Enjoy these short devotions. May you grow with us in love and understanding of our great God.
SPIRITUAL DEMENTIA
Dementia is the general term for those who experience memory loss and other abilities interfering with their routine and daily life. Dementia patients can wander. They may expect to walk to the post office but they get turned around, lost and unable to find their way back home. Dementia patients can be easily agitated, repetitive, suspicious, even forgetting about personal hygiene, eating and drinking. Dementia patients often forget the names and faces of their family and friends leaving their loved ones to cope with complex grief, loss, loneliness and heartbreak. Read More
When we forget who our God is we encounter much of what dementia sufferers experience. We wander. We get lost, turned around and easily agitated. Others try to help us find our way back, praying for us but we are slipping away. When we forget His face that looks at us with amazing love, we are broken. Forgetting His Name, His Word, His promises,His character, His faithfulness, His many blessings to us causes doubt, struggle, worry, anxiety, unrest. Our growth is interrupted, stunted and it affects others. We must not forget. David in the Psalms often starts out praying about his circumstances, then he begins to remember who God is and His past provision and faithfulness. The same psalm will often end in David rejoicing, trusting, his strength and countenance renewed. Will you remember today the face, the name, the truth, His many blessings and faithfulness? Will you remember that He is on your side, He is for you? PRAYER: Father God, help me in every circumstance to remember who You are and never forget all Your blessings and faithfulness in Jesus. Amen.
BAD COUNSEL
Who we listen to and the advice we base decisions on is vitally important. The Bible shows us several people who based decisions on bad counsel and the affects were/are far-reaching. Here are just three examples.
King Darius in Daniel 6:1-18 listening to the administrators of his government enacted a law that ended up with Daniel placed in the lion’s den. He immediately regretted the decision but what was done was done. The Bible says he didn’t sleep, eat, or enjoy entertainment all night. Read More
King Xerxes listened to Haman (Esther 3:8-15) and signed a decree that would annihilate the Jewish people. It says that as the king and Haman sat down to drink after the decree was issued the city was thrown into confusion. After Esther reveals Haman’s evil plot, the king is livid, and has Haman hung in the gallows (Esther 7:9-10) Pontious Pilate listened to the Jewish priests and then the crowd (Matthew 27:22-26) and a murderer was released from prison. Innocent Jesus was sentenced to be crucified. The choices we make, the decisions we render affect people and situations to a greater degree than we ever realize. May we make them with Godly wisdom being very careful of whom we are listening to. How do we know if a decision is Godly? Does it line up with Biblical truths? James 3:17 tells us ‘But wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. Who are we listening to? What is their motive? Is it Biblical? 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Prayer: Father, may your voice be the loudest voice in our heads. We want to follow you Jesus. In Your Name, we pray. Amen
MASKS
With the COVID-19 pandemic, wearing masks has become as familiar as putting on our coats, hats, or gloves to go out on a blustery day.
People struggle with being masked. It’s uncomfortable, awkward, makes your nose itch, your glasses fog, and there is the nagging question; does it really help? Read More
The variety of masks available are copious; N95, cotton, disposable, surgical, respirator, personalized all with an assortment of patterns, colors, designs, messages, businesses. Physically wearing a mask may be new and uncomfortable for most of society but most of us have worn an emotional mask at different times in our lives. Depressed people pretend to be happy, introverts pretend to be extroverts, unsure people pretend to be confident. Maybe the most popular mask people often hide behind is “I’m fine” when their world is crumbling around them. Another frequently used mask is “I can’t”. People think they can’t succeed or move forward and they limit their potentials. The Bible tells us to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience Colossians 3:12. Let us put on and wear these genuine qualities rather than our masks. In doing so we will bless Him and others. Colossians 3:14 reminds us above all ‘put on love.’ Love is the vaccine that makes wearing emotional masks unnecessary. Father, may we love as You love, with others’ best interests in mind. Help us today to live as vessels of love. The world needs love, they need You. We pray this all in Jesus’s loving Name. Amen.