5-Day Devotional: What Can’t Be Taken Away

Jan 19, 2026 | Sunday Messages

5 Day Devotional

This devotional invites you to build your life on what cannot be taken away—Jesus and His Word—so that loss and uncertainty don’t get the final say over who you are. Over the next five days, you’ll explore how distraction, fear, and suffering try to rename you, and how God anchors you with a steadier identity. Each day offers a practical step to move from being ruled by “what if” to resting in the presence of Christ.

Day 1

Luke 10:41-42

Martha wasn’t doing something sinful—she was doing something necessary. Yet Jesus lovingly exposed what was happening underneath her activity: worry, upset, and distraction were steering her. Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet, and Jesus called it “better” because it would not be taken from her.

So much of our anxiety comes from building our inner world on outer things: roles, routines, approval, or having everything under control. When those foundations shake, we feel like we’re shaking too. Today is about re-centering your life on the one place loss cannot invade: the presence of Jesus and attentiveness to His Word.

Sitting with Jesus isn’t ignoring responsibilities; it’s choosing a foundation before you choose your pace. When you begin the day from His feet, you carry His steadiness into the tasks instead of asking the tasks to give you steadiness. What can’t be taken away becomes the anchor for everything else.

  • What responsibilities or expectations are currently pulling you into worry more than worship?

  • Where do you sense Jesus saying, “You are worried and upset about many things”? Name the “many things.”

  • What would it look like for you to choose “the one thing” today in a specific, scheduled way (time, place, and plan)?

  • Which good thing has subtly become a foundation thing for you—and how has that affected your peace?

  • Take 10 minutes today to sit in silence with God and then read a short passage of Scripture; write one sentence about what you sensed He was inviting you into.

Day 2

Job 1:21-22

Job’s world collapsed in a day—possessions, security, and even relationships were torn away. Yet in the shock of loss, Job didn’t let devastation become his identity or his theology. He grieved honestly, but he also worshiped, anchoring himself to the unchanging reality of God’s sovereignty and goodness.

The sermon reminded us that if it can be taken from you, it cannot be the foundation of your life. Job shows what it looks like when a person has built deeper than circumstances: pain is real, but it is not ultimate. Loss tries to drag your heart into despair or self-protection, but worship lifts your eyes to the One who remains when everything else shifts.

Worship in suffering isn’t denial; it’s defiant trust. It’s choosing to tell the truth about God even when you can’t yet make sense of your story. When you practice worship in small losses, you’re training your soul to hold onto what cannot be taken away when bigger losses come.

  • What has recently felt threatened or unstable in your life (health, finances, relationships, status, plans)?

  • When you imagine losing that thing, what does it reveal about what you’ve been depending on for security?

  • How do you typically respond to crisis—fight, flight, or freeze—and how does that response shape your decisions?

  • Write a short prayer of worship that begins with honesty about your pain and ends with a statement of trust in God’s character.

  • Choose one practical act of worship today (gratitude list, worship song, Scripture reading) and do it even if you don’t feel like it.

Day 3

Ruth 1:20-21

After Ruth lost her husband and Naomi lost nearly everything, Naomi said, “Call me Mara,” naming herself by her bitterness and emptiness. That moment captures a common spiritual battle: suffering doesn’t only hurt—it tries to rename you. It whispers that what happened to you is who you are, and it invites you to carry a label God never gave you.

The sermon pointed out that loss always tries to rename you. Renaming often sounds reasonable because it matches our feelings: abandoned, behind, ruined, forgotten, unsafe. But feelings, while real, are not final. God is not threatened by your honesty, yet He does not want your pain to become your permanent identity.

Today is about noticing the names you’ve accepted and bringing them into the presence of God. When you let Jesus and His Word define you, you can grieve without being consumed, and you can tell the truth about what happened without letting it become the truest thing about you.

  • What “name” have you been tempted to wear lately (e.g., failure, burden, unwanted, anxious, behind, not enough)?

  • Where did that name come from—an event, a relationship, a disappointment, or your own self-talk?

  • How has that label been shaping your choices, your prayers, or your expectations about the future?

  • Ask God in prayer: “What do You call me in this season?” Write down a Scripture-based truth that counters the false name.

  • Tell a trusted friend or mentor one label you want to lay down and ask them to pray with you for renewed identity.

Day 4

Mark 5:27-34

For twelve years, the woman with the issue of blood lived with physical suffering and social isolation. In her world, her condition could define her: unclean, untouchable, excluded. She had spent everything, grown worse, and likely carried both exhaustion and shame—yet she moved toward Jesus with courageous faith.

This is another way loss and suffering try to rename us: they reduce us to our condition—diagnosis, struggle, past, or pain. But when she touched Jesus, power met her weakness, and Jesus spoke to her personally: “Daughter.” He didn’t just heal her body; He restored her identity and reconnected her to community and dignity.

Notice that what could not be taken away was not her money, comfort, or reputation—it was her access to Jesus. When you reach for Christ in your lowest place, you discover that your story is not sealed by what you’ve endured. In His presence, you are more than what happened to you, and faith becomes a pathway to wholeness.

  • What part of your story has made you feel “untouchable,” disqualified, or unseen?

  • Where have you been spending yourself trying to get better—emotionally, spiritually, or relationally—without lasting change?

  • What would it look like to “reach for Jesus” today in one concrete step (prayer, confession, asking for help, returning to Scripture)?

  • Do you believe Jesus speaks to you personally, not just generally? Write a prayer asking Him to call you by the name He chooses.

  • Identify one small act of faith you can take this week that aligns with healing and wholeness (seek counsel, join community, forgive, rest).

Day 5

Matthew 7:24-25

Jesus describes a wise builder who hears His words and puts them into practice, constructing a life that can withstand storms. The storm still comes—rain, wind, floods—but the foundation holds. This is the outcome of choosing what cannot be taken away: a life that remains intact even when circumstances are not.

Across the week, we’ve seen how distraction pulls us from Jesus, how loss exposes shaky foundations, how suffering tries to rename us, and how faith reaches for Christ. Today ties it together: your future resilience is built in today’s practices. A foundation isn’t formed in a crisis; it’s revealed in a crisis. The question isn’t whether storms will come, but what your life is resting on when they do.

To build on the rock is not merely to admire Jesus’ teaching, but to order your life around Him—presence before productivity, identity before labels, worship before worry, obedience before outcomes. When Jesus is your foundation, you may lose many things, but you will not lose the One who holds you, and that changes everything about how you face tomorrow.

  • What “storm” are you currently facing or fearing—and what does it reveal about your foundation?

  • Which practice from the past four days do you most need to make consistent (sitting with Jesus, worship in loss, rejecting false names, reaching in faith)?

  • What is one teaching of Jesus you know you need to put into practice right now, not just agree with?

  • Create a simple daily rhythm for the next 7 days that includes Scripture and prayer; specify when and where you will do it.

  • Who can help you build on the rock—what person or community will you invite into your spiritual growth this week?