Life in the City

Life in the City

Linda Lesniewski
Spiritual Growth

I’m a small-town girl. My hometown’s population hovered around eight thousand. My English teacher played the piano at church, the fire station displayed it’s life-sized nativity scene and the water tower emblem proclaimed “In God We Trust.” My mother taught school in a nearby community of three hundred citizens, and each year’s senior class consisted of ten graduates. Imagine combining my life experiences with a husband’s who grew up in Chicago! After years of marriage, we still share new tales with one another of growing up in our respective communities.

Calm My Fear

Calm My Fear

encouraging.com
Anxiety, Fear

As I write this devotion, I am praying the words of our scripture fervently. Our family is facing a situation about which I have many questions, but I am trusting God to calm my fears. 

Mold Me and Make Me

Mold Me and Make Me

encouraging.com
Obedience

Have you ever watched a potter work, as Jeremiah did in today’s passage? It is amazing to see something lovely begin to take shape from a lump of clay. In this passage God was showing the prophet that the nation of Israel—as well as every person from the beginning of time—was to be shaped by His hand. We are all lumps of human clay waiting for the touch of the master Potter.

Surrender All to Him

Surrender All to Him

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Challenge

Often we are amazed by a believer’s perseverance in adversity and their confidence in God’s promises. Such people demonstrate a spiritual fullness that many of us long to have. A closer look reveals that they have followed Jesus’ example and surrendered all to God.

A Fresh Encounter with God

A Fresh Encounter with God

encouraging.com
Forgiveness

We live in busy times. For many Christians attending church is an item on their checklist. They feel that by attending church weekly, they have fulfilled their “spiritual duty.” We live in a world where believers are not excited about the Lord’s work and have lost their compassion for the unsaved. This has caused many believers to live in a worldly and sinful way.

Utmost Anxiety

Utmost Anxiety

Susan Partida
Salvation

Our first grandchild, barely over a year old, had somehow broken a front tooth. We could not figure out how it happened because his tooth had barely come through the surface of his gums when our daughter discovered it.

Mind Boggling

Mind Boggling

Susan Partida
Obedience

I could not believe my eyes and ears! On a popular cooking show contestants competed for a top chef prize. Their cooking determined who got to continue preparing dishes on the show or who went home empty handed.

Afflicted/Blessed

Afflicted/Blessed

Susan Partida
Challenge

Afflicted – not a word I like. It makes me think of the lepers mentioned in the Bible. They were so afflicted that no one would have anything to do with them. I do not want to be afflicted, but at times I am. Sin brings me to affliction, an affliction which can distance me from God.

Smart Bulbs

Smart Bulbs

Susan Partida
Encouragement

My husband travelling so much has turned into one of the toughest things about his new job. My fear of coming home alone in the dark made me almost not want to go out at night. Also, lying in bed and listening to the weird night noises made my fear escalate as well.

Hidden, Not Hidden

Hidden, Not Hidden

Susan Partida
Obedience

Have you ever hidden something and forgotten where you put it? Not only did you conceal it from others, but also yourself. How frustrating! Not so with God’s word. When memorizing and cherishing his word in our hearts, accessing it effortlessly brings quite the opposite. It brings victory and peace.

Behold His Glory

Behold His Glory

Jan Burkhart
God's Character, Praise

…And the glory of the Lord shone around them… (Luke 2:9). The glory of the Lord is the revelation of His being. Anytime God’s nature, character, and powerful deeds are revealed, His glory is manifest. And so, on the blessed night when God came to earth as an infant, His glory filled the heavens.  

The Created Uncreated One

The Created Uncreated One

Jan Burkhart
God's Character, Praise

In the beginning God…(Genesis 1:1) Before time as we know it began, God was. Before time as we know it began, Jesus Christ was. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning (John 1:1). This Christmas season, we worship the Almighty, uncreated One! Jesus is the One who was, who is, and who is to come! (Revelation 1:8)

Glorify the Lord with Me

Glorify the Lord with Me

Jan Burkhart
Praise

These are the beginning words of Mary’s praise to God for the child that would be born. She, a virgin, would conceive of the Holy Spirit and bear the Son of God—news so unexpected, so impossible, so humbling, and yet, so magnificent that Mary could not contain her praise.

Choose Worship

Choose Worship

Jan Burkhart
Praise, Worship

I am writing, knowing that in a few weeks when this devotional is posted, I will already have company in my home. I know myself well. I will awaken early and quietly slip to my sunroom with coffee in hand to spend time with my Lord before everyone gets up. And yet, I also know that the list of things to be done will plague my thoughts, making it difficult to concentrate on God’s Word and to pray. 

A Shepherd’s Prayer for Baby Jesus

A Shepherd’s Prayer for Baby Jesus

Nancy Shirah

Dear Lord,

I do not understand. That night I saw the sky and heard the angel’s song—but I have so far to come in my faith. When I entered the cave and saw You in your mother’s arms, I saw the miracle of new life. It was an amazement to see a newborn child among the barnyard animals.

The Gift that Keeps Giving: Part 3

The Gift that Keeps Giving: Part 3

Nancy Shirah
Grace

Our personal story begins when we receive God’s gift of grace. But who receives a gift without opening it? With the unwrapping come amazing surprises. We begin to experience things we previously could not have dreamed of. Even in the middle of life-as-usual, we see new dimensions and a new purpose. 2+2 now equals 7 or 10 or infinity. The only explanation is that the grace of God is at work in our life.

The Gift that Keeps Giving: Part 2

The Gift that Keeps Giving: Part 2

Nancy Shirah
Grace

In the desert there was enough grace to feed Israel for another day. In the temple sacrifices there was enough grace to procure forgiveness for God’s people for another year. In the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, there was enough grace to forgive our sins, transform our lives and lead us to our eternal home.c

The Gift that Keeps Giving: Part 1

The Gift that Keeps Giving: Part 1

Nancy Shirah
Grace

When we use the word “grace” to describe human interactions, it is often a lovely synonym for letting someone off the hook. When we apply grace to God’s character and actions, something else entirely comes into play. If it were possible to obtain a core sample of the heart of God, the analysis would come back as pure grace. 

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