The Connection Corner
A daily source of encouragement and inspiration to connect your heart to hope and faith.
Daily Devotional
Proof that’s Still StandingJune 4, 2026 - 7:00 am- Faith After the FalloutJune 3, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Longing Less, Living MoreJune 2, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Running Home to RestJune 1, 2026 - 7:00 am
- When Joy Fills RoomsMay 31, 2026 - 7:00 am
- The Dinner Table DiscoveryMay 30, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Love That Didn’t Look AwayMay 29, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Discipline, Desire, DelightMay 28, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Loved Louder than LabelsMay 27, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Rest for the RingmasterMay 26, 2026 - 7:00 am
Heart of the Artist
- When Joy Fills RoomsMay 31, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Paddleboards and PraiseMay 24, 2026 - 7:00 am
- When Silence Finds a SongMay 17, 2026 - 7:00 am
- The Blood-Bought Glow UpApril 26, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Peace is Still PreachingApril 19, 2026 - 7:00 am
Stories About Songs
- When Joy Fills RoomsMay 31, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Paddleboards and PraiseMay 24, 2026 - 7:00 am
- When Silence Finds a SongMay 17, 2026 - 7:00 am
- The Blood-Bought Glow UpApril 26, 2026 - 7:00 am
- Peace is Still PreachingApril 19, 2026 - 7:00 am
From Forgiveness to Family
Daily Devotional, Heart of the Artist, Stories About SongsOver the past few years, I’ve been on this journey of writing songs inspired by the real life stories that people send to me.
This one story in particular has had a profound impact on me. It hit me kind of hard. It’s about a woman who did the impossible, and it made me ask myself if I could do the same.
Renee had four kids. Two of her daughters were twins. Megan was coming home from the beach one night with her best friend when their car was struck by a drunk driver named Eric, a 24-year-old kid.
Megan lost her life. Eric killed both girls that were in the car. Renee lost her daughter in an instant. Next thing she knows, she finds herself in a courtroom watching this young man, this 24-year-old man, get sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Renee wrote to me and said, “I now have a mission that I never would have chosen.”
What she meant by that is that in the years that followed, she began to travel around to schools and churches and different functions, and she would speak about the dangers of drunk driving.
But as the years progressed, she felt like something was missing from her presentation, and that’s when God put it on her heart that she had not forgiven this man who took the life of her daughter. And so she reached out and did the impossible.
She reached out to Eric in prison and said, “I forgive you.”
The ripple effects of that act of forgiveness are still being felt today. That young man’s life was absolutely changed because this woman forgave him.
He said, “I can’t even forgive myself, and she forgave me.” Eric said he found his eternal salvation as a result of this act.
One by one, all of Rene’s family members followed her lead, and they reached out and expressed forgiveness to Eric. So much so that now they describe Eric as part of their family, like a son to Renee.
The story doesn’t stop there though. Renee went to the courts along with her family, and she was able to have Eric’s sentence cut in half from 22 years to 11 years.
This blew me away.
The reason she did it is so that Eric could have a second chance at life, and so that he could join her in their presentations. She told me that now she shares not only about the dangers of drunk driving, but also about the power of forgiveness.
— Matthew West
LYRICS
It’s the hardest thing to give away
And the last thing on your mind today
It always goes to those that don’t deserve
It’s the opposite of how you feel
When the pain they caused is just to real
It takes everything you have just to say the word…
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
It flies in the face of all your pride
It moves away the mad inside
It’s always anger’s own worst enemy
Even when the jury and the judge
Say you gotta right to hold a grudge
It’s the whisper in your ear saying “Set It Free”
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness, Forgiveness
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness
It’ll clear the bitterness away
It can even set a prisoner free
There is no end to what it’s power can do
So, let it go and be amazed
By what you see through eyes of grace
The prisoner that it really frees is you
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness
I want to finally set it free
So show me how to see what Your mercy sees
Help me now to give what You gave to me
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Songwriters: Matthew West
Say Goodbye to Yesterday
Daily Devotional, Heart of the Artist, Stories About SongsThere was always one.
One student always showed up to youth group and sat in the back. Hoodie up. Eyes down. Never sang. Never responded.
And I could not stop thinking about him.
We did not start Elevation Rhythm for big stages. We started in rooms like that—small, loud, and imperfect— with students like that who were not yet sure what they believed about God but still came.
We began by remixing worship songs, just trying to help them connect. Eventually, we started writing our own. Not to sound cool. Not to go viral. But because we knew not every kid listens to the same thing, and if God speaks every language, then maybe He could speak through every genre, too.
Our hope was that in all the noise of the world, they would hear one song that felt personal like God was saying, “This one is for you.”
During one of those writing days, it was just me, Gracie Binion, and Mitch Wong. We were talking through what God had done in our lives and how hard it can be to stop believing the lies about who we used to be.
Then Gracie said, almost in passing, “I think I finally said goodbye to who I used to be.”
And that was it. We knew our students needed to hear that.
That was the beginning of our song “Goodbye Yesterday.”
We already had the name of the album, Victory Lap, but the meaning sank in deeper that day.
A victory lap is what you take after the race is finished—Not to win but to celebrate what has already been won. That is what life in Jesus is. Freedom. Not striving.
And maybe today, you are the one sitting in the back, not literally but in your heart. You are still unsure if God sees you and still dragging around the shame of a life He already paid for.
If that is you, hear this: you do not have to be weighed down by a version of yourself Jesus already set free.
The cross is before you. The past does not have to define you because He has already won. So, say the words even in a whisper.
“Goodbye, yesterday.”
And the rest of your life? It is your Victory Lap.
— Josh Holiday
Lyrics:
Goodbye yesterday
I’m living in the light of a new day
I won’t waste another minute in my old ways
Praise the Lord I’ve been born again
Goodbye yesterday
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
I’ve got resurrection in my veins
Praise the Lord, I’ve been born again
Again and again and again and again
You rescued me out of the mess I was in
Traded my sorrow for something to sing
I’m dancing on the grave that I once lived in
I have decided
To follow Jesus
The world behind
The cross before
I won’t turn back
Written by Joshua Holiday, Gracie Binion, Mitch Wong, Steven Furtick
GOODBYE YESTERDAY – LEARN MORE HERE
When Fear Stands in the Way
Daily Devotional, David HallI stood at the edge of the woods that afternoon, just trying to catch my breath in the heat. I was standing in the shaded path near the ropes course at summer camp when I saw him.
A young boy—maybe seven—stood trembling on top of a telephone pole, tears dripping down his cheeks. His arms were rigid at his sides, and his knees shook beneath him.
This was the final challenge of the ropes course. They called it “The Leap of Faith.” The goal was simple: jump off the platform and reach for a nearby trapeze bar suspended in midair. But for this kid, it might as well have been the Grand Canyon.
From the ground, the belayer called up with gentle encouragement.
“You are safe, buddy. You are clipped in,” he said. “Those ropes are solid, but listen. You do not want to go back the way you came. Trust me. The safest way down is to jump.”
The boy stood frozen for what felt like forever. I wondered if he would try climbing down. Then, quietly, he bent his knees and jumped.
When he caught the bar, the grin that broke out across his face was unforgettable. All the fear was still hanging in the air, but now it was drowned out by something louder: joy.
That memory has stayed with me for years. Not because of the stunt, but because I have lived in that tension—wanting to turn back, doubting what I cannot see, standing on the edge of something that looks impossible.
But sometimes the only way forward is a leap. Not reckless. Not blind. But real, trusting faith grounded in the confidence that you are already held.
If you are standing on a ledge today, frozen with fear, listen closely. There is a Voice calling to you—not shouting, not rushing—but reminding you that, while the way forward might feel risky, you are not unprotected. You are never alone.
Friend, you may not see the harness, but that does not make it any less secure.