God Meets You Where You Are
When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. – Acts 2:6
From the very beginning, God has worked through people’s real lives, real cultures, and real stories. When the Holy Spirit moved in the early church, people heard the message in their own languages. God did not ask them to become someone else first.
The cross was never meant to erase identity. It was meant to redeem humanity. Yet too often, faith has been used to tell people they must change who they are in order to belong. That idea did not come from Jesus.
Christianity did not begin in comfort or privilege. It was born among people who were marginalized, occupied, and struggling. God met them right there. He did not flatten their identity. He honored it.
Your background, your culture, and your story all matter to God. They are not obstacles to faith. They are places where God meets you. The same God who met Moses at the sea met people in the streets, fields, and homes of their everyday lives.
So release the pressure to erase parts of yourself to please God. He already knows you. He already sees you. The cross is not about becoming someone else. It is about becoming whole.
God’s love meets you where you are and invites you forward from there.
From the very beginning, God has worked through people’s real lives, real cultures, and real stories. When the Holy Spirit moved in the early church, people heard the message in their own languages. God did not ask them to become someone else first.
The cross was never meant to erase identity. It was meant to redeem humanity. Yet too often, faith has been used to tell people they must change who they are in order to belong. That idea did not come from Jesus.
Christianity did not begin in comfort or privilege. It was born among people who were marginalized, occupied, and struggling. God met them right there. He did not flatten their identity. He honored it.
Your background, your culture, and your story all matter to God. They are not obstacles to faith. They are places where God meets you. The same God who met Moses at the sea met people in the streets, fields, and homes of their everyday lives.
So release the pressure to erase parts of yourself to please God. He already knows you. He already sees you. The cross is not about becoming someone else. It is about becoming whole.
God’s love meets you where you are and invites you forward from there.
Subscribe Now for Free Daily Devotions
Recent
Archive
2026
January
When God Feels Silent but is Still at WorkHow to Rebound After a Crushing LetdownWhen Your World Falls Apart After You Did Everything RightGod Is Still Building Roads in the DesertThe Chapter That Comes After TraumaWhen Hope Feels GoneWhen Your Words Start Working Against YouGod’s Resume Is Bigger Than Your SituationWaiting on God is Not Doing NothingBefore Circumstances ChangeGetting In Your Bag When Life Feels UnfairWinning With a Bad HandOverlooked, Insulted, and Still ChosenPrepared in the Field Before the Giant AppearsYou Were Trained for This MomentTaking Off Armor That Does Not FitFormed in the Field, Not on the StageWhen the Battle Is Not Actually YoursWhen You Feel the Urge to Go Through God’s PhoneFaith After Disappointment Still CountsKeep Showing Up Even When You Are ConfusedLocked Doors Do Not Stop JesusWhen You Need an Encounter for YourselfDoubt as a DoorwaySaying What Hurts When God Is in the RoomWhere Faith and Fear CollideShutdown Does Not Mean FinishedWhen Opposition Shows Up Mid-ProgressBuilding Without Responding to the MockeryA Mind to Work in the Middle of WearinessThe Wall Rose Because the People Did Not Quit
2025
January
Plenty of RoomThankful for Your SeatWho God Invites to the TableThat’s the PointWe Do Not Have a Monopoly on GodStop Talking So LoudLet God Handle the Guest ListA Long-Awaited ReunionSeeing Jesus for YourselfIn Possession of a Personal PromiseGet in the Right PositionReady to ReceiveAligning Your Life for God's PromiseWaiting with ExpectancyGrounded in PrayerStrength in PrayerPatience Through PrayerStay Focused Through PrayerGod's Conditional PromisesGod’s PriorityGrounded in FaithTrusting God's TimingThe Assurance of God's PromisesIs It Well With Your Soul?Health vs. HealingStewarding Your BodyA Holistic View of SpiritualityGod Cares About Your BodyWhat You Put in MattersNourishing Your SoulThe Power of Prevention
February
The Power of a ComebackHealing from the PastStop Blaming and Start TrustingBury the Past to Claim the FutureFacing Trauma with TruthCelebrate That You SurvivedRepair What is BrokenNothing God Can’t FixDon’t Swing at Bad PitchesStick to God’s PlanDon’t Let Desperation Drive YouShift Your WeightWho Knows Best?A Good Idea Isn’t Always a God IdeaPeace in God’s PlanFinding Purpose in God’s PlanProsperity in God’s PlanTrusting God’s Plan, Pace, and ProcessKnowing When to PivotGod Hasn’t Given Up on YouNext-Level Faith Requires PerseveranceA New Revelation of GodIt’s Not All About YouNext-Level ConnectionsNext-Level CommitmentA Prayer That Moves GodPrayers That Carry a BurdenPray With Boldness
1 Comment
Dear Mr. Coates,
nI don't think God loves me.
nI read devotionals, I tithe, I read the Bible, yet I'm going through TORTURE in a nursing home.