Devotion.al

Feed Your Soul

  • Joy Refill

    Psalm 47, Psalm 48, Revelation 19:6-9

    “…God ascends among shouts of …”
    Psalm 47:5

    “…[God’s] mountain, rising splendidly, is the joy of the whole earth…”
    Psalm 48:1

    “Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him because, the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his has prepared herself.”
    Revelation 19:7

    All around God is rejoicing. There is not only and glorifying, there is joy. While God is just, God wants to be surrounded by rejoicing, or joy-filled, saints. You and I are called to be those joy-filled saints. It is one of those strange things where it is our duty to be joy-filled. Dutifully joy-filled seems contradictory, as if we are being commanded (as in obeying the law or a vengeful dictator) to feel a particular way. It isn’t that. Duty acts as a check and balance. It is our duty to assure that we are joy-filled saints. When doing our duty of checking the joy in the tank (so to speak), and we find it empty, we know that we need to refocus on God, thanks to Jesus Christ our Savior and surrendering (again) to the Holy .

    The image of bride has been applied to the church since the beginning. In that image, there is a tension of collective (everyone) and being the bride (not in a gendered way) of Jesus. The bride prepares herself. While she may be crying as she walks down the aisle, the tears should be ones of inescapable joy, of love and thankfulness of an bond. A bride that is not joy-filled walking down the aisle should really be rethinking the marriage.

    That is why it is our calling to be joy-filled. Every day we take one more step down the aisle toward Jesus. When it comes to Jesus, it isn’t good to be a runaway bride.

    Lastly, the populace of Heaven (of Heaven!) is rejoicing at this marriage! How amazing is that? Instead of viewing us as dirty or unworthy, we are the celebrated bride, and everyone is happy for the groom, Jesus!

    1) check. Are you joy-filled toward God?

    2) What things can people do to refill their tanks of joy?

    3) What practices or habits do you use to refill on your joy?

    KD) What does it mean to refill on joy?

  • Moonlight Movement

    Moonlight Movement

    Psalm 65; Joshua 10:1–14; Mark 6:45–52 Jericho, Ai, and Gibeon had fallen. For comparison’s sake, it would be as if Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York, Boston had all fallen to a single foreign power. And, not just fallen, but completely destroyed with all their people, creatures,…

  • Show Stopper

    Show Stopper

    Psalm 65; Exodus 9:13–35; Acts 27:39–44 But I’ve left you standing for this reason: in order to show you my power and in order to make my name known in the whole world. Exodus 9:16 Depending on your context and current life situation, these words could be good or they could be bad. The Scriptures…

  • Prayer Signs

    Prayer Signs

    Psalm 65; Exodus 7:14–24; Acts 27:13–38 Do the right thing! Then, do the next right thing! If there is a question of what the right thing is? You’ll just know. Right? Sounds completely rational. You’ll just know. Except it doesn’t always (or even often for many) work that way. Many times awe-inspiring stories are told…

  • Moving Pain

    Moving Pain

    Psalm 107:1–3, 23–32; Job 38:1–11; 2 Corinthians 6:1–13; Mark 4:35–41 The right time. God moved at the right time. God’s timing is perfect. From a purely intellectual standpoint, these are easy to say. It is much harder to say this in the midst of trial and be at peace with that truth. We will often…