The Glory in the Grind: A thirty-day devotional to help you grow closer to Christ by helping you see His glory in all work and to find the joy and contentment that only comes from Him and enables you to handle any job situation

By Nick R. Ferran

If you’re like most people, you’ve spent a lot of time seeking to find your calling or purpose in your career. You probably also find yourself unfulfilled.

Often, work is simply not the dream we thought it would be, which often leads us to give up promising careers only to embark on something new and discover the same issues.

The Glory in the Grind is a thirty-day devotional designed to help you connect with Christ by seeing Him in the daily, mundane grind of going to work, which makes the ordinary extraordinary.

The book of Colossians highlights how all things are made through Christ and for Christ and that all things are held together by Him. His presence is everywhere and His divine nature is so embedded into the fabric of the universe that with the eyes of faith, you can see Him in common ordinary jobs like janitors and bankers.

At the end of the day, it is not the perfect job, employer, or city that will give you meaning and fulfillment in life. It’s learning to walk with Christ daily in whatever work you do.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781664296879

Nick R. Ferran

Nick R. Ferran became a follower of Christ at age ten and grew up in a Southern Baptist church. A major part of his spiritual journey has been learning to trust, follow, and see Christ at work in his “secular” calling and vocation. Learning to see Christ in his various professional roles and in the daily grind of writing reports or running spreadsheets has given him the faith and passion to continue striving over a challenging career.

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Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English

Standard Version®). ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has

been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers.

Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-9686-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-9688-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-9687-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023906287

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/15/2023

Philippians 4:11–13 ESV: Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

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Colossians 1:15–17 ESV: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

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Ecclesiastes 11:5 ESV: As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

CONTENTS

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The Architect

The Author

The Babysitter

The Baker

The Banker

The Barista

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

The Comedian

The Doctor

The Engineer

The Entrepreneur

The Financial Analyst

The Firefighter

The Gardener

The Investor

The Journalist

The Lawyer

The Marketing Executive

The Mechanic

The Musician

The Nurse

The Painter

The Pharmacist

The Photographer

The Real Estate Developer

The Security Guard

The Soldier

The Surgeon

The Teacher

The Understudy

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THE ARCHITECT

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WHAT DO ARCHITECTS DO?

Architects are the designers and sculptors of buildings, designing them as works of art to be displayed and admired by a city’s inhabitants.

HOW DO ARCHITECTS GLORIFY THE LORD BY REFLECTING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LORD?

The Lord is the ultimate architect, creating a world and universe full of beauty that puts His glory on display.

The Lord is also sculpting each person who follows Him into a unique work of art.

Just as architecture has great variety, no two humans display the glory and beauty of the Lord in the same way. Each person is different, and the Lord reveals Himself in each person differently.

The Lord is designing New Jerusalem, the ultimate city to be revealed at the end of time, to be a place of great beauty materially and spiritually that displays the Lord’s glory, with Him as the ultimate source of its beauty.

SCRIPTURE

Revelation 21:10–11 ESV: And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

ALSO REFERENCE

Psalm 8:1–4

Psalm 136:7–9

Revelation 21:18–21

Revelation 21:22–27

Psalm 139:13–15

HOW DO ARCHITECTS GLORIFY THE LORD BY SERVING THE PEOPLE?

Architects are key to creating buildings appealing for a city’s residents to look at.

The buildings architects design are sources of inspiration, invoking imagination and creativity in the viewer.

Architects are key to making cities thrive, and therefore, nations thrive by creating buildings and cities attractive to live in.

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE DIDN’T HAVE ARCHITECTS?

If buildings could