Devotion.al

Feed Your Soul

  • Working At Peace

    Psalm 29, Romans 5:1-11, Philippians 4:2-9,

    “The LORD gives his people ; the LORD blesses his people with .”
    Psalm 29:11

    “…we have peace with God through our Lord Christ.”
    Romans 5:1

    “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
    Philippians 4:7

    Through Jesus Christ we are at peace with God (). This is also expressed as being God’s children, the LORD’s people. So, God gives us strength. This strength, the promise through Christ, is a peace that surpasses all understanding.

    Peace isn’t a one-time thing. Peace is not something that just happens. Peace is hard work. For us to be reconciled to God (“…peace with God…”), the of God came to earth, became one of us, and died for all of us. If Jesus died for this peace, why do we ever think it is easy?

    It takes strength to be at peace. It takes effort to be at peace. “That person cut me off, they…” Be at peace? Have you driven around here? Just driving can cause one to not be at peace with the people around them! Then there are the , work, and general people dynamics which just makes being at peace hard!

    PEACE IS HARD WORK! “I’m at peace about this.” If one is truly at peace about something, there was effort involved. Sometimes we are at “peace” because we are fatalistic about it. Sometimes we are at “peace”, because we “know” the result. Sometimes we are at peace because we surrendered it to God.

    1) Why do you think “spiritual” peace is viewed as something “just” given?

    2) Have you ever had to work really hard to be at peace about something?

    3) Should you feel guilty about having to work at being at peace?

    4) Is being at peace the effort?

    KD) Are you at peace with God? If not, why not? If you are, how?

  • 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,…