Kaylee Phillips
Mark 5:21 - 43
As followers of Christ, we are guided by faith and not by sight. We see our hope in Jesus. Every opportunity that we see as a sign of God, we take it and strive for His way and not our way. In Mark 5, we read of a man named Jairus who responded to a God opportunity. Not only did Jairus respond to this moment with Jesus teaching a crowd; someone else responded, as well.
Here is a man who is searching for the Man whom he has heard can heal all, even those who are dying. Of course, Jesus already knows what will become of the Jairus’ daughter.
After pleading and begging Jesus to follow him, Jairus leads the way where Jesus can lay hands on his daughter and heal her. Yet, why did Jairus not believe that Jesus could raise her from dead, even if she had died?
As the crowd, Jairus, and Jesus traveled to Jairus’ home, a woman with constant bleeding trusted her faith and touched Jesus’ robe. Instantly, she was healed. Jesus immediately stopped and wondered who had touched his robe. Obviously, Jesus knew who it was that touched Him; He just wanted to make a lesson out of it. She showed herself and in response to her explanation Jesus said,
Mark 5:34
“…’Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.’”
Not only is Jesus speaking of her bleeding disorder being over, He is also referring to her suffering of sin. The woman had faith that Jesus would heal her, and He did. He healed her from her disease and her sinful suffering.
During the commotion of Jesus healing in response to the woman’s faith, messengers come from the house of Jairus and tell Jairus to not worry about bothering Jesus anymore; his daughter is dead. Overhearing them, Jesus responds,
Mark 5:36
“…’Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.’”
At this point, we see Jesus reminding Jairus to have faith like he did when he first approached Jesus. Sometimes, it takes a stop to what we are doing in our everyday lives to remind us that if we have faith, Jesus heals our suffering in our lives like the woman stopping Jairus on his expedition to heal his daughter.
Jesus heals the girl, even after she died. He had claimed that she had only been sleeping. After arising, Jesus told the girl’s family not to tell anyone what had happened. But no one actually keeps raising someone from the dead a secret, right? I believe that Jesus had told the family this so that they would go and spread that news that Jesus raised the girl from the dead… He knows we don’t listen most of the time.
In both healings in this section of Mark 5, we are presented with a command: have faith. Having faith can cause us to make bold moves and to approach the Lord with confidence. Sometimes, we have obstacles get in the way on our quest to healing and faith, but in the end, God always provides for our suffering and does miraculous wonders in our lives.
Everyday Devotionals
Written: 20 June 2016
Published: 5 October 2016
Written: 24 August 2016
Published: 8 October 2016
Acts 9:7-9
“The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.”
In this passage, we see Paul before he became.. well, Paul. We do not realize how far away from the faith Paul was before his renewal in Christ’s name.
Saul’s blindness leads us to see that we are often blind in everyday life. We go through the day with full confidence, and then are lead off of the path at times. God gets our attention and those around us that are bad influences, scatter. They do not believe in the God that works miracles in our lives. Miracles that lead us from darkness to light.
Here we see Saul is blind. As the Scriptures read, his companions grabbed his hand and lead him. Jesus does this in our times of need. He grabs us by our hands and guides us to where we need to go.
Even though we go through mess-ups and turns in the road, our Savior has something incredible in store for us. He creates a future for us no matter the challenges or hardships. He steers us in the right direction if we look toward Him and believe He will.
1 Corinthians 2:9
“That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
‘No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.’”
Our humanly minds cannot comprehend what future glories and endeavors He has for us. We have such a hope and strong indication of how amazing our futures are. Unfathomable opportunities are to come our way. We must not lose hope or degrade the plan God has given to His children.
Throughout 1 Kings, we see a multitude of people from the line of David. David begged our Father to keep his family name alive. Solomon was a man of God, yet he disobeyed God. But God spared him. Before falling into the ways of this world, God promised David one thing for following Him. Of course, we know that Solomon asked for wisdom, yet what we miss in this Scripture is that God gave Solomon riches and servants and kingdoms… all because Solomon served God. I believe that to this day, we can ask God and we will receive. It may not be the exact thing that we want, but God makes our plans according to His plan.
So, let’s not let our humanly pride get in the way of what God has in store for us.
Written: 27 February 2016
Published: 12 October 2016
Romans 8:10
“And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.”
No one can begin to fathom the unexplainable presence of the Holy Spirit. It floods our life in miraculous ways. It produces hope. It provides healing. It investigates the uncanniness of depressive feelings and changes those feelings into love, joy, peace, happiness. It creates within us a concurrence of energy that makes us alive and ready.
Romans 8:6
“But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”
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Once the excitement of the Spirit living within us subsides and settles into our lives, it begins to produce times that we indulge in Christ’s love in unexpected ways.
As dancers, we always have this beauty of sporadic but perfect moments to rejoice in worship and glory to God. Improvisation is a perfect example. Since dance is such a beautiful art that doesn't even have to require words to express an idea, any movement can represent an instance of worship. The slightest movement we do in improvisation, we have that instantaneous moment where we linger in the awesomeness of God. As our hands fly up after the body acclimates from the feet, our hearts smile and rejoice in worship.
But this can apply to all of our lives. Our Father created within us a heart that longs to find moments of worship to him. That lingering moment where we simply stand in awe makes our Creator smile down upon in love and peace. He designed us to be movers of faith that reflect his beauty. How awesome it is that no matter what kind of movement we do, the Holy Spirit is guiding us to worship Him!
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Exodus 15:2
“The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him- my father’s God, and I will exalt him!”
Written: 8 October 2016
Published: 15 October 2016
Zechariah 3:1-8
Isn’t it amazing that God sits on His throne and rebukes Satan of his accusations of us? But yet, we always ignore this fact. We seemingly go day by day working hard, eating, sleeping, driving, talking, and whatever else our mere human bodies doing. We forget that the God of the universe watches over us consistently and is protecting us every moment from evil.
Zechariah 3:2
“And the Lord said to Satan, ‘I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you…’”
When we surrender our lives to Christ, we have all of our trash removed from our lives. We are no longer dirty, but clean. Jeshua, the priest in this section of Scripture, represents how we are cleansed of our sins.
An angel of the Lord removes Jeshua’s dirty rags and replaces them with new clothes. Also, Jeshua is given a new turban on his head.
Finally, if Jeshua obeys God’s laws and follows in His ways, he will be rewarded as having full authority of the Temple of God and its courtyards.
This dream that Jeshua has reflects our lives; we are dirty, but if we look to the Lord and follow in His glory, He removes our sins. We are as clean, if not cleaner, than newly washed clothes that just came out of the laundry.
In verse 8, the Lord gives Jeshua a message that saves our lives. Jeshua represents our removal of sins. Jesus, referred to as the Branch in this passage, is our life-saver. He came to save us to wipe us clean.
“What can wash away my sins?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
Written: 1 June 2016
Published: 19 October 2016
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Mark 2:1-12
The Gospels are comprised of many moments that Jesus healed the sick in the world. One commonly introduced in sermons is the story of the healing of a paralyzed man. Particularly, the story of the man that was lowered down to Jesus.
Jesus had just returned to Capernaum and the house where he stayed was already filled with visitors coming to witness his healing. The crowds piled in front of the door, but in the back of the crowd, looking over heads, and trying to push through the many onlookers, four men carried their friend on a mat. The friend was paralyzed. The men saw no hope trying to get to Jesus through the crowd. They climbed to the roof and dug a roof, for most homes in Jesus’ time was made of clay. The man was lowered to Jesus while he was still on his mat. Because of the faith of the man and his friends, Jesus forgave him of his sins.
Through the chaos of the crowd, the men strived to find Jesus. They found ways around the crowd to get to Jesus and find forgiveness. This even relates to us: in the midst of trouble and turmoil, in the midst of all of the sins that surrounds us and the wrongdoings of those around us, we still have to push through the crowd and find Jesus.
But, in the midst of finding Jesus, there are always challenges and trials we have to face.
After Jesus forgave the man’s sins, teachers accused Jesus of not being able to forgive sins that only God could. They only thought of this. Jesus, being the God He is, heard their thoughts and questioned them.
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Mark 2: 9 NLT
“Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’?”
Of course, Jesus healed the man of being paralyzed. He proved that He does forgive sins. This happens in our lives. In our hearts and minds, we forget that God heals us of our sins, and our belief is weak. We pray hard over and over again for the same thing without hope that God has already done or will do. Although, He eventually catches our attention after he continually bangs on the doors of our hearts.
Examining the faith of the healed man, if we trusted in Jesus the whole time we face trials, we could be healed completely and in unimaginable ways. Through these ways, others are astonished and some are lead to believe through his healing in our lives like the people in the crowd.
One part of verse 12 is usually ignored. Above is what is normally instructed and taught in sermons and messages. What is ignored is that the man walked through the crowd. The healed man did not go back the way he came; he walked in a new direction.
We never have to go back through our past again. Once we are healed, there is only going forward. Going forward, we reflect on what we have been through, just as the man surely did walking through the crowd he did not go through. Once we find healing in God’s name, we no longer have to face the turmoils of what we have been through; rather, we walk through the crowd with upmost confidence.
Written: October 25, 2016
Published: October 26, 2016
In the early 1700’s, mirrors were first introduced to society. Every high class woman wanted one. At the time, they were called “Talking Mirrors”. They were called such, because the glass was so clear and refine that, appearing to the women, mirrors always spoke the truth.
It is speculated that the mirror in Snow White’s story was derived from the concept of the “Talking Mirrors”. The fairest of them all learned that she actually was not the fairest of them all when the mirror told her the truth that Snow White was actually the fairest in all of the land.
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Philippians 4:5
“Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do…”
This verse in Philippians can be applied to what the mirror did and still does for women now: the mirror always speaks the truth. You know that saying that Mom told us growing up? The truth will set you free? Well, Mom was right. I find it so much more considerate for someone to tell me the truth rather than running around speaking nonsense and not telling me truthful tales. And I think we can all agree on this.
Mom was also right when she spoke about that someone is always watching us. Someone is always looking for ways to downgrade us, because we are followers of Christ. But, as followers, we are designed with hearts the look toward Christ; they thrive to be Christ-like in all we do.
1 Samuel 16:7
“…’The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’”
Although people look for ways to perpetrate us, we know that our inward appearance is seen by God, and it is absolutely beautiful. So, when Mom says that the truth will set us free and that people are always watching, let’s take into consideration this verse in 1 Peter:
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1 Peter 2:12
“Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they give honor to God when he judges the world.”
We never know the impact we can make on someone. We can never let negativity decrease our faith just because one person judges us wrong. If we act as if the negativity took no affect on us and actually do not let it affect us, we move forward with strength and dignity. That’s what we want others to see, and hopefully, that will encourage them to follow in the walk of Christ, as well.
Written: October 25, 2016
Published: October 29, 2016
John 15:4-9
Certain feelings means you're outside of God's will in your life. Unsettling disturbances indicate that God and the Holy Spirit are wrestling within you to tell you something is off balance. As followers of Christ, we usually have a spark of peace and calming joy that where we are is right. But, I firmly believe that the Spirit ignites feelings of unsettlement to tell us to repair something or patiently wait for something to come our way.
We all know the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. But, do we actually acknowledge these fruits?
I believe that God plants fruits in certain areas in our lives to help us prepare for something or to be equipped for a certain aspect in our lives.
For me, I plan to have a career where I have to teach hyperactive children and surrender myself with boogers all day. But God, knowing my future, has given me the patience to work with children. He has given me Christ’s love to love children and the kindness to teach children. I have joy on a daily basis and elaborate that joy for the benefits of others.
The Fruits of the Spirits are kind of like guides in our lives. If we are lacking in one area, we can build that area and focus on what needs improving in our lives. Unsettling feelings could indicate that we are not in God’s will or one of our fruits are off of our bodily trees.
God plants and harvests in our lives, and it’s our job to make sure it grows.
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Proverbs 13:12
“Hope differed makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.”
Written:October 27, 2016
Published: November 2, 2016
We all know that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and even raised Himself from the dead after three days. But, we tend to forget that God gives power to His people, and the capabilities are endless. In 1 Kings, the prophet Elijah is the perfect example.
1 Kings 17:21-24
“And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, ‘O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.’ The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived! Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. ‘Look!’ he said. ‘Your son is alive!’ Then the woman told Elijah, ‘Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you.’”
For this devotional, I really want to break down this section of 1 Kings 17. There is so much in just a few verses that could really influence us as followers of Christ.
Verse 21 shows Elijah’s persistence to the Lord. Elijah doesn’t ask; he says ‘please’ and begs. But I think in this case, Elijah knows that God is going to bring the child back to life. At this point, Elijah wanted to prove to the woman that he is staying with. He wanted to prove that he was a man of God, where she could understand that there is a God. I feel like after reading this section of scripture that the woman’s faith was shaky. That’s why Elijah was sent to her; to help build trust within her relationships with Christ and His followers.
Verse 22 God brings the child back to life, which is, of course, His plan this whole time. Elijah struggles to get the woman to believe that he is a man of God, and it takes the son dying for her to believe him. Verse 23 shows Elijah bringing the son to his mother, and verse 24 shows his mother finally believing Elijah to be a man of God.
The two focal points I get from this small section of a large book of Scripture is simple: one, the woman needed something to boost her faith; and two, Elijah persisted for her to build her faith.
It’s incredible that God puts people in our lives to have insight to where we need improving. Because of Elijah’s persistence with the woman and his want to serve God, the woman was able to give God glory in the end. The same goes toward our lives.
Are we like Elijah, persisting for someone to experience God’s love, or are we like the woman, stubborn and needing signs to experience His glory?
Written: November 8, 2016
Published: November 9, 2016
I am currently writing this in the midst of the final day of the presidential election. Just a heads up, this is not necessarily a devotional, but rather more of a diary entry through the eyes of a follower of Christ.
The back and forth controversy between both parties has kept people on their edges, mentally and verbally in tongues and thinking. We make accusations as to whether one party is right or one is wrong.
There has been a word on my heart. A word that people have fought over for centuries and centuries and has made the minds and the hearts of many people erupt to controversy or integrity. The one word is “power”. As a society we forget that the term “power” is more, well, powerful than we think. Wars have been fought for power; everyday jobs, people work for power. But, ultimately, we rely on a different type of power.
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“There is power in the name of Jesus.”
- Break Every Chain, Tasha Cobbs
One of my favorite songs evicts the lovely line that is written above. The song continues that his name breaks chains.
I feel as if a revolution is rising. From where, I do not know, but there has been much talk as if the younger generation is going to rise up. But, what if that generation is us?
Who knows who will win this election? At this point, we know who our president is. At the time that I am writing this, I have NBC news playing on Brennan’s phone, listening to people rioting and fighting over who will win. Republican versus Democrat.
After voting for the first time today, I feel as if I expressed my rights well in the freedom within America. Yet, people express their cruelty toward the vote you casted, no matter how much you have to say about your candidate. Therefore, I am not revealing who I voted for.
No matter who I voted for though, I know that there is a Higher Being that is in control, and no matter who wins, the King of Kings will always rule and win. As followers of Christ, we are called to pray for the authorities who are over us and pray that they rule with the peace and love of Christ. We need to express our beliefs to those who struggle with respecting others’ opinions.
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Lord, I pray for our country. I pray that America will be the land of liberty and justice as how it was amended when it was first born. Since then and forever before, you were there. You know the mistakes we human beings have made over the many years and how we have elected our presidents. Our Father, we pray that whoever has won the election, you will protect them, and you will give them the knowledge and strength to guide this country to the freedom that we continue to have. You’re power goes beyond all and your love wins every race. Thank you, God, for reigning over us… Amen.
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Romans 13:1
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”
Written: November 15 and 16, 2016
Published: November 20, 2016
Eat. Sleep. Pray.
1 Kings 19:1-18
I’ll admit that I got off track from going to church for a while. I got caught up in the dealings and work of college, and my faith got sidetracked from God. Going to church this past Sunday helped me to realize this, and I decided to take a week of meditation in the name of the Lord. I have felt peaceful and have discovered new tactics that allow me to focus on God rather than matters that honestly don't matter. During this time, God and others have opened my eye up to new insights spiritually.
Sunday, after returning back to my residence hall on campus, Mom called me and talked to me about a Bible study she had went to that afternoon. It’s primarily a woman’s study, but what Mom told me about can apply to everyone, and this is one of the things that has really taken my focus this week alongside my meditation.
The story of Elijah (verses are at the top of this devotional; I highly encourage you to read them) breaks down into the three points of Eat, Sleep, Pray. I usually type my devotions all at once, but for some reason, I haven't this time. I believe God has allowed me to do so, because it is currently 2:30 in the morning after I woke up crying. Even at this time, this concept is empowering. It’s such an important reminder. We can’t survive without eating. We become delusional if we don't sleep. But, we internally die if we don't pray. God, our hope and salvation, expects us to pray to Him. Verse after verse tells us that in His Word. To get to where we need to be, we can’t do it alone, and talking to ourselves won’t solve anything. I understand when I say this, but sometimes it feels crazy praying. Talking to a being that’s there, but not physically. It does feel like talking to yourself at first, but it gets easier with practice like anything else in life.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
“Never stop praying.”
Three simple words. We’re commanded to always pray. Simply put.
Matthew 7:7-8 NIV
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
The title of this section in the NLT is “Effective Prayer”. I feel like we always overlook these verses, because we grew up hearing them. Pastor David once gave a sermon on these verses. A.S.K.- Ask. Seek. Knock. (I hope to expand on this in the near future.) I believe every prayer is effective if our hearts are sincere. Coming to our Father broken is always effective in my eyes. I picture it in a way that when we’re broken apart, we go to our parents or influential figure, and they offer comfort then healing words or comforting advice. We receive what we need. It may not but particularly what we want, but it’s what we need.
Jude 1:20
“…pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Power. That word has been coming up so much in my life, and I feel as if God is telling me to continue sharing it. With power comes hope.
Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…”
Another verse we have always heard. The context for this verse is wrapped around the Lord returning. I believe Jesus was telling us to pray in the Spirit and not lose hope. This world has too many troubles to trust in it. If we do, we are left to wither away and be in pain at all times. It involves us to be separate from the world in order to understand the slightest touch of the Spirit. And even in that time, we can’t fully comprehend the Spirit of the Living God. Taking time away from focuses of the world and just wrapping my mind around only scripture and keeping my focus on school and developing God’s Word has been difficult, I’ll admit. I applaud those who can do this on a daily basis, which there are people like this who the Spirit has given special gifts to. I am for sure not one of those people, because of my burden of anxiety I carry and have to give up everyday. But it makes me stronger. Through this week, I’ve been reopened to a Scripture verse Chad, my youth pastor, used to drill into our hearts and minds.
Matthew 16:24 NIV
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’”
To finalize this devotion, prayer is an act of surrender. If we fail to surrender ourselves daily to God and to find our hope in him, our days will be limited and the power of the Holy Spirit has nothing to cling to within us. We are living vessels to carry the Spirit in and share the cargo of the Living Word with those who are in their darkest moments in our lives. Never debate about praying. If you feel the slightest intent to pray, then pray. Nothing is stopping you. God always listens and wants to hear His children’s voice.
Psalm 86:5
“O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,
so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.”
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Written: November 21, 2016
Published: November 23, 2016
When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, turkey, our cats around the table begging for food, mom running around trying to make sure everything is perfect, no school, Dad and I passed out after eating too much food and going into a food coma, and the Christmas tree going up, if it wasn't put up already. To sum it all up, The Thanksgiving Chaos.
But what if we freeze time?
What if we reimburse our minds to that still picture of sitting around the table with the ones we cherish the most?
We used to have dinner at my grandmother’s house, but since she and my great-grandmother have passed away, mama cooks for me, daddy, and pawpaw, and we enjoy our small family time together.
Since I’m a 19 hour student at Southern Miss, my time usually consists of homework and crying that life hates me. But that’s another story. The story now is I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. Not just the food section, but the family time. I don’t get to spend time with my family much, so this time is precious. I get sit around a table with my most favorite people and enjoy food together.
And pulling this picture together, it makes me think of when Jesus sat around the table with the disciples.
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Matthew 26:20
“When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the Twelve.”
Aside from the freak out that one of the disciples will betray Jesus, the Twelve and Jesus sat down; this is where Jesus explains that the bread is his body, and the wine is his blood. I can just imagine the disciples’ faces when He told them this. I sometimes imagine the disciples kinda of like goof-balls and you have to explain EVERYTHING to them or they’ll take it literally.
But aside from this, I want to look at the scenario. Jesus knows He’s going to die. But what does He decide to do? He decides to take time, sit, and eat with the ones closest to him, no matter how goofy or embarrassing they are. I don't want to skip over this verse, because I personally almost skipped it myself.
Matthew 26:30
“Then they sang a hymn…”
I picture it like this: they all knew Jesus was going to die soon now. So what do they do? They worship together.
To sum everything up, this Thanksgiving, let us aside any differences with those we hold closest to us, and let us enjoy every moment. Let us eat turkey in peace with one another, and make fun of the goofy ones at the table. Let us all go into turkey comas together.
Ok, I know I’m being goofy myself at this point, but these are memories built up from the past. After my relatives passed away last year, we still sat down and had an enjoyable Thanksgiving together.
I mean, Jesus was dying, and that’s what He did.
Have the most blessed Thanksgiving this year… Enjoy the turkey and the food comas!
Happy Thanksgiving,
Kay
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Colossians 3:13
“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Written: November 13, 2016
Published: November 30, 2106
James 1:2-18 has always been one of my favorite sections of the Bible. It indicates the mercy and gifts that God gives to his children is we pray with sincere hearts. My main focus for this devotional (I hope to one day write a devotional that breaks down all of the verses in this section; super excited!!) is verse 17.
James 1:17
“Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”
I’m sure there are verses upon verses that pile up to back up this verse, but for this particular focus, I want to draw your attention to a quote. I found this quote before Sunday church service and my daily verse for my Bible app happened to be from this section in James. The connection is so beautifully woven together.
Reggie McNeal
“…God knows what the next chapter is and so He’s pouring into the present.”
At this point, you’re probably thinking, “OK, how do these two verses connect?” The answer is actually simple:
Everyday, there is always something provided from God. Since He never changes, He wants to see a difference in our lives day by day. Thus, this makes the plan for our lives all the better.
I want to concentrate now on the “good and perfect” from verse 17.
We don’t have perfect lives. It seems like everyday, we lay our heads on our pillows happy that the day is over, because of some dumb test grade, or misinterpretation at work, or some ugly words said from the neighbor lady, or just about anything that pitifully ruins our days. I’m bad about taking the one thing that happened for the day and just observing that the week ahead is completely ruined, and you can confirm this from my poor parents. It just so happens that I’m just not going to make it the rest of the week and I either A) cry about it or B) rant about it to my parents or Brennan. Being troopers, they’ve learned to just accept it and be there for me.
All this to say, we all take our days for granted. I firmly believe that God drops good gifts down from heaven, and sometimes, we literally wait until Christmas to get here to open those gifts. But what if we treated those gifts as if Christmas came everyday? I believe it’s possible.
Because, let’s just recall, that the greatest gift, and only perfect gift, can be received everyday in our act of surrender. The good AND perfect gift that comes down from God that influences not only our future lives, BUT our everyday lives, as well. That gift is Christ Jesus.
What a time to be alive today! Let us go forward now and open our early Christmas gift of Jesus, and have a great day today!
January 4, 2017
Many times in the Bible, we overlook humorous content. Sometimes, we’ll be reading it and not catch it, because we’re so into the Word. Recently, I’ve been reading through 1 Timothy. Now remember, Timothy is young. Unless someone has done extensive research beyond my understanding, we’re not for sure how old Timothy is. In my opinion, he’s under the age of 18, but he’s older than 13. If you have a different opinion, I would honestly love to know! Feel free to message me :)
Anyway, Timothy was young. We all know that Paul was mentoring him, and Paul tells him that it doesn’t matter what age someone is, what matters is the Word of God is being spread to all nations. I picture it like this: Paul is writing in a way that a student would want to read it. We’ve all been there, and I personally think I’m still there, where young adults lose track easily. Like I said, that’s still me, and I’m sure that’s some of us as well.
In order for young adults to pay attention, there are different ways of approaching the situations. Since I’ve grown older, I’ve noticed that youth pastors tend to engage their young adult audience with humorous stories; I feel like this is applied to Timothy, as well.
In 1 Timothy 2:5, we read, “For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity- the man Christ Jesus.”
The Bible says, “the man”? What? I find this so funny. We hear his so much in society. “He’s the man of the house”, “the man of the year”, and many more examples are out there. Now, in this time period, it probably wasn’t humorous at the time. It probably just meant respect. But I wholly believe God knew when the letter was being written, that young adults would be drawn to this book especially. Jesus Christ IS the man. 😎
In verse 7, we read about Paul being sent and chosen to teach the Gentiles the message about Christ. My favorite part of this verse states, “I’m not exaggerating- just telling the truth.” I love how casual this is said, and how we say that nowadays. “I’m literally just being honest.”
But Paul’s right. There’s no exaggeration to it. Jesus Christ was and still is “the man”. He’s the cool dad we can always look to, and we know that he always looks out for his kids.
How cool is the Word and God?
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March 3, 2017
Since I live on a floor in the dorms with a bunch of girls, our doors are always decorated with inspirational sayings or holiday-oriented wreaths. Walking to class one day, I glanced at one of the doors. It had a dry-erase board with a simple sentence written on it. It said, “If we don’t sin, Jesus died for nothing.” While this is true, and it may have been just the encouragement that the girl needed during the time, I want to challenge the flipped side of the equation.
Titus 3:5
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness,
but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit”
Titus 3:5 tells us that our deeds cannot save us, but the Holy Spirit cleanses us and saves us from eternal death and giving us eternal life. The classic John 3:16 tells us the same. We “shall not perish, but have eternal life”. Because of the holiness and the lovingness of God, we can now live with Him forever and have no worries about the life to come.
But what if Jesus didn’t die for us?
Well, the Old Testament talks about sacrifices… a whole bunch. Lambs, calfs, doves, and all of these animals were sacrificed to please God with the worship of people and to give a pleasing aroma to Him. Abraham almost sacrificed his son for God! In celebration of the Ark of the Covenant, sacrifices were offered so God would have mercy on them for touching the Ark and for traveling with such a precious object.
Before America was discovered, the Aztecs and Incans would offer sacrifices to their gods to please them and to have mercy on them. WARNING THIS IS GRAPHIC!! They would tear out hearts and other internal organs to supplement the needs of the gods. Blood poured everywhere from innocent people that were held as captives from the two groups, primarily the Aztecs.
If Jesus didn’t die for us, we would still be offering sacrifices. I feel as if human sacrifice would have grown more and more, therefore creating a smaller population in the world. People would have deadly hearts and dark intentions toward the innocence of others.
In the beauty of this, Christ DID die for us so that we wouldn't have to offer sacrifices and have a more in depth relationship with Him.
But what if we were perfect?
Snow White has always been favorite Disney princess. Her kindness and love of life has always rendered enjoyment to me and has created happiness for since childhood. Her melodies of waiting for a prince to come and singing of a joyful life put a smile on my face every time. But, the evil step mother has always scared me. Her flip flop to an old hag with warts and evil in her eyes made me shake all over. I always feared for Snow White when she bit into the apple. She “died” and was put into a clear casket for all to see. But the prince awoke her, and they ran off into the sunset and lived happily ever after!
This connects to Adam and Eve. They had the perfect life. Joyful with God, singing melodic tunes with God and living a happy life. Until Eve bites into the forbidden fruit. The world goes black with sin, and human nature is rendered into a sad world of disobeying God. Yet, Jesus came to the rescue and allows us to live happily ever after.
Would we still be singing melodious tunes and skipping freely in the meadow if Eve didn't eat the fruit?
Maybe. Maybe we would still be walking in the garden with God. How good does that sound, my friends who are still in school?? Maybe Adam and Eve never would have repopulated, and we would have never existed!
Whatever may have happened, we still live in sin today. We make mistakes, but learn from them. We grow, and we blossom into a transformed body day by day.
To conclude, if we don’t sin, Jesus truly did die for nothing. Should we carelessly sin? No, because it doesn’t match up to the life God wants us to live (Hold up! This will be another devotion! Stay tuned!). We sin, and Jesus died because we sinned. He wants us to live the best life possible on this earth so that when we enter the gates of heaven, we will have memories of a life that was worth living.
Colossians 1:26
“This mystery that has been kept hidden for ages
and generations, but it is now disclosed to the Lord’s people.”