From a Hole
October 26, 2024 by Cheri Cowell
Filed under Daily Devotions, Life Topics
By Cheri Cowell
Have you ever fallen in a hole? Recently my local news shared the story of a woman who, while out walking her dog, fell into a ten-foot deep, two-foot wide cylinder-shaped hole. It took several hours for the rescuers to safely extract her from her earthen prison.
There have been many times I’ve fallen into a hole. Oh, not a real hole, but a hole nonetheless. These are the dark times in my life; times when I’ve felt alone, persecuted, misunderstood, even abandoned by God. There is no way God can reach me here, I say, knowing that it’s not true.
The Words of My Mouth
October 25, 2024 by Gina Stinson
Filed under Daily Devotions, Worship
By Gina Stinson
Praise, compliments, encouragement, lies, yelling, gossip, exaggeration, truth—all kinds of words that can come out of our mouths. It’s easy to see why we would need to join the Psalmist prayer for acceptable words to the Lord! The Bible warns us in the book of James about the daunting task of keeping our mouths under control. The job was tough then, and it’s tough now.
The verse is Psalms outlines the process pretty carefully. First, it talks about our physical and spiritual make-up—that battle between the flesh and the spirit—the tongue and the heart. There are so many times when the things we think about slip off our tongue with no thought. A word spoken in anger, gossip or a lie. There is almost always an aspect of regret or guilt after the words are spoken; and the heart plus the spoken word do not equal “acceptable in God’s sight.”
Stop. Breathe.
October 24, 2024 by Jodi Whisenhunt
Filed under Humor, Stories
By Jodi Whisenhunt
It’s a beautiful fall afternoon, cool by Texas standards. A misty drizzle spritzes the window while I relax in the recliner and listen to my children’s laughter. When what to my wandering eye should appear, but a miniature sleigh and…Oops! I guess I got too relaxed for a moment.
It’s a rare occurrence these days to have time to daydream. I’m a freelance writer and editor, but I also homeschool my children. School has resumed, as has all the busy-ness that accompanies the season. We have classes, music lessons, dance rehearsals, ball games, church events, and sleepovers. Not to mention deadlines, doctor appointments, Bible studies, and holidays. Complicate matters with each family member’s unique frustration level and nerves can quickly fry.
My daughter tends to be overly dramatic. Why, just today she threw a fit at Academy Sports & Outdoors because she did not get a soccer ball like the one her brother has. Even with Mom and Dad’s assurance of, “Maybe you’ll get one for your birthday,” she insisted she never gets anything she wants and whined and moaned all the way home.
My husband was tempted to react. He sternly reprimanded her a couple times, but then remembered to stop and breathe. Acknowledging her tantrum rewarded her and encouraged her to continue, whereas stopping to breathe allowed Daddy to maintain self-control and assert his authority more effectively.
1 Peter 5:8 (NIV) advises, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” The enemy prides himself on the inevitable disasters that loom over the most carefully organized schedules and the conflicts that lurk on every page of the calendar.
And so each day, when havoc threatens peaceful productivity: Stop. Breathe. Such restraint improves discipline, both the discipline of our labor and the discipline of daily structure. It curbs anxiety and allows God to order our days. By practicing self-control, we resist our enemy the devil and he flees from us, freeing us to go about our busy-ness in a civilized manner.
The clouds have given way to the setting sun, weaving hues of lavender and azure amid soft pink billows…A Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night! Sorry! I’m getting ahead of myself.
Jodi Whisenhunt and her husband Richard homeschool their three children in McKinney, Texas. Jodi is a freelance writer and editor whose services are available at jodiwhisenhunt.com. She can be reached at jodi.whisenhunt@att.net.
Stepping Out On Glass
October 23, 2024 by Peter Lundell
Filed under Daily Devotions, Personal Growth
By Peter Lundell
On a recent trip to Minnesota, my friend took me to visit the world-famous Guthrie Theatre. Along the Mississippi River side of the building is a four-by-six foot cutout in a floor four stories above ground. The cutout is fitted with an inch-thick, heavy-duty glass. (Unlike that in the Sears Tower in Chicago, this one’s free).
I walked to the edge, stopped, and shivered. My brain was programmed to know that I should never stand so close to a precipice. But it wasn’t a precipice; it was a glass floor. Still looking down, I stepped to the middle. My body jittered from foot to head. My brain insisted I was standing in midair or that at least the glass would give way, and I would plummet to my death. I knew it was okay—it had obviously been tested and built according to a code. But it didn’t feel okay. And that was the architect’s whole point.
What Kind of Worship: Idol, Idle, or Ideal?
By Robi Ley
The first two commandments state very clearly the position God should hold in our lives as Christians. He is to take first place of course. There is to be no other person to whom we give our devotion and loyalty and no thing to which we give our respect and homage. Only God is worthy of worship.
Why is it, then, that work, sports, cars, food, children, spouses, church, mission work and even Bible study take over our time and leave none for the Father? Are we guilty of idol worship, or just idle worship?
