April 2, 2026

A Quiet Day

How far would you go for someone you truly love? Today, we'll explore what it means to show real loyalty and deep sacrifice in our walk with Jesus as we reflect on the events leading up to Easter. Together, let's uncover the difference between simply being close to Jesus and truly giving Him our whole hearts. We'll hear the story of sacrificial love from the woman with the alabaster jar and consider what we're willing to lay down for God, even in moments of silence and stillness. Join us for ...

How far would you go for someone you truly love?

Today, we'll explore what it means to show real loyalty and deep sacrifice in our walk with Jesus as we reflect on the events leading up to Easter. Together, let's uncover the difference between simply being close to Jesus and truly giving Him our whole hearts. We'll hear the story of sacrificial love from the woman with the alabaster jar and consider what we're willing to lay down for God, even in moments of silence and stillness.

Join us for a peaceful time of devotion as we dedicate ourselves in prayer, inviting God to show us how to surrender every part of our lives to Him.

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WEBVTT

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You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1499. And today's Devo is called A Quiet Day. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time.

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That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Good morning, everybody. And this is Stephanie. I forgot to introduce myself yesterday, so if you listen to yesterday, that was me as well. But I'm very excited to dive into our devo. Today we are continuing in our Holy Week where we are doing an activity every single day to remember what Jesus did at this time this Easter season. So today we are reading from Matthew 26:40, 14, 16, and then we're going to jump over to Mark. But let's read this together in the NIV version. Matthew 26:14, 16 says, Then one of the 12, the one called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and asked, what are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you? So they counted out for him 30 pieces of silver. From then on, Judas watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over. And then we're going to jump over to Mark 14, verse 1. Now, the Passover and the festival of unleavened bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. But not during the festival, they said, or the people may riot. While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, why this waste of perfume?

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It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor. And they rebuked her harshly.

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Leave her alone, said Jesus. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them anytime you want, but you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.

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Truly, I tell you, wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.

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Then Judas Iscariot, one of the 12, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them, they were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So we watched for an opportunity to hand him over. There's a beautiful song that's inspired from this passage of scripture called Alabaster Box, written by this writer. I don't remember her name, but it was sung by CC Winans. And it is unbelievable. And it talks about this woman's sacrifice and it's. You have to hear it. And I want to talk about the sacrifice today. And you know, Thursday of Holy Week is often called Silent Wednesday. And the Gospels, they record very little public activity from Jesus that day. But behind the scenes, Jesus had agreed to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. What a deal.

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While Jesus continued preparing for the cross, the plan to arrest him was already a underway and he knew it. And that's what I love Jesus for so much. I love that about him.

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He knew what was coming and he still decided to stay in this, you know, even one of Jesus's closest followers that followed him for three years, Judas, turned against him in Holy Week. It reminds us that proximity to Jesus is not the same as loyalty to Jesus. Let me say that again.

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Proximity to Jesus isn't the same as loyalty to Jesus. And that should make all of us shake just a little bit and wonder how loyal am I to Jesus? Loyalty can be defined in many different ways, but to me, loyalty is basically how far am I willing to go for the person that I love, for the people that I love.

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I have a friend who I have a few friends that have gone through a lot of hard things recently. And it has been beautiful to see the community rally around them and the brothers and the sisters in their life that have left work, that have showed up at midnight to go to the hospital, that have stayed at the hospital throughout the night, that have bought them lunches and bought them dinners and bought them coffees. It is amazing to see loyalty in action, that there are some people out there that are willing to. To sacrifice their work schedule, their money, their efforts to come and help their friends because they are loyal to them. And it just allows us to think, how far will we go for Jesus?

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What kind of sacrifice will you make for Jesus?

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How big is your sacrifice for Jesus? Is it small pieces of your heart? Is it a small compartment? Is it small compartmentalizations of your life, of your heart, of your mind? Where Jesus, you can have this part of my life, but no, don't touch this part. God, you can have this part of my heart, but no, this part I'LL take care of. I got it under. I got it handled. Are we splitting up and piecing our sacrifice to God? Or are we willing to sacrifice everything to Him? Are we willing to lay down our total life, our total heart, our total mind?

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Even when it's painful, even when it's scary as all get out?

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But that's how we prove our loyalty to Him. We can walk every day in proximity to Jesus without fully sacrificing everything to him. And Jesus doesn't want to be second. Jesus doesn't want just a piece.

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He wants your full heart. He wants your full life. He wants everything. He wants the good, the bad and the ugly. He wants the parts where you're afraid. He wants the parts where you're anxious. He wants the parts where you're angry. He wants the parts that you. You haven't forgiven yet. He wants the parts that you're still mad at that person about, that you are still broken about.

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He wants all of that. And today is your day to show him that you are willing to sacrifice it all.

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You know what, God? I'm not holding any more back. I'm laying it all at your feet because I trust you that much and because I love you that much and because I'm willing to go that far. Because I'm loyal to you. And if there's any part of me that I haven't given up yet, show it to me, God. And that's how we walk in loyalty to Jesus. That's how we do not become the Judas. Okay, that we sit here and we say, even if you are going to go up on that cross, even if you are going to be judged and, and criticized by the people, even if you are going to be killed by, by these, by these Pharisees, God, I'm staying by your side through thick or thin. I'm with you, Jesus.

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And today the activity is for you to sit in silence and reflect that. Take 15 minutes this Thursday and just be silent and think about all the things that you can sacrifice to God, that you can lay down to him. Have I fully laid down my marriage? Have I fully laid down my fear of the future?

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Have I fully laid down my control issues? Have I fully laid down my brokenness? Whatever it is, God, show it to me. And then be silent.

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Don't keep asking questions. Don't go down your list of prayers. The day for that will come. But today, let's just listen to him. We're in relationship with him, so he speaks back to us. And today is the day to Be silent and to lay down every bit of your life in your heart. Let's pray. God, today we're going to go deeper in our prayer time where instead of us talking to you, you're going to speak to us. So God give us the eyes to see and the ears to hear your voice, even if we've never quite heard your voice before. For today's the day that it's going to happen. God, I declare it right now that every person that has not heard your voice yet, today is the day that they will finally hear your voice. That they will have an encounter with your Holy Spirit and they will walk away from those 15 minutes of silence feeling, whoa, what just hit me? That was the voice of God. I believe and I declare that today is that day that we will receive guidance, that we will receive confirmation, that we will receive affirmation, that we will feel your Peace in those 15 minutes of silence, that it will be a moment that changes our world. And God, we're going to take the next step and sacrifice our time to do that. We're going to lay down our whole heart and our whole mind to be with you and to walk in loyalty to you, Jesus. And we thank you for all you're doing in our lives. And in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

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So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend. Leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.