Devotion.al

Feed Your Soul

  • Life Vessel

    Psalm 71, Isaiah 55:1-13, Acts 9:19b-25

    It is easy to get lost in despair. It is easy to let the troubles of this world get you down. When the world especially tries to drag you down with, “if there really was a God…” The psalmist feels overwhelmed and opposed. There is even some feeling of being abandoned by God. Yet, the psalmist does not lose hope, and trust God, even when questioning. It’s okay to question what’s going on. God’s big enough to handle the question. It’s not that we question. It can be how we question. Really, it is who we look at when we question. Are we looking at ourselves? Are we looking at ? Or, are we looking, really looking at God?

    Isaiah has . The people of Israel have questions. They have lots of questions, and heartache, and loss, and , and anger, and despair, and…a whole of issues. The words shared by Isaiah are really the question…who/what are you looking at? When we look at God, we can receive – water and life. When we look elsewhere, it goes out of us. That can be good, as long as we keep looking to God to receive. However, the longer we are open to receiving, we end up leaving ourselves open to being changed. Some people take a touch. Others take tap. Others require a spiritual 2×4. It is what happens afterwards that is the difference: our response and how we look at God.

    got the 2×4 (or something bigger). He had an experience that was so powerful that he changed. He went from a man successfully penalizing the (including being an accomplice to murder), to being an obvious and outspoken support of Jesus Christ and his church. So much so, that it is not an unreasonable question to ponder, if he was so quickly able to successfully defend Jesus as the Messiah, why couldn’t have figured it out earlier? What if…a powerful question, that has no real answer.‌

    • ‌1) Being a vessel of God’s living water (spirit) can us deeply. Why can that be scary to people?‌
    • 2) What do you think of the life in the light of Isaiah’s words? Should your Christian life be changed?
    • 3) We often think of Paul being alone. Yet, he was never alone. What does that tell us about Paul, ourselves, and how we view important people?
    • FD) Sometimes we don’t understand God. Is that okay? Is it okay to not understand, and still and trust God?
  • The God of Where

    The God of Where

    Psalm 123; Jeremiah 7:1–15; 1 Corinthians 4:8–13 The change between Jeremiah and Corinthians cannot be overstated. The clash between law and grace is right there before us. The CEB (the primary translation currently being used to write and to read for this devotional) and NRSV translated Jeremiah 7:7 as, “…only then will I dwell with…

  • Begging In Faith

    Begging In Faith

    Psalm 88; 2 Kings 20:1–11; Mark 9:14–29 Regardless of your views on the COVID vaccine, medical science (including vaccines) has been miraculous over the years. How medical practices have been improved is amazing (My grandfather once told me of a vaccine he received as a kid. The process was highly unsanitary.). Medical science continues to…

  • Passed The Gates

    Passed The Gates

    Psalm 88; Leviticus 15:19–31; 2 Corinthians 9:1–5 I have long felt this passage in Leviticus to be unfair to women. No, not because of certain cultural influences of today. Perhaps it was the era I grew up in, or because my mom worked as a school teacher. Or in conjunction with that, my dad was…

  • Knowing Limits

    Knowing Limits

    Psalm 88; Leviticus 21:1–15; 2 Corinthians 8:16–24 What is your limit? Or, perhaps, who is your limit? Republicans? Democrats? Communists? Libertarians? Capitalists? Roman Catholics? The homeless? The hungry? A different skin color? A different nationality? A different religion? Neighbors? Friends? Family? Children? Spouse? Relations and relationships are some of the biggest variables in human existence.…