The Missing Piece – Greg Laurie Devotion – April 6, 2026

Biblical Context

John’s Gospel, penned by John, one of Jesus’ closest friends and disciples, gives us a special look at who Jesus is and why He came. John wasn’t just writing history; he was showing us God’s heart. He wanted everyone who read his book to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and, by believing, find real life in His name. He wrote with an eye toward proving Jesus’ divinity and connecting people directly to Him, sharing things Jesus said and did that aren’t in the other Gospels.

Key Word Study

Let’s look at the word “loved” in John 3:16. The Greek word used here is agapao (ἀγαπάω). This isn’t just a casual affection or a friendship love. Agapao describes a willing, active, and self-giving kind of love. It’s a love that chooses to put others first, even when it costs everything. It isn’t based on how good someone is or what they’ve done; it’s a love that simply gives. God’s love for the world, expressed through sending Jesus, wasn’t forced; it was a choice He made because of His very nature. This is the kind of love that reaches out and offers a way back to Him.

Because Jesus Lives, You Can Have Fellowship with God

Yesterday, we celebrated Easter, which marks Jesus’ victory over death. This week, we’re going to look at different things Jesus’ resurrection means for us. And we’re going to start with this one: Because Jesus lives, all who believe in Him have fellowship with God.

That fellowship was broken when Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord. Their sin opened a huge gap between humanity and the holy God. We were powerless to bridge that gap. So, God did it for us. Our Creator and Designer so desires a relationship with each one of us that He sent His own Son to earth to die for us and pay our penalty to make that possible. That is the amazing truth of John 3:16: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (nlt).

Sin Creates an Emptiness

Sin also creates an emptiness and a craving in the human soul. Have you ever tried to put a puzzle together and gotten to the very end, only to discover that the final piece was missing? I speak from experience when I tell you that it can be incredibly frustrating.

Maybe, in a much bigger sense, you’ve tried to put your life together, thinking, “If I put this here and that there, it will work. But where is that other piece?”

God holds the missing piece. You won’t find it in your pursuits. The missing piece is a relationship with our heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. Have you found that missing piece? Or do you still have a hole in your heart that you’ve tried to fill with everyone and everything, only to find nothing works?

The author of Ecclesiastes put it this way: “Everything is meaningless . . . completely meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 1:2 nlt).

God Has a Plan for Your Life

I was raised around many of the empty pursuits this world offers. And I pursued enough of them to know that they were meaningless—enough to know that they weren’t the answer to what I was looking for. So, when I first heard about Jesus Christ, the idea of having a relationship with God held great appeal for me. But the Christians I knew were so nice and loving. I thought, “I don’t know if I can become one of these people.”

But then God started working in my life. He changed my heart. And if He can do it for me, then He can do it for you. In fact, when I told people I was a Christian, they didn’t believe it. Then, a few years later, when they learned that I was a pastor, they laughed even harder. It was the last thing anyone ever envisioned for me. But God had a different plan for my life.

Who knows what kind of plan He has for you? Remember, it all begins with a relationship with Him.

Reflection question: What might God’s plan for your life look like?