John Bevere

I used to think avoiding confrontation was loving. I would tell people what they wanted to hear because I didn't want to hurt them or risk being rejected. Then God exposed what was really happening in my heart: I wasn't protecting them. I was protecting myself. Real love is willing to tell the truth, even when it costs you. That doesn't mean being harsh or insensitive, but it does mean caring more about what's best for someone than whether they approve of you. In the latest episode of the John Bevere Podcast, I'm unpacking what God taught me about speaking truth with genuine love and compassion. Watch the full episode here: tinyurl.com/4jntjy6v

For years, I avoided confrontation because I wanted people to like me. Then the pendulum swung the other direction. I became bold enough to speak the truth, but I lost compassion in the process. A trusted leader cared enough to confront me about it, and God used his words to expose something in my heart that needed to change. Biblical love doesn't avoid truth, but truth should never be separated from love. We aren't called to flatter people to protect their feelings, and we aren't called to use truth as a weapon. We need both. In today's new episode of the John Bevere Podcast, I share what God taught me through this correction and how it changed the way I love and speak truth to people. Watch the full episode here: tinyurl.com/4jntjy6v

Playing it safe can feel like the responsible thing to do, especially when you're afraid of making a mistake. But God never intended for you to bury what He's entrusted to you. Your gifts, opportunities, and resources were given to you for a purpose that extends beyond yourself. You don't have to know exactly how everything will work out before you take a step of faith. His grace will empower you to do what you could never accomplish in your own strength. Don't let fear keep you from using what God has placed in your hands. Develop your gifts, serve others, and determine now that you'll hold nothing back. I unpack this further in You Are Called. Find it here: a.co/d/0cBCsSb0

Faithfulness isn't simply maintaining what God has entrusted to you. In Jesus' parable of the talents, the servants who multiplied what they were given were called faithful. The servant who preserved what he had but produced nothing with it was called wicked and lazy. God has entrusted each of us with gifts, opportunities, resources, and an assignment. The question isn't simply whether we kept them safe. It's whether we faithfully used what He gave us to produce fruit for His Kingdom. Don't bury what God has placed in your hands. Develop it, use it, and multiply it for His glory. I unpack how to faithfully steward what God has placed inside you in You Are Called. Find it here: a.co/d/05vxeKjj

God is everywhere, but that doesn't mean we always experience His presence in the same way. We can become so familiar with worship, prayer, Scripture, and even talking about God that we begin treating what is holy as common. But intimacy with God should never diminish our reverence for Him. The more we know Him, the more we should stand in awe of who He is. Holy fear changes the way we approach His presence. We come expecting to encounter Him, honoring Him as holy and giving Him our full attention. I unpack this further in The Awe of God. Find it here: a.co/d/0eWvNFIW

Adversity doesn't have to weaken you. It can drive your roots deeper. We're revisiting one of your favorite Conversations episodes, where Lisa and I unpack how to recognize the season you're in and cooperate with what God wants to do through it. When a season becomes difficult, our instinct can be to fight against it, escape it, or try to make life look the way it did before. But sometimes the very adversity we want to avoid is what causes our roots to grow deeper. This conversation resonated with so many of you the first time around, and we believe it's worth hearing again. Tune in here: tinyurl.com/yc4zfkxs

Loving people will always make us vulnerable. When we've been hurt, our instinct is often to protect ourselves by building walls around our hearts. We think those walls will keep us from experiencing the same pain again, but they can also keep us trapped in offense, unable to freely give the love and grace we've received from God. Freedom isn't found in making sure no one can ever hurt you again. It's found in trusting God with your heart, choosing forgiveness, and refusing to allow someone else's actions to determine how you love. I unpack this message in The Bait of Satan. Find it here: a.co/d/071BuvE3

Had an incredible time fishing in Alaska and even managed to bring in this king salmon! There’s nothing quite like getting out on the water and taking in the beauty of God’s creation. A big thank you to my dear friend @philliberatore for taking me on this trip and making it such a memorable one. Grateful for good friends and time well spent!

It's possible to believe in Jesus while slowly creating a version of Him that looks more like us than the Jesus revealed in Scripture. The real Jesus will challenge us. He calls us to repentance, confronts the desires that compete for our hearts, and gives us the grace to live differently. We don't get to reshape Him around our preferences or the values of our culture. Following Jesus means surrendering to Him as He truly is, not as we'd prefer Him to be. I unpack this further in Killing Kryptonite. Find it here: a.co/d/0dXkbg6Z

We’re revisiting one of your favorite Conversations episodes, and there’s a reason this message resonated with so many of you. Every believer will experience wilderness seasons. They can feel dry, uncomfortable, and completely different from where we’ve been before. But just because the season has changed doesn’t mean God has left you. Ecclesiastes tells us there is a season and a time for everything. If we keep trying to live the way we did in a previous season, we can miss what God wants to do in the one we’re in now. Lisa and I unpack how to recognize and faithfully walk through the season you’re in. Follow this link to watch: tinyurl.com/577jsfvp

The Bible was never meant to simply give you information. It was meant to transform you. When you open God's Word and invite the Holy Spirit to teach you, its work doesn't stop when you close your Bible. The Word continues working in you, shaping your thoughts, renewing your mind, and forming the character of Jesus in you. Don't approach Scripture as another task to complete. Open it expecting to encounter Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Him to you, and allow His Word to change you. Lisa and I have conversations like this on Conversations with John & Lisa Bevere. Watch this episode here: tinyurl.com/yjjr8bvh

The outward failure is rarely where the fall begins. When I looked back at leaders I've known over the past 40 years who didn't finish well, I began to recognize something that often appeared long before the visible failure: pride. That realization caused me to search my own heart, and God showed me areas of pride in me that needed to die. He impressed this truth on my heart: “To the degree pride dies is the degree you will have a fresh vision of Me.” In this episode of the John Bevere Podcast, we're talking about the humility required to finish well and keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Watch it here: tinyurl.com/yfhpkyzp

The biblical Feasts reveal a remarkable pattern in God’s plan. Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead during the first Feasts, and the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost. Many believe the remaining Feasts point toward events still to come, beginning with the Feast of Trumpets. The Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) occurs at sunset Friday, September 11, and goes through nightfall on Sunday, September 13, this year. This Feast is also known as “The day and hour that no one knows.” This nickname evolved from the unique way the festival start date was determined in Ancient Israel.   The feast was “commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet” (Leviticus 23:23-25), and it was an official day for holy assembly, but Scripture doesn’t specify how many times the shofar (trumpet) was actually sounded.   Jewish tradition, however, developed specific practices around the shofar blasts during what became known as Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year, which corresponds to the biblical Feast of Trumpets). According to rabbinic tradition, 100 blasts were sounded throughout the day, organized into specific patterns and sequences. The last blast, which was also the longest blast, was known as the “FINAL TRUMP” or in Hebrew “Tekiah Gedolah.” This blast went as long as the one who was blowing the shofar had breath left in his lungs.   Paul writes, “But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the LAST TRUMPET is blown” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). He also writes, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the TRUMPET call of God. First the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).   Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and raised from the dead during the first Feasts: Passover, Unleavened Bread & First Fruits. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the early church on the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. Many believe the final three Feasts represent the end of the church age and the New Heaven and Earth. The Feast of Trumpets would correlate with the Scriptures written by Paul above. The LAST TRUMPET doesn’t refer to the TRUMPET judgments found in Revelation, as it was written 40 years after Paul penned the above words to the Corinthian church and the Thessalonian church. The feast of Trumpets is next up of the festivals that will be fulfilled. Believers, let this stir expectancy in your heart. Stay ready, stay faithful, and encourage one another with these words.

The more God entrusts to you, the more important humility becomes. It's easy to look at what you've accomplished, the influence you've gained, or the opportunities you've been given and slowly begin to see yourself differently. I've watched this happen to leaders over the years, and I've had to allow God to search my own heart for the same thing. Pride doesn't always announce itself. Sometimes it begins quietly when our attention shifts from what God has done to what we have done. In today's new episode of the John Bevere Podcast, I'm unpacking what true humility looks like and why it's essential if we want to finish well. Comment “jbpod” and I'll send you the link to the podcast.

Twenty-five years ago, our nation experienced a day none of us will ever forget. Today, Lisa and I are remembering the lives that were lost, the families who still carry that loss, and the men and women who courageously ran toward danger to save others. My prayer is that we would remember not only the tragedy of that day, but how desperately we need God. No nation is strong enough, prosperous enough, or secure enough to live independently of Him. God, turn our hearts toward You. Give our leaders wisdom, bring comfort to those who still grieve, and help us to be a people who walk humbly before You. We will never forget.

God may have given you the gift, but that doesn't mean it will develop automatically. Paul told Timothy to practice, cultivate, and give himself completely to what God had placed within him. The same is true for us. Our gifts are meant to be practiced, sharpened, and faithfully stewarded. Don't reach the end of your life still carrying what God gave you to pour out. Develop your gifts, use them to serve others, and determine now that you'll hold nothing back. I unpack how to discover and develop what God has placed inside you in You Are Called. Find it here: a.co/d/0iCEuDJv

Offense has a way of keeping our attention on what someone else did while blinding us to what's happening in our own hearts. This doesn't excuse their actions or minimize the hurt they caused. But their wrongdoing doesn't have to become our bitterness, resentment, or unforgiveness. Sometimes God uses difficult circumstances to reveal what's been hidden within us, not to condemn us, but to lead us into freedom. When we allow Him to search our hearts, we can release the offense and refuse to remain bound by what happened. I unpack this in The Bait of Satan. Find it here: a.co/d/0atkn6E7

God never intended for you to fulfill your calling through your own talent, strength, or ability. He's given you an assignment that requires something greater than you. That's why grace is so much more than forgiveness. Grace is God's empowerment to do what you could never accomplish in your own strength. Stop measuring your calling by what you believe you're capable of. If God called you to it, His grace will empower you for it. I unpack how to discover and faithfully walk out what God created you to do in You Are Called. Find it here: a.co/d/04IBa7mI

Loving God and fearing God are not the same thing. We can sing about our love for Him, know His Word, and be surrounded by His presence, yet still allow compromise into the areas of our lives no one else sees. The fear of the Lord changes that. It causes us to care more about His heart than our reputation, comfort, or desires. Holy fear doesn't drive us away from God. It draws us into a life of reverence, obedience, and deeper intimacy with Him. The love of God draws us to Him, and the fear of God keeps us from the evil that seeks to destroy us. This is the message at the heart of The Awe of God. Find it here: a.co/d/0hWczeda

Jesus tells us about a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to pursue one sheep that wandered away. But He also tells us about a son who knowingly chose to leave his father's house, and the father allowed him to go. There's a difference between wandering and willfully walking away. One looks up and realizes, "How did I get here?" The other knows exactly what they're leaving behind. Understanding that distinction matters because the response isn't always the same. We unpack this and much more in the latest episode of the John Bevere Podcast. Watch the whole conversation here: tinyurl.com/24dhw2df