Devotion.al

Feed Your Soul

  • Listening for Peace

    Psalm 7, Isaiah 36:13-20, Luke 14:31-33

    is fleeting. We look around the world and cannot help but recognize that a lack of conflict only lasts for a short time. World leaders are speaking well of one another, then the next day attacking one another. People at work or school say positive or encouraging things to us, then say horrible and damaging things to about us.

    As editors and news-writers know, bad news, wars and bad behavior sells. It seems that we are conditioned to seek out the bad stuff. Good or heart-warming stories often don’t get the eyeballs or the clicks, at least in comparison to the bad.

    When trying to convince the people of Jerusalem to , King Sennacherib has his messenger make huge promises that after taking a moment, one realizes is impossible for the King to do without devastating the other countries he has already dominated (and probably made similar promises to). This is similar to politicians and leaders who make wild promises to those already in their camp, and then even more to those outside their camp in an attempt to draw them in. This is often the promised peace of the world.

    King Sennacherib promises peace, his peace. His peace is the surrendering of self, property and even national to be pulled into his sphere of influence, and be controlled. Even in the States we have people who express themselves in the same way as King Sennacherib.

    All too often, we allow ourselves to believe that everything will be alright (we’ll be “at peace”) when have an item, prosperity, land, or health. We can deceive ourselves and put too much emphasis on what will pass away, rather than what is .

    1) If you listen to a person, such as a politician, talk in a peaceful way or in a warlike way, which are you more likely to ? Is one more realistic than the other?

    2) How do you think that is different than how Jesus speaks of peace?

    KD) How do you talk about peace with your friends? How can you help adults in your (or re-learn) about peace?

  • Sighting Evil

    Sighting Evil

    Psalm 74; 1 Samuel 16:14–23; Revelation 20:1–6 Evil spirits or the “spirit of evil” has a presence in human culture throughout the ages. Even for those who have no deistic belief, there is an understanding that something is completely evil. There was nothing positive about the Holocaust. In fact, most people would state that the…

  • All About Me

    All About Me

    Psalm 130: Genesis 3:8–15; 2 Corinthians 4:13–5:1; Mark 3:20–35 Self-examination is probably one of the hardest Christian practices. It is probably also the one most needed today. When we do our self-examination properly, we are better equipped to recognize some issues we have that inhibit our continued transformation into the likeness of Christ. First, the…

  • Field Work

    Field Work

    Psalm 130; Genesis 2:4b–14; Luke 8:4–15 Regardless of where you are concerning the continuum of evolution to creationism, humanity is unique. Many of those who look at humanity from the evolutionary standpoint are less than impressed with the result of evolution. Many of those who look at humanity from the creationism standpoint are less than…

  • Getting Down

    Getting Down

    Psalm 130; Deuteronomy 1:34–40; 2 Corinthians 5:1–5 If you’ve ever purchased a home using a loan, you usually had to come up with some sort of down payment. At least near me, a 10% down payment may be $70K or more. Part of that, of course, is the exceedingly high price of houses (and the…