Never Let Down by Joe Stowell Devotional for disaster victims

When I was a child, one of my favorite pastimes was playing on the teeter-totter in the nearby park. A kid would sit on each end of the board and bounce each other up and down. Sometimes the one who was down would stay there and leave his playmate stuck up in the air yelling to be let down. But the cruelest of all tricks was getting off the teeter-totter and running away when your friend was up in the air—he would come crashing down to the ground with a painful bump. Sometimes we may feel that Jesus does that to us. We trust Him to be there with us through the ups and downs of life. However, when life takes a turn and leaves us with bumps and bruises, it may feel as if He has walked away leaving our lives to come painfully crashing down. But Lamentations 3 reminds us that “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end” (v.22 esv) and that God is faithful to the end even when everything seems to be falling apart. This means that in the midst of our pain, even though we may be lonely, we are not alone. And though we may not feel His presence, He is there as our trusted companion who will never walk away and let us down! Thank You, Lord, that we can trust in Your faithful presence even when we feel alone. Help us to wait patiently for You to manifest Your steadfast loving presence. When everyone else fails, Jesus is your most trusted friend. Insight In Lamentations 3 we see the tribulations of God’s people. They are described in terms of physical suffering, painful injury, and imprisonment. Judah’s journey is portrayed in harrowing terms of terrible obstacles, wild animals, a wound to the heart, and bitter food. And the spiritual devastation can be seen in these words: “You have moved my soul far from peace” (v.17). Yet despite the despair of the moment, the promise of restoration and renewal are given: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning” (vv.22-23).

What’s In The Name? by Joe stowell

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” Exodus 20:7 There are a lot of fun events associated with being a pastor. And while great food at church dinners and getting invited to cool events with people in your church are near the top of the list, there may be nothing that quite compares to sharing some great moments with people — like the birth of babies. But in the joy of it all, there is a problem. When you arrive at the hospital, you encounter a weary, but thrilled, couple who hand you this tightly wrapped little bundle and then impose on you a serious ethical dilemma. Of course, you are supposed to say, “Oh, my goodness, what a pretty little girl,” or “What a handsome little boy!” The reality is that I’ve never seen a child fresh out that looks anything like handsome or pretty. (Come to think of it, I have seen three really beautiful babies.) But once I get past the ethical dilemma by saying something like, “My, isn’t she precious,” the conversation ultimately morphs into an easier realm of interaction regarding the child’s name: “What’s the baby’s name?” . . . “That’s a great name. What does it mean?” The answers vary: “Oh, it’s his grandfather’s name.” “Her name means ‘Father’s delight’” or, “We have no idea; we just chose it from a baby book!” For most of us, names are relatively insignificant. They are easily changed into nicknames and serve basically to distinguish us from Bob or Ted. But if we look at God’s view of names in the same way, we may have trouble understanding what the big deal is about God’s name. Why would He include the importance of His name in His top-10 list of “Thou Shalt Nots”? How could diminishing His name rank up there with murder, stealing, and adultery? It doesn’t take much digging through the Bible to realize that names are important to God. Think about Genesis, when God was often giving new names to the main characters—Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sarah, Jacob became Israel. Each change signaled a statement from God about that individual’s character and his or her place in His plan. It wasn’t about God giving a nickname, it was about God assigning identity and worth to these individuals through the meaning of their name. Most importantly, names are one of God’s key means of revealing His own identity and worth. He reveals His identity when He tells Moses that He is named “Yahweh,” which means, “I Am.” It means that He is eternally existent. He also identifies Himself as “Elohim,” the Almighty God, the God of great power. His names are who He is, not just what we call Him. God’s names also describe His worth. You may be familiar with names like “Jehovah-Jireh,” meaning that He is the God who will provide. Or “El-Shaddai,” which means that He is completely sufficient. There are, in fact, 210 different names of God throughout Scripture, adding incredible richness and depth to our understanding of God’s identity, worth, and character. Which is exactly why He takes it so seriously when we degrade His name by using it as though it weren’t sacred and lowering it to mere casual conversation as though it were ordinary. The exclamation, “Oh my God” should be an urgent prayer, not a verbal exclamation point. When we lower the name of God to drag it through a moment of anger or to use it to intimidate or manipulate, we have taken God Himself and lowered Him from His holy position. His name is intrinsically locked into who He is and what He is like. To put it simply, when we hit on His name, we have hit on Him. No wonder He is offended. So, what’s in a name? If you’re talking about God, the answer is everything! YOUR JOURNEY… Take a minute to evaluate your tolerance level for hearing God’s name taken in vain. Isn’t it interesting (and sad) that we get appropriately offended by all manner of four-letter words in movies and TV, but no longer catch the numerous times that this commandment is violated! In what ways might you be treating God’s name casually? How does knowing that His names reveal His identity and character change your perspective on His name? Take a look at Philippians 2:9-11. What does that passage say about the name of Jesus? How does that motivate you to worship today?

Good Morning Girls-Easter devotional

Devotional-Exodus 12:1-14 Such rich text today as we remember the establishment of The Passover, where God instructs the Israelites to take and prepare a lamb in a certain way, and then use the blood of the lamb to paint their door-frames so that the angel of death would pass over their houses, saving their firstborn from the final Egyptian plague. This “passing over” was not a result of works, but a gift of mercy, separating God’s chosen ones. This Old Testament history of the first Passover plays such an important piece in the Easter story, setting the scene for the ultimate gift of grace to come, which was poured out on us by Christ’s work on the cross. The blood of the lamb saved from death. For those who know Him, Jesus gives life… He is our Passover lamb!

She Reads Truth: Women In The Bible, Part 1 from the Bible App

Devotional Eve: Who We Believe "I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ." (The Apostle Paul, from 2 Corinthians 11:2-3, ESV) I’m convinced that Eve gets a bad rap. Yes, she deliberately disobeyed God. Yes, she was easily swayed. Yes, she brought Adam down with her. (Though, to be fair, he made his own decision to take a bite.) The serpent was sneaky, to say the least. Everything that spewed from his mouth was a lie:There is no danger here. What you have is not enough; you deserve more. God is not protecting you; he’s holding out on you. One bite won’t hurt. Yes, the serpent shares the blame. But even he is not the biggest reason I find myself leaping to Eve’s defense.The thing is, I know this story and I know myself. And I am one hundred percent certain I would have made the same choice.I would have bitten that apple. I would have convinced Adam to do the same. In fact, I have. When I dare to look hard at my Southern church-girl past, it is littered with forbidden fruit, with times I heard God’s truth in one ear and the Enemy’s lies in the other and I chose to believe the lies.Of course, it is not always that simple. We really do try to get it right. But the shame and guilt we carry are proof that we don’t. No one does.Perhaps this sounds dramatic. I do have a tendency toward word drama. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to say we each face these apple-moments in our lives, in our everyday. We know truth and we live in it, but the lies just get so loud. We get weary, we get confused, we get angry, we get jaded. And we bite. Immediately the shame settles in. Like Eve, we hurriedly begin sewing together fig leaves in an attempt to hide our brokenness and our guilt.Let’s stop. Let’s put down our DIY efforts of self-salvation that Paul warned us about, and let’s run fast to the foot of the cross.We will find Jesus there, ready for us. Ready to forgive. Click here to join the discussion with the SheReadsTruth community

Not Ashamed by Pastor Rod Parsley

Not Ashamed But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:33 Are you embarrassed to be seen in public with a Bible? Do you hide yours in your briefcase or in your purse? Would you sit in a restaurant with your Bible proudly displayed on the table, or would you rather keep it hidden from view? We are called to be witnesses for God. Take your Bible from its hiding place and display it proudly. Many have suffered and died just so you could have that priceless book. Christ paid the price for your freedom, and because of what He did you are able to claim each promise in the Bible. Why be ashamed to let the world know that you treasure the Word of God? The Bible has an uncanny ability to stir up human emotions-love, joy, hatred or disdain. If you will allow Him, God will open a door of opportunity for you to witness-to plant a seed for the kingdom. You do not have to beat people over the head with God's Word. All you have to do is be willing, ready and not ashamed to let the world know you are a believer. Further Reading Mark 8:38 Luke 9:26 Acts 1:8

What's in your wallet by Joe Stowell

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." Ephesians 1:11 An advertising blitz for a credit card company once featured two humorous television commercials. One featured Vikings who were defeated by credit card’s low interest rates. The other series of ads poked fun at the apparent difficulty of cashing in on the “other company’s” frequent flier miles. Every one of the commercials ended with the same catchy tagline: “What’s in your wallet?” It’s an interesting question. The stuff in our wallet represents financial security, purchase power, and prosperity. The question “What’s in your wallet?” is a clever way of planting doubt in our minds about whether or not we have the right stuff to get all the satisfaction we are looking for in life. It prompts us to wonder if we are getting all that we think we deserve. Is there more out there that we don’t yet have? Do we have what it takes to be successful? Of course, the intent of the ad campaign is to make us think that only this particular card will make us satisfied, secure, and significant. And if we don’t feel secure about having the right things in our wallet, perhaps we need to reevaluate its contents. But those who have traveled life’s road for a while will tell you that it’s not really the stuff in your wallet that finally brings the happiness you’re looking for. Thankfully, God has an announcement of His own about where to find satisfaction, security, and significance! In Ephesians 1:3-14, the apostle Paul can hardly contain himself as he lists the incredible resources that our Father has placed at the disposal of His children. When we turn to Christ by faith, we’re given forgiveness—the joy of a clean conscience before God. We’re entrusted with His wisdom—inside information on how to live life without the downside of our ongoing dead-end experiments. We’re given access to His mercy and grace to find help in the time of need, worship to lift our spirits above the din of ordinary living, and prayer to put us in touch with the One who cares for us and loves us without condition. We find all of this and more in our spiritual wallet! What are you trusting to bring you joy and satisfaction? What do you depend on to give you a sense of security and safety? Where do you turn for significance? Are you focused on a wallet that’s growing with the “right” credit cards, a thick stack of cash, and the right business cards? Ironically, a full wallet can be carried on a body with an empty heart. Live for the incredible spiritual wealth and riches offered to you by our loving heavenly Father, who, according to James, delights in giving good gifts to His children. Your physical wallet may be almost empty, but, if your heart is full of all that Jesus offers, you’ve got all the right stuff to defeat the Vikings that plague your life and to experience true joy and satisfaction.

A Devotion to Revive Your Dreams by Cynthia Ruchti

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. Hebrews 10:35 At a retreat, I heard a clear challenge to dream bigger than normal, to dream Jesus-sized dreams, things only He could do, things He delights in doing. The retreat instructor offered us time to pray and write down those courageous, adventuresome dreams. I wrote in pencil, not only because writing in pen seemed arrogant, but because no dream is worth it if God isn’t in it. I needed more time to listen to Jesus stirring in my heart through His Holy Spirit. Two days after returning home from the retreat, life got messy. It started with a grease fire in the kitchen. The smoke, soot, and extinguisher dust scattered to every corner of the house. The cleanup took three weeks. The crew put a rush on it because my husband was hospitalized that same night, had surgery the next day, and spent more than a week in Room 530, Bed 1. He spent the following many months in a back brace and used crutches the brief times he could be out of bed or off the couch. “My dreams went up in smoke,” I whimpered. I didn’t even know where those pages were anymore. Jesus–the epitome of Truth–seemed to whisper something profound to my spirit. “No, they didn’t. They’re in the garage.” I’d hastily thrown office items into bins and hauled them to the garage when the fire remediation crew cleaned and painted the office. My dreams didn’t go up in smoke. They were temporarily relocated. To the garage. Faith Step: Misplace a dream? Is it truly gone or temporarily relocated? Spend some time today asking Jesus to revive the dream He planted in your heart. By Cynthia Ruchti This devotion is excerpted from Mornings with Jesus 2014.