Recent Devotions
“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thessalonians 5:18). When I opened my mailbox one afternoon, a mysterious envelope lay inside. There was no stamp, no return address, in fact no address of any sort. Across the face of the envelope was written in an unfamiliar hand, “To thank you.” Of course, of all the mail received that day, I opened that envelope first. The inside was no more revealing than the outside. All it contained was two well-worn dollar bills. No note, no name. Nothing. Months later the envelope…
And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2-3, ESV) Have you ever noticed how easily children make friends? Take one…
“Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3). “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Unfortunately, this childish chant is not true. Our words have power: power to hurt, power to heal. To understand this power,…
Readers Loved
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1 Peter 5:8, KJV) My four-year-old thinks I am quite talented. He was in awe when I knew he had been eating a cookie he hid under the chair. “How did you know Mom?”, he asks in utter amazement. My daily work is with children and it is almost comical when they get caught doing something because they lack the learned art of hiding. Sadly, as we grow, we do learn that art and as humans we are often tempted…
“Your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel” (Proverbs 11:17, New Living Translation). Everyone needs a little kindness in their life—to give some and to receive some. But what is kindness? Or is it even easily definable? Urbandictionary.com says it is “doing something and not expecting anything in return. Kindness is respect and helping others without waiting for someone to help one back. It implies kindness no matter what.” Someone else described it as love in action. While we may not be able to adequately define kindness, we do know it…
“And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.” I Samuel 1:11 It took a lot of courage and determination for Hannah to make this vow and promise to the Lord. Think of it, for years she had longed for a child, and now she was telling…
- “But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding,” (Job 32:8 in the Holy Bible, New King James). Inspiration is often used to suggest an idea that provokes action by the recipient. It’s offered as an endorsement for a motivational speaker. The least common definitions of “intake” or “breathing in air” are my favorites. Nothing compares to the exhilarating feeling of inhaling mountain air on a cool morning, or watching the chest of a sick child rising and falling in restful sleep. A sidebar to these definitions on a popular dictionary website was accompanied by this biblical quote from 2 Timothy 3:16 which I’ve used for years as my source of inspiration. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” God-breathed inspiration. It doesn’t get any better than that.
-
Prayer: Eternal God, as I breathe air into my lungs for survival, let holy Scriptures bring spiritual life to my soul. Amen.
-
Devotion by Violet Carr Moore
