Socially Distant, Spiritually Close
A Perpetual Advent Devotional beginning on December 1st each Advent season.
The devotional is written on the themes of GIVING, GATHERING, GAIETY and GOD with US. Regardless of how any social distancing may be in place during the Christmas season, we can remain spiritually close to God and to others.
Joy Makers, Joy Takers
The Word of God does not mention happiness as much as it
does joy. When joy is mentioned, it is always related to God and
it is always a permanent possession. It is not a matter of having
pizza with sausage, but it is always a matter of something that
only true believers in Christ can have. Someone once described
joy as the “flag that flies over the castle of the heart when the King
is in residence.” How do we get this kind of joy? Perhaps the best
place to start is with Paul, the apostle and the author of the joy
epistle, Philippians!
Walk the Talk, Dress the Part
Not long after the gospel of Matthew opens, and just as it seems reasonable for Jesus to begin His public ministry, He is whisked away by the Spirit into the desert “to be tempted by the devil” – three times. Immediately, the schemes of Satan are fully revealed. The defeated one suggested that Jesus’talk could turn stones into bread. Satan proposed that Jesus’walk could be impressive and significant if He were to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the temple. Finally, the devil tried to entice Jesus with the thought of His wardrobe being arrayed with the power of all the kingdoms. Satan tempted Jesus by appealing to the desire to be relevant, significant, and powerful. Aren’t these the same appealing areas of vulnerability for us as educators? How natural to want to be relevant while talking to our students, impressive and significant in our profession, and powerful in our classroom kingdoms! Nothing would please the tempter more than to derail our earthly walk, talk, and wardrobe. He doesn’t want us to “walk the talk or dress the part” of being a follower of Christ and a light in a dark and needy world. Like Jesus, we don’t need to outsmart or outmuscle Satan. We need to simply “out-truth” him with the powerful words of God.
Four Letter Words
LOVE. WAIT. OPEN. SEEK. Four letter words are often found in crossword puzzles, much to the delight of the puzzle solver. These words are easy to figure out and fill in some of the empty spaces of the longer, more challenging words.
LOVE. WAIT. OPEN. SEEK. These four letter words are also found in God’s Word, but not always to the delight of the seeker. These words are easy to spell but are challenging to hear, especially in the empty spaces of our lives. This six week study is based on several pairs of four letter words God often uses with us as we strive to walk in obedience to His plan. Sometimes they feel like curses instead of blessings and we struggle with the idea of them coming from a loving Heavenly Father. To be told to “draw near” or “don’t fret” is often easier heard than done. Throughout this study, you will be encouraged to hear these hard sayings of God with an open heart so that you may learn to live your life well and keep His Word.
Wholly Devoted A Study Based on I Kings
Living a life “wholly devoted” to the Lord almost sounds like mission impossible, unattainable and unrealistic. Surely God was just suggesting devoting ALL while knowing we would still firmly grasp some measure of self-devotion in this lifetime. This eight week study is based on I Kings, and addresses issues of the heart such as idolatry, forgiveness, and defeating the sin cycle and offers practical ways to guide the distracted heart to becoming a wholly devoted one.
Word Wise: One King’s Wisdom and Another King’s Words
Word Wise, a 31 day devotional, connects King Solomon’s wisdom found in the Old Testament book of Proverbs with the New Testament words of King Jesus. By bridging one King’s wisdom with another King’s words, you will find practical instruction for using words in the wisest way.