Devotion.al

Feed Your Soul

  • Trusting Joy

    Psalm 37:3-6, Joel 2:12-13, Isaiah 12:2-6, James 1:2-4

    Integrity, so it is said, is doing the right thing when nobody is watching. It can be tempting to do the wrong thing when no one is watching. It is often easy to do the right thing when everyone is cheering.

    It’s when no one is cheering, or people are even grumbling or threatening those who do right, that we come to the hard part of out our faith.

    “ in the LORD, and do what is good…”
    Psalm 37:3

    “…I will trust [the LORD] and not be afraid…”
    Isaiah 12:2

    When it gets tough to do right, all we can do is trust God. Sounds easy, but how often do we fail to trust God, and instead trust ourselves, others, or things?

    James calls on us to be filled with in these situations. Joy? Yes, even in these situations. Perhaps, joy is most critical in these situations. The freedom to feel joy is fully reliant on God.

    Let us pray:

    Dear Heavenly , we know with our heads that we need to trust you. As we are frail human beings, help our hearts to trust you further than yesterday, and even more so tomorrow. Grant us the peaceful assurance of your , compassion, patience and love. Help us to continue to seek the coming Messiah, and to be filled with joy of knowing you.

    , be with us through the remainder of the Advent season, stirring our hearts to not take Christmas for granted, but to be stirred into action of joy-filled praise of the Father, Son, and You. Continue to quicken our hearts and aid us in our journey of faith.

    Jesus, Son of God, thank you for becoming like us. Thank you for experiencing a like ours. We are thankful that you know temptation, yet did not sin, us strength to choose the God-lit path of faith that goes through the darkness.

    Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we lift you up on our praise. Help us to joyfully sing your praise, for your .

    Amen.

  • Tossing Diamonds

    Tossing Diamonds

    Psalm 119:81–88; Ezekiel 2:8–3:11; 2 Corinthians 11:16–33 Don’t be rebellious…eat my words…sweet as honey. God’s words to Ezekiel set Ezekiel apart from his people. As a prophet, Ezekiel would indeed be separated from the Israelites. By “eating” the words of God, Ezekiel set himself apart. This obviously wasn’t going to be an easy separation either.…

  • Servant Life

    Servant Life

    Psalm 123; Ezekiel 2:1–5; 2 Corinthians 12:2–10; Mark 6:1–13 In certain cultures, and in certain times, it was not dishonorable to be a servant. In fact, being a servant could well lead to a different path than what could else be accomplished. One of the most famous servants in US culture is a man named…

  • Give It Up

    Give It Up

    Psalm 123; Jeremiah 7:27–34; Matthew 8:18–22 There was this guy who loved science. He loved nature. He pursued the academics to take care of the wilds. Except he was stubborn. You see, what he loved wasn’t the science, but Creation. In fact, he wasn’t good at it at all. He stuck with that choice for…

  • Seriously

    Seriously

    Psalm 123; Jeremiah 7:16–26; 2 Corinthians 10:7–11 The Christian understanding of God is one of love, forgiveness, and grace. These are often the primary characteristics on which we focus. If we are honest, it’s because, with such a God, a lot of pressure is off of us. There are many, however, who claim these same…