Today's Devotion
“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” (I Corinthians 16:13, NKJV) Have you ever faced a situation in which you must either take a stand for what is right or compromise your integrity? If you have, you probably discovered that resisting pressure to go along with the majority or popular opinion is not easy. In fact, sometimes it can be costly. TO STAND OR TO COMPROMISE? Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah had a decision to make. They and other Jewish young men of the royal line had been taken as captives to Babylon. They had been selected…
“How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You are like tombs that are painted white. They look beautiful on the outside. But on the inside they are full of the bones of the dead. They are also full of other things that are not pure and ‘clean.’ (Matthew 23:27 NIRV) When I was a little girl, I loved tea parties. My mother put them together just for me and my sister. It was always a special time, away from our two brothers and childhood responsibilities. She would pull out her fine china, set the table…
“And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.” Mark 5:18-20. This man’s life was changed in a moment. At the spoken, authoritative word of Jesus, every devil left this man’s body.…
Sometimes I forget what God has done in my life. A few weeks ago in a church service we sang, “When I think about the Lord, how he saved me… it makes me want to shout hallelujah, thank you, Jesus!” I began to weep at the keyboard as I thanked the Lord for completely changing my life around. Where would I be without the Lord? Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might,while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter…
Everyone has their own signature coping mechanism to deal with stress, grief, and the general chaos of life. Some people take the healthy route, like journaling, praying, or making a strategic action plan. And then, there’s me in my early twenties. I typed into Google’s search engine what I do to deal with stress, and it told me that I lean toward maladaptive coping, also known as the art of avoidance and denial. Now, if you’re someone who faces your problems head-on, you deserve a gold star, and maybe a TED Talk. As for me, I am making progress slowly…
