Field Notes is your daily 5-minute briefing designed to take Sunday's truth and put it to work Monday through Friday. Grab your gear and get ready for a daily rundown, challenge, and action step that will equip you to live intentionally for the Kingdom.
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4:46
If you have ever thought, “I just want to hear God,” but you also feel like He is far away, this short Friday devotion is for you. We sit with Jeremiah 29:11-13 and James 4:8 and name a frustration many Christians carry: the ache of distance from God. Then we slow down long enough to notice the part we often skip, that closeness is tied to pursuit, and God’s promise to be found is connected to seeking Him with our whole heart.
We use a simple relationship picture to make it real. If you are the only one calling, texting, and showing up, the relationship thins out over time. Spiritual intimacy works the same way. God is not lost, and “finding Jesus” is not about hunting for a hidden Savior. The issue is usually attention. We fill our week with everything else, then wonder why our connection feels shallow. That is where the 168-hour audit comes in. When you look honestly at how many hours go to TV, phone time, hobbies, and weekend planning, you can finally see why one hour on Sunday does not translate into deep daily closeness.
We end with a practical challenge you can actually do today: change the input to change the output. Turn off the noise, put down the phone, read the Bible, pray, and sit quietly long enough to listen. Give Jesus 30 focused minutes and test the promise of James 4:8, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” If this helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend who feels stuck, and leave a review so more people can find Field Notes.
Good morning. Happy Friday. Welcome back to Field Notes, our five-day devotion right here at Mission Scent. Today is day five. It is Friday. And I think it's a good time to do the 168-hour audit.
Our scripture reading today comes from Jeremiah 29, 11 and third through 13. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. And I also want to include James 4, 8. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
One of the most common frustrations in the Christian walk is feeling a distance from God. We looked at it yesterday. We want to be able to see and touch and hear and smell our idols, our centers of worship. This is no different. People often say to me, I just want to hear God. I just want to feel Him. I just want to know God is there. But what we tend to forget is relationships are built on a mutual pursuit. Think about it. If you have a friend in your life, but you're the only one making phone calls and you're the only one sending texts, you're the only one reaching out, you're the only one looking for that friend, will that relationship be deep? Will that relationship continue the test of time, or will that relationship eventually die? See, God gave a profound promise to the Israelites through the prophet Jeremiah. It makes it a conditional promise when you seek me with all your heart. See, we love the idea of finding God, but we often ignore the prerequisite of seeking Him. We often overlook the fact that that is a conditional promise.
There are 168 hours in a week. If you spend 20 of those watching TV and 10 on your phone, which in today's term we should probably flip those, and 15 hours pursuing your other hobbies, but you only give Jesus a single hour on a Sunday morning, why are we surprised then when we don't feel a deep connection with him? If that's all he's getting of our time, he is getting a hundred and sixty-eighth percent of our time. And here's the thing: Jesus isn't lost. We like to use that term finding Jesus. Jesus isn't lost. You don't have to go seek him. The problem isn't that he is impossible to find, the problem is we're not looking for him. We are filling our time with everything else. Again, it's Friday. I bet most of us spend time today sitting here going, what is my weekend going to look like? We're gonna spend time sitting here planning out what we're having for dinner, and we're gonna plan out what tomorrow is. But how many of us are going to plan out how am I going to spend time with Christ? And I get it. You started your day off right if you're listening to this. This is five minutes of that. See, we can't expect to find Jesus if we aren't actively searching for him. If you want to change what your heart longs for, you have to change the input. The output, your actions, the what will always follow the input or the why. If you want a pure heart that sees God, you have to prioritize him over everything else.
So today is our final push of the weekly challenge. You've listened to this, you've already gotten five minutes down, but take 30 minutes today and play hide and seek with Jesus. Be the seeker. Turn off the radio, put down the phone, and seek Jesus. Read the Bible, pray, sit and listen. If you truly draw near to God with your whole heart today, He promises that He will draw near to you.
So that wraps up our field notes this week. But a preview for Sunday is Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be sons of God. Are you a peacemaker? We can't wait to see you Sunday, 9 a.m., 8 40 Del Tono Boulevard, right here at Mission Scent.
