prayed that everyone who encountered it would be encouraged.
And then it happened.
I received an email that same morning with devastating news, and in an instant, I knew God had arranged for that article to encourage me. He was using all those verses I had read and studied earlier in order to write that article, not just help others, but to move me to a place where I saw Him as my ultimate reward. While life was going well, it was easy to think that I was already seeing God as my portion. But when I had lost something dear to me, I suddenly had to take inventory of what was most important.
Immediately, the lessons I wrote about came to my mind: Because the Lord is my portion, I don’t need to worry about my provision, my future, or whether or not I have an inheritance. Because the Lord is my refuge, I can feel safe in His care, regardless of uncertainties. Because He is my reward, I can find contentment in life, and focus on my blessings, not my burdens, and the things I seem to be losing. And because He is my portion and my very great reward, I can surrender the need to succeed and find my identity in Him, not in what I do.
Tears came to my eyes as I realized that more than needing the good news I was expecting in that email, God knew I needed to see Him as my portion and my very great reward.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
What would you consider your greatest reward? Is it your children and grandchildren? Is it the legacy you’ve worked for all your life? Is it the retirement that awaits you or the commendation you waited years to earn? Is it your ministry or the satisfaction you feel after serving others or bringing about some good for someone?
God’s Word is true when it tells us we will only find the desires of our hearts if we delight ourselves in the Lord (Psalm 37:4). And Asaph, the psalmist, knew the true rewards of this life when he sang these words to his Maker and Sustainer in Psalm 73:25-26:
“Whom do I have in heaven but You?
And with You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (NASB).
When the Lord becomes your greatest treasure and reward, you will never find yourself lacking.
Thank You, Lord God, for loving us so much You know what we need eternally, not just temporarily. Help us to see You as our greatest portion and our most treasured reward, and may we be satisfied with nothing less.
Further Study:
Psalm 16
For daily encouragement in seeing the Lord as your portion, see Cindi’s book, The New Loneliness Devotional: 50 days to a Closer Connection with God.
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God does not ask us to fight spiritual battles in our own strength. His love reminds us that we belong to Him, while His Word gives us the truth we need to recognize and resist the enemy’s lies. Through prayer, Scripture, faith, and dependence on Christ, we can stand firm when temptation, fear, doubt, or discouragement comes. Victory does not come from believing we are strong enough on our own, but from trusting the God who loves us and is faithful to strengthen, protect, and sustain us.
Highlights
How God’s love gives us confidence when facing spiritual battles

Why spiritual warfare requires dependence on God rather than our own strength

How recognizing the enemy’s lies can help us stand firm in truth

The role of prayer and Scripture in resisting temptation and discouragement

Why remembering that we are deeply loved by God changes how we face spiritual warfare

How faith in Christ helps us overcome fear, doubt, and spiritual opposition

Encouragement to trust God’s power when the battle feels bigger than you can handle

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Full Transcript Below:
God’s Love Empowers You to Win Spiritual Battles
By: Whitney Hopler
Bible Reading:
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39, NIV
I remember visiting my mom in the hospital and bringing her a magazine. It was opened to an article about God’s angels when her nurse noticed it sitting beside her bed. That led to a conversation I’ve never forgotten. He told me that several years earlier, while he was in rehab for alcohol addiction, he had gone through intense spiritual battles. During seasons when he spent a long time praying, God sometimes allowed him to see something that’s usually invisible. The nurse said he could actually see both holy angels and fallen angels around him as battles between good and evil were taking place. It was scary to witness spiritual warfare that’s usually unseen, but he also said it filled him with hope because every time he prayed for help, God responded with love by sending holy angels to fight on his behalf. Looking back, the nurse was convinced that, because God never stopped loving him, he was able to win those spiritual battles. The nurse praised God for lovingly empowering him with everything he needed to break free from alcohol addiction.
Whether or not you ever see angels and demons with your physical eyes, the Bible makes it clear that spiritual battles are real. Every day, you face temptations, discouragement, fear, lies, and attacks that try to pull you away from God. Sometimes the battles are obvious. At other times, they happen quietly in your thoughts, your emotions, or the choices you make. The good news is that you never have to fight these battles by yourself.
Romans 8:38-39 promises that nothing can separate you from God’s love – even demons and the most intense spiritual battles you go through. There is absolutely nothing in all creation that is stronger than the love God has for you through Jesus Christ.
When you know that God’s love is constantly there for you, you no longer have to live in fear. Evil wants you to believe that you’re alone, forgotten, or beyond hope. But those are lies. God’s Word tells you that God’s love is much stronger than every spiritual attack on you.
Love is at the core of who God is. Since God loves you completely, he does much more than just watch you struggle from a distance. God comes close to you and strengthens you in all the ways you need strength, so you can win your spiritual battles.
The nurse I met told me that God’s loving care gave him the strength to keep choosing the next best step as he fought spiritual battles. Over time, God’s love empowered him to win the entire war he faced with addiction.
What battles are you fighting right now? Maybe you’re fighting anxiety, bitterness, temptation, loneliness, shame, or some other enemy. Maybe you’re praying for a loved one who seems far from God. Don’t give up! The God who loves you is still at work, even when you can’t see what he’s doing.
Because you’re loved by an all-powerful God, you can keep fighting with courage and confidence – and you can expect to win every single one of your spiritual battles.
So, choose to rest in God’s powerful love for you. Bring every fear that worries you to God in prayer. Remind yourself of God’s powerful promises to you. Keep trusting God to guide you through your battles one step at a time. No matter how challenging the spiritual warfare in your life becomes, nothing can separate you from God’s love. Remembering that reality will give you the strength to overcome every spiritual battle in your life.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
As you consider how God’s love empowers you to win spiritual battles, reflect on these questions:
What spiritual battle are you facing right now that you need to rely on God’s strength to fight?
How does knowing that nothing can separate you from God’s love give you hope?
What lies have evil attacks tried to make you believe, and what truths from God’s Word can help you fight those lies?
In what areas of your life do you need to rely more on God’s strength instead of your own?
How can you encourage someone else this week with the reminder that God’s love never lets them go?
Further Reading:
Ephesians 6:10-12
1 John 4:4
James 4:7
Psalm 34:7
2 Corinthians 10:3-4
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Autumn reminds us that endings can be beautiful. As colorful leaves fall from the trees and one season gives way to another, we are reminded that God has a purpose for every season of life. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that there is “a time for every matter under heaven,” including seasons of surrender, change, and letting go. What feels like an ending may actually be God preparing our hearts for something new.
Surrendering what we cling to can be difficult, especially when our expectations, fears, or sense of control feel deeply rooted. Yet God often works in us before He works around us, gently teaching us to release what we were never meant to carry. Like a tree yielding its leaves, we can trust God with what we need to let go of. Through the Holy Spirit, He can prune away sin, self-reliance, fear, and even good things that keep us from bearing greater fruit. Though the process may be painful, God can use every ending to make room for growth, deeper faith, and something more beautiful in His perfect timing.
Highlights
What autumn and changing seasons can teach us about surrender and letting go
Why beautiful endings do not always come from loss or closed doors
How God can change our hearts before He changes our circumstances
Why surrender requires the work of the Holy Spirit rather than human willpower
How releasing expectations can make room for God to work in our lives
What Jesus’ teaching about the vine and branches in John 15 reveals about spiritual pruning
Why painful seasons of pruning can ultimately lead to greater spiritual growth and fruitfulness
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Full Transcript Below:
What Autumn Teaches Us about Beautiful Endings
By Hannah Benson
Bible Reading:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV)
Autumn has always been one of my favorite seasons. Crisp, colorful leaves crunching underneath my feet, hot apple cider, pumpkins, corn mazes, and the list goes on. Perhaps it also helps that my birthday falls during these autumn months, ensuring that even as a child, this was the season I favored most.
I have such fond memories of growing up: playing dodgeball outside with my siblings and dad in the dark and watching gorgeous Appalachian mountain sunsets through our kitchen window as my family and I ate a cozy supper of soup and cornbread.
But as we say hello to autumn, we inevitably have to say goodbye to the previous season of summer: to long evenings playing outside before dusk, to cool dips in the water, and to hiking up mountains in the blazing heat (well, maybe saying goodbye to the humidity isn't such a bad thing!)
Yet as much as I absolutely love autumn, when I first thought about writing this devotional, fear squeezed my heart. God usually calls me to write what I’ve first gone through myself, so what this autumn might I have to say goodbye to in order to write this article?
One evening before supper, I stood in my bedroom, gazing at the dreariness outside.
“God?” I whispered. “What are you teaching me? What beautiful ending do You want me to write about?”
Perhaps something I had to surrender? A closed door? Something God had taught me, either recently or in years past?
Then I realized deep down what God had been teaching me. Sometimes, we think beautiful endings need to come from losing something or someone we care deeply about, or from a door that slammed shut in our face, that God will use for our good.
While God does rewrite tragedies into beautiful endings, what if beautiful endings also come from letting go of wearisome things?
Earlier this year, I was striving, afraid of losing what mattered to me, and afraid of truly surrendering. I gripped my own expectations with an iron fist.
I wanted to surrender. Knew I needed to.
But I couldn’t. No matter how hard I tried.
Then, a couple of months ago, God gently told me to “Release.”
Oh, if only it were that easy.
I realized that there was absolutely nothing I could do to change what I could see.
“God, change my heart,” I whispered.
Slowly, bit by bit, God unraveled the expectations I had and allowed me to release what I clung to.
Surrender isn’t something we can accomplish with our own human willpower. It is something the Holy Spirit needs to work in our hearts. When we stop striving, God’s grace accomplishes within us what our flesh cannot.
As summer drew to a close, so did the expectations I clung to with an iron fist. That’s not to say I don’t still struggle sometimes, but as I reflect on where I was emotionally and spiritually earlier this year, I recognize that things I’d thought I’d lost were not lost when they are surrendered to the Father’s hand.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
When this year started, if I’m being honest, I looked at my circumstances and thought God couldn’t possibly change things. Which is wrong, I know. After all, the impossible is possible with God.
Either that or I assumed God wouldn’t change things.
But as the months passed, and spring turned into summer, and summer turned into autumn, God did so many things I once thought impossible, changing my heart before He began to change some of my circumstances.
Like the trees yield their leaves unto the earth in order to pave the way for spring, so does the Lord ask us to yield what we’ve held onto to make way for something new.
Sometimes, the new is completely different. It might mean saying goodbye to the “good things” in our lives to make way for something better. Sometimes, it means letting go of the heavy burdens and fears we were never meant to carry in the first place. Other times, He invites us to trust Him and watch Him do what we were almost too afraid to hope for.
In John 15, Jesus tells His disciples that we are the branches, He is the vine, and His Father is the vinedresser. The branches cannot bear fruit on their own apart from the vine; neither can we bear fruit apart from Jesus. Often, the Lord must prune away not only our sin and self-reliance, but even good things we cling to, so we may continually become more like Him and bear even more fruit. Yes, the pruning can be painful, but the result is more beautiful than we could ever imagine.
Every season has its own kind of beauty. Whether we lost something or someone dear to us or God stripped away the fears, self-reliance, or sin that held us back from embracing true life, every ending is made beautiful in His perfect time.
Pray with me:
Dear Father God, thank You for pruning the parts of me that do not please You so that I can bear fruit pleasing to You. Please help me to trust You even when the pruning is painful or not always pleasant. You are a good Father. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
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