DEVOTIONS
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Today’s Truth
The eyes of every-one in the synagogue were fastened on him (Luke 4:20 NIV).
Friend to Friend
Long, long ago, royalty would send letters and packages with trusted servants, often having sealed their personal communications with wax and a signet ring. Before our current American postal system was in place, the Pony Express is how letters and packages got from place to place. Now, deliveries are not only physical, but can even be sent electronically.
I love deliveries. Doesn’t matter if they’re from Amazon, UPS, Fed Ex or the local pizza shop, I relish the transfer of goods that conveniently finds its way to my front door. And flowers! I love when flowers are delivered too! Although that very, very, very rarely happens around here as the hubs is not the romantic type. Oh, well!
Whether it’s
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Today’s Truth
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2 NIV).
Friend to Friend
I watched a gaggle of eight-year-olds play a game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. One was blindfolded, spun around in circles, and then pointed in the direction of a donkey posted on the wall. As she made her way toward where she thought the donkey was waiting, her friends yelled out which way she should go.
“Move to the right!”
“Move to the left!”
“You’re getting cold!”
“Now you’re getting warmer!’
“Go up a little!”
Some of the voices intentionally tried to mislead her, but I could tell she was trying to pick out the voice of her closest friend, someone she could trust. After returning the donkey’s tail to its rightful position, or pretty close to it, she removed her blindfold
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Today’s Truth
The Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26 NKJV).
Friend to Friend
We were sitting around the family table when my mom announced, “Suzie, you didn’t talk until you were four.”
Um, what?
This was news to me. “So, are you saying that I was quiet?”
“Nope, you didn’t talk at all. Not a word. In fact, if it hadn’t been for your sister, we would have never known what you needed.”
My sister is four years older than me. Evidently, she became a student of her little sister who had no words. When I wanted a drink, she told mom. When I was tired or hungry, she made certain that this was communicated.
I eventually found my words, but may I be honest with you?
There have been other times when I’ve lost my words.
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Today’s Truth
Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy (Psalm 99:9 NIV).
Friend to Friend
When my son Hunter was ten, he came to me with a humble confession. He said that because he hasn’t been spending much time with God lately, he had been grumpier and grumpier. He quietly admitted he had been mean to his siblings and had said some unkind things. With amazing insight, he connected the amount of time he spent with God to his behaviors … recognizing that there was a direct correlation.
Boy, can I relate.
I told Hunter that I experience the exact same thing in my life. That when I don’t carve out time in my day to spend with the Lord, I often say and do things I shouldn’t. For that matter, even when I do
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Today’s Truth
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God … (Ephesians 2:8 NIV).
Friend to Friend
I often settle for so much less than God’s very best for my life. I tend to invest time in good things and miss the highest things God has planned for me because I do not pray in faith.
A small country town was in desperate need of rain. One Sunday morning, the pastor of the local church called for a special prayer meeting to be held that night. “It’s time to pray for rain,” he said.
The people gathered with a sense of purpose and excitement, but when the pastor stood to lead the prayer time, his words stunned the waiting crowd. “Only one of you came in faith,” he announced.
Looking down at the first row, the pastor pointed
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Today’s Truth
May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done (Ruth 2:12 NLT).
Friend to Friend
Sometimes I feel myself growing bitter about an unexpected situation, especially when I don’t know how it’s going to turn out. In those moments, it helps me to remember the story of Naomi, a woman who had a choice between becoming bitter or better…
Memories flash through Naomi’s mind as she walks the streets of her hometown for the first time in many years. Her wedding day, walking to the market with her little boys, one on her hip and the other holding her hand. Her family left this place to escape a famine, but now her husband and sons are gone.
“Is it really Naomi?” a familiar, though long unheard, voice asks (Ruth 1:19). “Don’t call me Naomi,” she
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Today’s Truth
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you (James 1:5 NIV).
Friend to Friend
You know when you get those unsolicited phone calls from telemarketers? My husband James has a funny way of dealing with them.
He picks up the phone and says cheerily, “You got the questions? We got the answers!” That usually causes unwanted callers to hang up abruptly. Sometimes he’ll answer, “Pizza Palace, what would you like to order?” which also confuses them. But one of the funniest things he does is ask them for money. “Do you have any money I can borrow?”
Isn’t it nice that talking to God is never like that?
When we call up to heaven, He never says to an angel, “Oh no, it’s this lady again! I better make up an excuse so I don’t
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Today’s Truth
Blessed are all who fear the lord, who walk in His ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor. Blessings and prosperity will be yours (Psalm 128:1-2 NIV).
Friend to Friend
My husband Brad and I were the poster kids for financial stewardship. Larry Burkett junkies and cash-budget-nerds from the day we exchanged our vows. Thirteen years into marriage, we got a bit unsatisfied with our bank numbers and borrowed to invest in several lots of land.
The plan? Flip them for a quick and hefty profit. Change the bank numbers. Secure our financial future.
Our intentions were sincere. Brad wanted to be able to retire from corporate by the age of 50 so he could join me in full time ministry. Surely God would bless and prosper such a noble mission, right?
Yes. He did. By allowing us to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars and endure excruciating years of class
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Today’s Truth
Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17 NLT).
Friend to Friend
There she lay in her beautiful box. A two-foot bride doll dressed in a white chiffon, pearl-studded wedding gown with matching veil. Her short-cropped, curly brown hair fell softly around her delicate face; her pink, plump skin felt amazingly soft; and her movable eyelids lined with thick black lashes opened and closed with her changing positions. The bride had perfectly shaped lips and crystal-blue eyes that appeared strangely real. She was truly the most beautiful doll I had ever received in my six-year-old life.
My uncle knew my infatuation with being a bride one day, so he gave me this lovely gift for my birthday. However, there was one problem. My mother wouldn’t let me play with her. “You’ll
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Today’s Truth
Then Jesus told him, "Get up, pick up your mat, and walk” (John 5:8 NIV).
Friend to Friend
Have you ever thought to yourself, “God, if you love me, send someone – anyone – to care for me right now?”
I’ve thought that before… In fact, I just thought that, this very morning…when my whole world got tossed upside-down in the time frame of about an hour.
It all started at my kitchen table as my two kids ate breakfast. They chowed down on bagels while my daughter explained a difficult friend issue. The more she talked, the more Brillo pad-nervousness balled up in me. I didn’t like where my husband was taking this conversation. I didn’t agree with the solutions my family was coming up with on this topic. So, without any empathy, I offered my angle.
Suffice
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