Christian actress beats New Age books at No. 1 with devotional: 'People are seeking truth'
By the time Jen Lilley realized her new book had reached No. 1 on Amazon, it had already done something more important than a bestseller list: it had outranked a slate of New Age spirituality titles in the “Spiritual Self-Help” category.
“That meant more to me than being No. 1 in the Christian circuit,” the 41-year-old actress, singer and author told The Christian Post. “I was looking at the rankings and thinking, Oh my goodness. All the other books in that category were very New Age. And it brought me so much joy, because people are seeking truth. They’re seeking light. They’re seeking what they think is good.”
Wake Up Your Faith,a 366-day devotional released by BroadStreet, became a No. 1 new release even before its official launch, an outcome Lilley described as “overwhelming” and “completely unanticipated,” yet evidence that people are searching for absolute truth in an age of uncertainty.
“I was really overwhelmed to have God trust me with a message that could reach people who are seeking truth and light,” she said.
Lilley is best known for her prolific acting career with more than 60 film and television credits spanning “Days of Our Lives,” “General Hospital” and a slate of beloved holiday films for Hallmark and Great American Family.
But in recent years, she said she felt God calling her to be more outspoken about her faith and how He helped her overcome a 15-year battle with an eating disorder. The book, she said, was written out of obedience to that calling.
“I was approached by BroadStreet,” Lilley said. “It was definitely not my idea to write a devotional. A 365-day devotional is no joke — actually 366 because of leap year — and you have to keep it evergreen. … I felt like the Holy Spirit wanted me to wake up the Church. And that was terrifying.”
“I’ve never really read devotionals growing up,” the mother-of-four said. “And my overall impression has been that sometimes devotionals become a substitute for people actually reading their Bible. It’s like trying to squeeze in God time. Life gets busy. I get it. But we have to be Marys in a Martha world. We can’t choose the things of life and not sit at Jesus’ feet.”
After spending decades in the film industry, Lilley said that over the years, she’s become even more drawn to audiences outside church walls.
“One of the reasons I went into acting is because I love the lost,” she said. “I love people who have never actually heard the Gospel. People have heard ‘Jesus loves you,’ but they haven’t heard why Jesus needed to die.”
The title of her book, Wake Up Your Faith, is rooted in the book of James, her favorite biblical text. “James talks about faith without works being dead,” she said. “Sometimes faith feels like this ethereal concept that’s hard to grasp, but in the original language, it simply means trust.”
“What would it look like if we actually lived it out? If we crossed the road like the Good Samaritan and allowed our schedules to be wrecked?”
That question animates much of the book, which challenges believers to move beyond comfort, convenience and fear of offense. “I think a lot of the lack of love in the world is because the church has sat back,” she said. “We don’t want to offend anyone, but love speaks. Love has action.”
Another, more sobering passage guided her while writing: Matthew 7:21–23, in which Jesus warns that many who perform miracles in His name will still be told, “I never knew you.”
“That verse gives me a reverent, holy fear,” Lilley said. “It’s terrifying to realize you can flow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and still not actually know Him.”
She has witnessed miracles herself, she said, healings she attributes solely to God. “But the minute I think, ‘Oh, it’s because I prayed,’ that’s the moment I’ve lost the mark,” she said. “That’s when the focus shifts off Jesus.”
“You are so loved, so seen, so valued,” she said. “But also, we have to get it together. I don’t want anyone on my watch, myself included, to miss the mark.”
Lilley is also a passionate advocate for foster care and adoption, shaped by her own family’s story. She and her husband are parents to four children, two of whom were adopted, and she co-founded Tulsa Girls Home, a residential program for teen girls in foster care.
Her activism, like her faith, is practical. “Faith without works is dead,” she said again, returning to James. “Love requires action.”
Even as she presses into weighty spiritual themes, Lilley continues to work on screen. This holiday season, she stars in and produced “A Chrismystery,” a romantic mystery that follows a big-city cop who returns to her hometown with her daughter, only to investigate the theft of the town’s Christmas decorations, a case in which everyone is a suspect.
“I was drawn to it because it’s so outside the box,” Lilley said. “I love my traditional Christmas movies. I’m obsessed with them. But this one is quirky. It’s like if ‘The Grinch’ and ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ had a baby. It felt like a Christmas movie for people who hate Christmas movies.”
On a larger scale, in 2026, she will appear in “Jimmy,” a biopic centered on Jimmy Stewart, playing Gloria Stewart, the woman he married later in life.
“Gloria Stewart was an amazing woman,” she said. “Jimmy didn’t meet her until he was in his 40s, and she had to be someone very special to capture his attention … Jimmy Stewart was every man. After learning his life story, I watched It’s a Wonderful Life and wept the whole time. He was George Bailey.”
Faith, she noted, was central to both their lives. “Just getting to explore who she was and their story was incredibly powerful for me.”
The film marks her return to a theatrical release for the first time since “The Artist,” which won five Academy Awards. “It was very humbling,” she said. “I cried a lot. It felt like the Lord rewarding obedience through a really difficult season.”
As Christmas approaches, Lilley said she sees her book and films as extensions of the same message: There is hope, truth and peace through knowing Jesus Christ.
“At the core of everyone is this desire to be known, loved, seen and valued,” she said. “And we look for it everywhere but the Lord. We run from God because we feel like we don’t deserve Him. And the truth is, we don’t. But God decided we were worthy.”
She cited Ephesians 3, Paul’s prayer that believers might comprehend the vastness of Christ’s love. “It’s inexhaustible,” she said. “We can’t even begin to comprehend it with our finite minds.”
“Once you experience the love of Jesus in a real, tangible way,” she added, “you’ll never be the same.”
Wake Up Your Faithis now available.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
