Devotion.al

Feed Your Soul

  • Life Vessel

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

    It is easy to get lost in . 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 questions. 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 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.

    Paul 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 church (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 water () can us deeply. Why can that be scary to people?‌
    • 2) What do you think of the Christian life in the 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 love and trust God?
  • The Shepherd’s Care

    The Shepherd’s Care

    Psalm 100; 2 Samuel 5:1–12; Luke 15:1–7 In case you haven’t noticed, the theme for the week (Thursday through today, plus tomorrow) is sheep. Almost all the Scriptures reference sheep in some form or another. Without question, the sheep are the People of God. Even in Luke, Jesus is still using the sheep as a…

  • In The Fold

    In The Fold

    Psalm 100; Zechariah 9:14–10:2; Acts 20:17–38 Psalm 100 is used in some churches as a call to worship. There have been a number of songs that have pulled their chorus and even the lyrics from this Psalm. It sounds so straightforward, but is it really? We are God’s people and his sheep. While we really…

  • Not Quite Yet

    Not Quite Yet

    Psalm 100; Jeremiah 50:1–7; Hebrews 13:17–25 Babylon was the enemy of Jerusalem and Jews at the time of Jeremiah. It makes sense, as Babylon had destroyed much of Jerusalem, and taken a majority of the population into exile. It was the big nation with the biggest might. For the Jews, there was no bigger enemy.…

  • Undivide

    Psalm 23; Jeremiah 23:1–6; Ephesians 2:11–22; Mark 6:30–34, 53–56 The words from Jeremiah were primarily aimed at the priests and religious leaders. They are hard words for we clergy, as they should be. Yet, they are no longer words solely for the clergy. As a part of the priesthood of believers, they are for you,…