Devotion.al

Feed Your Soul

  • Learn and Apply

    Psalm 25:1-10, Nehemiah 9:16-25, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

    “Make your ways known to me, Lord; teach me your paths.” (Psalm 25:4)

    “You sent your good to instruct them…” (Nehemiah 9:20)

    “…test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from .” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)

    Psalm 25 is viewed by many scholars as a solid instruction in the faithful covenant life. Many also view this as written by King David toward the of his life. If we take these two views , we can see a man who, though very flawed, pursued God and did his best to understand God, and who continued to seek guidance to know God’s plan and fulfill it faithfully.

    Nehemiah reflects on the Israelite exodus from Egypt as part of his reflection upon the return of the remnants of Israel from exile. Nehemiah acknowledges that God never stopped trying to guide the Israelites from their bad habits taken from Egypt. Those that he leads after their exile have brought habits from Babylon that are not of God.

    Paul writes to the Thessalonians, people who were deeply embedded in a culture that did not know God. He calls on them to bear the struggles they are currently going through and to not abandon the . Indeed, he calls on them to live it even more deeply, using the faith to filter the world around them and their lives.

    Advent counts down until God comes down. Advent is not just about a child in a manger; it is also about God coming back at the end of the story. Christmas is about the never-ending that changes lives, given to us by someone who came and lived just like us.

    When the culture around us counts down the days until Christmas, the culture is really counting down until the time when material things triumph. It is so easy to succumb to the pressures of fitting in. It is so easy to follow the habits and traditions of our culture, which drowns out the and light of God with stuff, or shares light-hearted stories without the God of the Universe whose shines through. Often our biggest challenge during Christmas and Advent is for us to keep Christ in Christmas.

    1) What traditions do you have in this season?

    2) How do you use those family traditions to bring God in?

    KD) What is your favorite family Christmas ? How do you see God in it?

  • Seeing It Coming, Or Not

    Seeing It Coming, Or Not

    Psalm 33:12–22; Exodus 15:6–11; John 7:37–39 Watching sports commentators is almost as entertaining as watching meteorologists predict the next day’s weather. “Hey, (person), what are the key things the team has to do today.” Then another commentator says something that really every team has to do. If the team does whatever it was well (and…

  • Divided Unity

    Divided Unity

    Psalm 33:12–22; Job 37:1–13; 1 Corinthians 15:50–57 God’s might and power cannot be denied. God’s glory is present in Creation. A majority of people surveyed stated that they are closest (or most aware of) God when they are in “nature” (or non-humanity altered environments). As Elihu says (the person speaking in Job), God’s power is…

  • Nice Dirt

    Nice Dirt

    Psalm 33:12–22; Genesis 2:4b–7; 1 Corinthians 15:42–49 It is doubtful that many (if any) people think humanity has it all together. There is the cynical quip that the greatest proof of intelligent life in the universe is that they haven’t contacted us. Regardless of your political orientation and whether US or world, there is no…

  • Sackcloth and Ashes

    Sackcloth and Ashes

    Psalm 115; Ezra 9:5–15; John 16:16–24 Collective guilt has been on the top of many lists in the last year. Regardless of your political, philosophical, or religious perspective of the collective guilt issues, it does allow us to better understand the pressure that Ezra felt…somewhat. Ezra was trying to make up for generations of sin…