Category: 2026 Trek Intro
Day 4–Called to Strength and Courage!
Scripture reading for January 29: Joshua 1:1-3, 8 “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of nun, Moses’ assistant, “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised Moses.” . . .Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.””
The Lord’s call and instructions to Joshua is a great word for all faith responders! We are called by God to arise and go into whatever situation or trouble we are facing. The Jordan River was the boundary of the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that belonged to them. Joshua, Moses’ assistant had walked for forty years with them through the wilderness as a consequence of the unbelief of the older generation of Israelites. As Moses lead God’s people out of Egypt through the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea, so Joshua was to face the flooding Jordan river as the first obstacle to lead God’s people through to inherit their land.
It is interesting to note that God promised Joshua that every place that the sole of his foot would tread, God would give to him. Joshua must do the walking out of God’s commands in trusting faith, no matter what the obstacle or enemy facing him. God promised His presence as they walked. In that presence of the Lord God was their strength, courage, and deliverance! How easy it would be to become frightened or deeply insecure when impossible situations confronted them. God knew their tendencies and with His Word and Presence would give them grace to overcome and possess their inheritance!
This is exactly what God calls us to do as first responders. As we walk into danger or trouble, we rely on God’s Word and presence with us through the Helper, the Holy Spirit. We choose to trust and obey and reject fear and dismay.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for Your Word that brings faith and courage to face life’s trouble. Fill me with the Holy Spirit and guide me to respond as You to those who are in need. Amen.
Day 3–Hiding from God’s Call?
Scripture reading for January 28: Exodus 3:9-12“And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, ‘But I will be with you, . .”
We get great insight into God’s heart of compassion for His people when they are oppressed and suffering. Their cries are heard by God and moves Him to action. In this recorded instance, God had been preparing the help for quite a long time. He had set aside a baby boy, born to an Israelite woman and her husband. In Egypt, Pharaoh had commanded all male Israelite babies to be drowned. But this family found a way to trust God by placing baby Moses in a basket in the water. God’s providence placed him in Pharoah’s household and then his own mother was hired to raise the child! Moses understood God’s call on his life through his mother’s training. But when He was older, he ended up running for his life after avenging an Israelite’s mistreatment.
Much later, God got Moses’ attention as he was tending sheep and minding his own business. At a burning bush, God spoke to Moses about the need to deliver His people out of Egypt. (Exodus 3:2-3) Moses made an excuse about his own insignificance. In fact, Moses had difficulty speaking because he stuttered! But Moses’ ability and talents weren’t the important qualifications. God promised to be with him in the whole process and reward him and His people for obedience! (Exodus 3:8)
Many responders, like Moses, have sensed God’s calling but have hidden out on the back side of the desert. God had to arrange for a special revelation to revive the calling again. When we come to understand God’s compassion, desire to bless the oppressed, and use us as His agents, our faith comes alive and a new journey to the promised land begins!
Prayer: Father God, thank You for Your great preparation of those You call and equip to serve. Often You take us through wilderness and trial to prepare our hearts with compassion for the hurting. Increase my faith response to Your call today! Amen.
Day 2–Called to Blessing and to Bless.
Scripture reading for January 27: Genesis 12:1-2 “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.” vs. 4 “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.”
As we continue to consider God’s calling of each person to the plans and work that God has prepared, we can learn from the life of Abram, a shepherd living in the land of the Chaldean’s. God spoke to Abram, asking him to leave behind everything familiar in his home country, including his father’s household. He was not told where he was being directed or how long the journey would take. Abram was already seventy-five years old and had a wife and servants. Abram responded to God’s invitation and gathered his family and herds and a nephew, Lot, and left for the land God had promised him.
God did not force Abram to obey, but God did make Abram promises that were amazing if he chose to obey. This is the essence of faith. We choose to trust God and believe what He says and promises over what we can see with our eyes or understand with our minds. God promised to make Abram a great nation when he had no children, only an older wife! God promised to bless Abram and make his name great among men when Abram was just a simple aged shepherd. God promised to do all of this in order to make Abram a blessing to all the families of the earth! (Genesis 12:3) God’s plans are amazing and beyond human understanding. They are prepared for those who by faith will respond!
As ‘faith responders’ who have chosen to follow Jesus, God has promised to lead us to a land we do not know presently–heaven! He will make our names great through His Name. We are blessed to be a blessing.
Prayer: Father God, I respond to Your call to follow Jesus and allow Him to lead me daily into Your perfect will and plans. I desire Your blessing and to become a blessing to all You send me to! Amen.
Week 5–Day 1–God Calls; We Must Respond
Scripture reading for January 26: Jeremiah 1:4-6 “Now the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I (Jeremiah) said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”
I remember knowing a call from God when I was barely five years old. I announced to my Dad and Mom that I was going to be a preacher when I was old enough. My Mom was a believer and had prayed over me many times and taught me God’s Word, even at that young an age. My Dad was not a believer and he stated plainly, “No way! That’s the lowest occupation on earth!” Mom didn’t argue, but hid the statement I made in her heart and continued to instruct me and pray. God had already called me as a young child! I had responded as best I knew at five years of age!
In today’s passage of Scripture, we observe that before Jeremiah was even formed by God in the womb, God knew him! Our existence goes beyond our conception or our birthday. God forms each person and give them their genetic makeup and giftings. Billions of chromosomes come together from mother and father but are knit together by God Himself. (Psalm 139:13-16) Before birth, God’s appointed plans are designated by Him for the individual. He knows us intimately and personally and thinks about us with love and affection. (Jeremiah 31:3)
But does this mean that we have no free will? Each person is sovereign and must choose to willingly love and serve God and seek out His will and plan. This sometimes happens early in life, while others go their own way for a time resisting God’s call. Sometimes, like Jeremiah and many others, we have shortcomings we think disqualifies us to follow God’s plan. But through relationship and humble trust and yielding to God we make progress! Instead of excuses, we should ask God to supply whatever we lack.
Prayer: Father God, I am in awe that You personally have taken time to design my life, even from before conception and birth! Thank You for life and Your plans for my life. I willingly respond to Your call to serve and offer my mind, body and spirit to You to do Your will. Amen.
Day 5–God’s Personal Pager
Scripture reading for January 23: John 14:15-17 “If you love Me you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, Whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
Again in today’s passage of Scripture, Jesus makes a promise to those who are in a loving relationship with Him through obedience of His Word. He promised to ask the Father to send the Spirit of Truth to live in them to help them. This ‘Gift’ from the Father would be a permanent Presence in each believer. The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of truth because God is a God of Truth. (John 14:6) The Spirit takes the Word of God and guides the believer in all truth. (John 16:13) The Helper with bear witness of Jesus through each believer. (John 15:26)
Jesus taught that those in the world could not see or know the Spirit of truth. But the Spirit of truth also would bring conviction of sin, righteous and coming judgment to those in the world. God the Father sends the Holy Spirit of truth to accomplish His will and purposes through empowering those following Jesus Christ to be fruitful in their service of God and others.
First responders carry either a pager or phone application like “I Am Responding” to receive calls to respond and the nature of the incident. Communication is vitally important to bring the right help and equipment on the scene in the shortest time. Good communication prepares the responders with information that helps them to properly and efficiently help and cooperate with other responders on the scene. If they are followers of Jesus, they also have God’s Holy Spirit of truth to direct them and empower them. God tells believers to ask Him for this ‘Helper’ and He will send Him. (Luke 11:13) “. . how much more with the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Prayer: Father God, thank You for providing each believer with Your personal Helper, the Holy Spirit. Thank You for drawing me into relationship with You and helping me to ask You for this special ‘Gift’. Enable me to listen to Your guidance and wisdom to help others most effectively. Amen.
Day 4–God’s Amazing Promise
Scripture reading for January 22: John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in My Name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My Name, I will do it.”
God’s emergency response communication network is built on personal relationships. God reaches out to each person inviting them into a relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus builds a friendship with each person and knows all about them and their strengths, gifts and weaknesses. He invites each person to get to know Him and to become comfortable asking for information or direction and walking by faith with Him. Jesus prepares those who walk with Him to become disciples and then sends them out to respond to those who are hurting or in need.
Out of our relationship with Jesus, He invites and encourages each person to ask the Father in His Name for whatever they have need of. As men and women have called upon the Lord and walked with the Lord for thousands of years, Jesus calls His followers to do the same. His Name represents all that He is as King of kings and Lord of lords. It gives access to His power and knowledge and insight. This promise reveals God’s desire to show us love in meeting our needs, regardless of cost. It promises continuous access to God and His emergency call-in system.
We already know how important relationships are in the function of fast and effective response to incidents. We can see how we can draw on other resources not provided through our job but through our relationship with Jesus. Wise first responders maintain healthy relationships in the departments we serve in and with our Lord through daily prayer and devotions.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for providing a simple plan of communications that provides access to whatever we need through asking You in Jesus’ Name. Help me to remember this communication promise and humbly ask You for the help needed as I do the best I can with what You gave me. Amen.
Day 3–Walking with God
Scripture reading for January 21: Genesis 6:8-9 “But Noah found favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”
When I was in my early teens, my father and I were called by a frantic neighbor to come help rescue his son who had an accident with a tractor. This son had been up all night at a prom, and was doing chores on the dairy farm. He was hauling manure and spreading it on a field when he fell asleep and went down a sharp embankment to the creek-bed below. My dad and I were the first on the scene and dad helped me to lift a tractor tire off this boy and asked me to hold his head out of the water of the creek. I held up the tire and began to pray. His legs were still trapped in the soft mud under the overturned tractor. I called upon the Lord and prayed the scripture that I had just memorized, Psalm 23. My dad got a spade and dug under the trapped leg, freeing him. He was bruised, lacerated, but saved from death that day. God’s grace had provided for this young man and the responders!
Noah was a blameless man who found favor with God because of his simple faith. God had revealed a coming flood that would destroy the world. He asked Noah to build an ark for himself, his family, and two of every species of animals. Noah chose to walk with God through this process and follow His specific directions. A side note, the ark God had Noah build did not have an engine, sail, or rudder. God would guide them through the flood!
As first responders, we can face impossible or trying situations that are beyond our natural understanding or abilities. Not only does God answer prayers, He often leads us to provide the answer. It strengthens us to know that we are not alone as we say ‘yes’ to cries for help. All things are possible to those who walk in faith.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for inviting us all to walk with You throughout life. Teach me Your ways and lead me through the trials. As a responder, I know that I need Your grace and favor each day. Amen.
Day 2–Calling on the Lord
Scripture reading for January 20: Genesis 4:26 “To Seth also a son was born, and he called His name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the Name of the Lord.”
The emergency contact system in our country is organized around our phone system. Almost everyone has cell phones and can be contacted at anytime. The 911 Emergency call center in each county or municipality is manned at all times by trained listeners. They answer the calls for help and ask pertinent questions to determine the location of the individual and the nature of their problem. They then contact the appropriate emergency personnel to assist in a timely manner. So we might say that in our culture when in an emergency, call ‘911’ for a dependable response.
God encourages His children to call upon Him in the time of trouble. (Psalm 50:15) He says that honors Him and He will deliver us. We see from today’s Scripture taken from Genesis that after Cain killed Abel, Seth was born to Adam and Eve as another child who could walk by faith. Seth had a son, Enosh and it is recorded that during his life, people began to call on the Name of the Lord. It appears that Adam and Eve began to train their children and grandchildren, those who would humbly listen, that they needed to always ask God for their needs and become people who prayed.
God wants each person to know Him personally and learn to personally call on Him. God revealed His Name to many of the early men and women as answers to their cries for assistance. Genesis 21:17-18 describes how Hagar and her young son Ishmael were sent into the desert and cried out to God. “Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is,” was God’s reply. He is the God Who hears.
As responders, we must always live in humble dependence that God is involved in each incident and knows each person involved. I always call out to God as I respond for the wisdom that I and the other responders will need. I ask for direction and the provision to effectively help the hurting. Even though ‘911’ may have helped direct, I know that God is over all.
Prayer: Father God, thank You for always hearing and answering the cries of Your people. What a comfort for us to be able to call upon You in each incident. Amen.
Week 4–Day 1–911–God’s Emergency Number
Scripture reading for January 19: “. . . and call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me.”
In our country we use an emergency number that is easy for most people to remember: ‘911.’ When an accident happens or an emergency requires help from first responders, anyone with a phone can simply dial ‘911’ and an operator from the local emergency response center will take down your location and the nature of your need and dispatch the right first responders to handle that specific incident.
As a first responder, I carry either a pager or a cell phone with an application that is called “I Am Responding”. This is the one used in our county but there are others available that do the same thing. I am a volunteer and upon receiving a brief summary of the problem and the location in our county, I decide whether I can respond in a timely manner to bring the assistance. I text the ‘911’ operator how I am responding. I may just respond ‘Standby’ if others are enroute. If I can respond, I text “I am responding” and give the location that I will respond to. I can either go to the scene of the incident or to the fire station No. 1 or No. 2 to pick up gear and fire equipment as needed. As I leave the station with the truck and equipment, I report that I am enroute. I use the app to follow the map to the scene. The operator can then track me in my response location.
I find many parallels in this system designed by man to help organize response with how God responds through His children to meet the needs of hurting people. God encourages His people to call out to Him in our time of need. We are to specifically state the need and ask in faith for His assistance. He says that we honor Him when we faithfully call out. He promises the help we need and this brings Him glory to show His loving care and provision. He knows right where we are and sends out those that will willingly serve us with the proper equipment and training.
Father God, Thank You that You hear every ‘911’ call of Your children and even those who do not know You. You send the help needed from willing responders. I offer myself to respond on Your behalf. Teach me to follow Your amazing system. Amen.
Week 3 Video Responder highlight–Mt. Washington Fire Department Chaplain Steve G.
This week’s interview is with a firefighter and chaplain of his fire department in Mt. Washington, Kentucky. Steve has served the Lord for many years as a believer and disciple in his local church in Louisville. He joined the fire department as a way to use his talents and to serve God and others in need. I have known Steve and his family for many years and value his heart to serve and his walk with Jesus Christ.