Devotion.al

Feed Your Soul

  • Pieces of Love

    Isaiah 52:13-53:12, John 15:7-21, Luke 1:68-79

    This passage in Isaiah does not use the . In fact, it sounds that God is cruel.

    This passage does not use the word love. It preaches and lives it from its very core.

    How? Through Jesus. Only through Jesus was such a horrific event transformed from terror-inducing to life-giving. Only God can take something soaked in and turn it into something that produces life, and only through the very being of God’s self: the second person of the , Jesus.

    Jesus’ words to his disciples were just words. It’s not that they didn’t think Jesus’ words were unimportant, but they were lacking the understanding of how deep their meaning was. As we quickly approach Christmas, we should hold in our hearts and minds, as we celebrate the gentle, warm and easy baby in a manger, that Good Friday and are coming. A simple child will change the world.

    Zechariah’s prophecy for his son, John, was both filled with of and fear for his son. Such a prophecy means that his son would expect a life of hardship and opposition. Prophets are often unloved by those that God sent them to. A ‘s joy of birth, overshadowed by what was to come. God the Father, and all the Heaven’s, filled with joy of the coming birth of the Messiah, yet that simple life-giving was known to not be the act of salvation, but merely the starting point of salvation by the cross.

    When we speak of Christian love, it is a hard love. This is not the soft and gentle love that the world wants, but the love the puts other ahead of self, and the lower above the higher. Jesus shows us what godly love is, and we struggle to do it. We often think of it as easy, but it violates the world’s love, and the world will do anything to oppose it.

    Christmas is love in action. Christmas is the celebration of a loving act, by a loving God, fulfilled by a loving God, to call back to love a world filled with fear, anxiety, prejudice and hatred.

    Most parents have learned a truth of love. Having a child is having part of your forever outside of yourself. Imagine how God feels. Billions of pieces of God’s heart are walking on this planet right now.

    1) What are your thoughts about being “a piece of God’s heart”?

    2) Often when following God, we have to release those we love to Him. If you’ve done that, how does it feel? If you haven’t, can you imagine what it feels like?

  • Laying The Bread Down

    Laying The Bread Down

    Psalm 145:10–18; 2 Kings 4:42–44; Ephesians 3:14–21; John 6:1–21 It is tempting to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We can look at society and even many churches (in particular, their leaders), and just give up. There is such a struggle against the darkness and against sin, that it can be overwhelming. At the…

  • Field Placement

    Field Placement

    Psalm 145:10–18; 2 Kings 4:38–41; John 4:31–38 Flour has become a no-go for many people these days. The fight against gluten and carbohydrates is quite prevalent. Much of this has to do with how much our surroundings have changed. Most of us don’t need many carbohydrates. Those whose bodies are still their primary focus for…

  • Let ‘Em Fight

    Let ‘Em Fight

    Psalm 145:10–18; 2 Kings 3:4–20; Colossians 3:12–17 It can be hard to be rid of wounds. Many physical ones heal with scars, though the deeper body ones may not heal well. For most of us, the emotional and spiritual wounds are the ones with deep and lasting effects. These are the ones that can hold…

  • Burning Call

    Burning Call

    Psalm 145:10–18; 1 Kings 19:19–21; Colossians 1:9–14 One of the issues that has come up in the last year in church-ish circles is the ordination of women. Saddleback took a bold step and ordained women which went against the predominant grain of their partner body (SBC). There was an unexpected explosion in certain circles against…