This week I decided to spend some time looking at a variety of other devotional blogs. Check them out with me, and if you find one that you like, you can continue to check it out! For each day, I selected a devotion then cut and pasted it here along with the URL for the website from which it came. Enjoy!
Thursday: Having devotions and being devoted are two different things. It’s easy to focus on your devotions rather than the object of your devotions. If you are in the habit of reading the devotions on this website every day, that’s great. But you shouldn’t simply focus on these little daily readings. Do your best to focus on God rather than discipline of daily devotions.
Being devoted simply means giving our time, our effort, our money, and ourselves to someone, some purpose, or some thing. We can be devoted to a career, a person, or even a hobby or activity. So why not devote ourselves to God? Let’s meet with Him daily to get to know Him better, to learn what pleases Him, and to find out what He wants us to do.
“Get to know the God of your ancestors. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and with a willing mind.” 1 Chronicles 28:9
To see more from this website, visit: http://christianity101online.com/blog/2009/04/07/are-you-devoted/
Friday: Ruth 1:16-17: "And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me."
As we are entering Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel (next Tuesday, April 20), I want to share a touching story about a an exceptional woman who assisted 2,500 young Jewish children out of the ghettos during World War II.
Her name was Irene Sendler. She was an employee of the Polish Social Warfare Department who had a special permit to enter the ghettos to check for signs of typhus. During these visits, she would wear a Star of David as a sign of solidarity with the Jewish people. Once inside, she would convince Jewish parents to part with their children as she and others created for them false papers and smuggled them out so to put them in various good homes around Poland. Sendler then buried the children's true identities in jars in her back yard, hoping to reunite them with their families after the war.
In 1943, Irene was arrested by the Gestapo, severely tortured and sentenced to death. She was able to save herself by bribing German guards on the way to her execution. Listed on bulletin boards among those who had been executed, she was left in the woods unconscious, with broken arms and legs. For the remainder of the war, she lived in hiding. Though she had suffered much, she continued her work with Jewish children.
In 2007, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and lost to former vice president Al Gore.
May we take up the call of Ruth--“your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God!” To Israel and the Jewish People, know that you have thousands of friends standing in solidarity with you!
To see more from this website, visit: http://www.worthydevotions.com/
Saturday: Communicating Through Our Life John 13:34-35
Did you realize that everyone’s life makes a statement? Perhaps you’ve never looked at your routine as anything more than merely traveling back and forth to work and accomplishing daily tasks. If so, you might wonder what message this could possibly broadcast to the people around you.
The truth is that every one of us communicates to others through our character, actions, and words. The believer’s life should be an expression of glory to God while conveying to onlookers the vital importance of divine truth. Wherever we are, Jesus’ light should shine brightly through us so that He is evident in a dark world. And remember, the strength of our life message is directly related to the depth of our relationship with God.
Of course, this does not mean that our lives have to be perfect. But our responses and actions should demonstrate that our heavenly Father is dependable, faithful, forgiving, and present. We are His ambassadors, representing the Savior to the people we encounter each day. Our lives are opportunities for others to see the Lord in action, as we serve others—or as we reveal peacefulness and trust, even during difficult times.
Coworkers, family, neighbors, and friends are all witnesses to our daily conduct and conversation. Every encounter we have is an opportunity to reflect Jesus into somebody’s life. Ask the Lord to strengthen your faith and your walk so that those around you can’t help but be drawn towards His light.
To see more from this website, visit: http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/in_touch/
Sunday: See you at church!
Monday: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee" (Isaiah 26:3)
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5)
The Word of God has much to say about right thinking, or faith thinking. Much of the book of Proverbs deals with the subject of wisdom and how to get wisdom, how to nurture wisdom, and how to guard wisdom. This is why these devotional messages are made available. It is our prayer that these words will provide food for thought. Just as our physical bodies need necessary nutrition, our minds need spiritual and mental sustenance. It is so important for us to learn how to think with God’s thoughts from His Word.
To see more of this website, visit: http://www.ggwo.org/index.php?module=ministries&action=faiththoughts
Tuesday: "Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. . . . Great is Your faithfulness."—Lamentations 3:22-23
Hudson Taylor, the humble servant of God to China, demonstrated extraordinary trust in God’s faithfulness. In his journal he wrote:
“Our heavenly Father is a very experienced One. He knows very well that His children wake up with a good appetite every morning. . . . He sustained 3 million Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years. We do not expect He will send 3 million missionaries to China; but if He did, He would have ample means to sustain them all. . . . Depend on it, God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”
We may be faint and weary, but our heavenly Father is all-powerful. Our feelings may fluctuate, but He is unchangeable. Even creation itself is a record of His steadfastness. That’s why we can sing these words from a hymn by Thomas Chisholm: “Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, sun, moon, and stars in their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.”
What an encouragement to live for Him! Our strength for the present and hope for the future are not based on the stability of our own perseverance but on the fidelity of God. No matter what our need, we can count on the Father’s faithfulness. —Paul Van Gorder
To see more of this website, visit: http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml
Wednesday: See you at church! And I hope that this week's devotions might have helped you choose another website that inspires you!
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