Devotions

February 28th -- Deuteronomy 24-27 If your Bible isn't near you, you can always read these chapters at www.bible.com or with the BIBLE READER widget to the left of this post! Today's reading is the same it's been for a while-- just more rules that the Israelites were to abide by. But, instead of talking about those rules today, I thought we'd do something different. Today is going to be my random rant on how AWESOME our God is! That okay with you? Well, I hope so. 'Cause here I go. First off, there's the Bible. It has 66 whole books all about God and his love, and you know what? It's pretty amazing. It's one of the longest recorded books in history, and for good reasons. It contains our history, and our faith. It's entirely full of scriptures that can help us in almost anything... from dealing with loss, to dealing with non-believers, to just about everything. It is, like I said, amazing. Another thing I'm thankful for is, of course, Jesus. I m...

February 27th -- Deuteronomy 20-23 Read these chapters at www.bible.com if your Bible isn't handy. Simply click on the link, and roll your mouse over the bar that says "Bible Resources." (It's on the left-hand side of the screen.) Then, click "Read the Bible" towards the bottom of the list. Or, you can read the Bible with the BIBLE READER widget to the left of this post, right here at www.devotionsbycarly.blogspot.com . Let's get this thing started, shall we? How many of you out there thought today's reading was a bit disturbing?!?! I did, for sure. It kept talking about putting people to death because of things that don't seem so bad today. It makes God seem merciless and cruel, but the fact of the matter is that God says and does everything for a reason. Granted, most of the laws he states don't apply today, so you can all take a sigh of relief! But, there are still some important laws hidden inside all the other ones, The Ten Commandments...

February 26th -- Deuteronomy 16-19 If your Bible isn't handy, you can read these few chapters at www.bible.com or with the BIBLE READER widget to the left of this post! Ever heard of Hannah Montana? Of course you have. Well, she has this song, I think it's called "No body's Perfect." It was one of Miley Cyrus' main hits, that got her started as playing "Hannah." But enough about the history of Hannah Montana! My point with all of this is her hit song, "No body's Perfect," because guess what? Nobody is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes every once in a while, and some do more than others. In fact, some people (like myself,) make mistakes all the time. In the moment, you don't realize you're making them. Then BOOM. You feel all bad. Whether it's a big mistake, or a little one, everyone makes them. We lie, and cheat, and we go against the Bible one flaw after another. If everyone was perfect, we'd have no reason to be worri...

February 25th -- Deuteronomy 12-15 Read these chapters with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post, or at www.bible.com ! Have you ever had something you wanted SO badly? It might of been something materialistic, like a car, or a piece of clothing. But it also could of been something you can't see, like a sense of something. A sense of happiness, sense of accomplishment, sense of peace. Whatever you've bee longing for, I wanted to relate it to today's reading. I know, personally, that after reading these last, oh, 100 pages? There's been around 100 pages of rules and regulations and strange laws we've had to read. Just imagine what the Israelites must have gone through trying to follow all the rules! Must have been tough. So, why'd they do it? If you haven't noticed already (which I hope you have noticed, but regardless,) God kept mentioning this land of milk and honey, where gold and bronze was abundant, and you never had to worry about food. In reality,...

February 24th -- 9-11 Read these three chapters with your very own Bible... or at www.bible.com , or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post! I liked today's reading. Most of it was pretty reassuring, actually. I especially liked when it talked about God being with the Israelites because of His PROMISE. I believe God will never break His promise, and it's good to know He did make the promise to bless our ancestors' people. Thank God for our ancestors! I realized today, also, that Moses was recalling most of the things that happened years before, like when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, and how they made a gold calf to use as a "god," and how they were disobeying God over and over and over. But anyway, when I read that, I realized that there were SO many people who didn't obey God, and only a few stuck out and really loved Him. These people were the Israelites forefathers, the one's God talked about so much. Remember Abram? He left his family j...

February 23rd -- Deuteronomy 5-8 Read these chapters with the BIBLE READER widget to the left of this post, or at www.bible.com . You can also, of course, read it with the real, live Bible! Let's get this devotional started, shall we? Today's reading had some really cool verses about God never leaving you, and pretty much laid out what we're supposed to do as Christians. Although some feel the rules were silly to add... I think they were really beneficial to the Israelites, and most of them can still apply to us. It's almost like a manual for our lives. My favorite verse here is this: Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength. Why is that so hard, people? I forget all the time that I should be nice to someone, and honor God in all I do. We get distracted, and we miss out on what's really and truly the message behind Christianity, to tell everyone about Jesus, and His love for them. It's rea...

February 22nd -- Deuteronomy 3-4 You can read these short 2 chapters at http://www.bible.com/ or with the BIBLE READER widget to the left of this very post! Let's get started. Alrighty, so today's reading was, of course, about more rules the Israelites were faced with. More regulations and laws that God told Moses, who told the people, and blah blah blah. Let's get to the interesting part. I was trying to read through all the many rules in today's reading, when I came across this: Deuteronomy 4:31 The Lord your God is tender and loving. He won't leave you or destroy you. He won't forget the covenant he made with your people long ago. He took an oath when he made it. God wanted to make sure that the Israelites understood this, and I think it was a good idea he threw that out there. Because then, all the people who were doubtful, or were afraid, could remember that God made a covenant with their forefathers to protect them. How does that apply to us? Well, we...

February 21st -- Deuteronomy 1-2 If you're new to this devotion site, this would be a good place to pick up your Bible and start reading along with me, that way you'll understand the devotion. It's a brand new book today, and guess what? Only two chapters. If you don't have a Bible near you you can also read these chapters at http://www.bible.com/ or with the BIBLE READER widget to the left of this post. Passage Matthew 4:19: And He said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Alright, so what the heck does THAT mean? A fisher of men? Men don't even live in water. And they don't eat worms, and they definitely won't bite unto a metal hook if it was dangled in front of their face. (Well, some people might... but they're an exception.) When Jesus said this verse, he obviously didn't mean that he wanted people to go fishing for men. But what he DID mean, was for his followers to tell other people about Him, and to continue telling othe...

February 20th -- Numbers 33-36 If your Bible isn't handy, you can read these 4 chapters with the BIBLE READER widget to the left of this post, or at www.bible.com . Welcome, one and all. Today's reading includes more rules for the Israelites, and it might bore you just a little. But, the good news is THAT AFTER TODAY'S READING, YOU'LL BE IN THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY INSTEAD OF NUMBERS! WOO HOO! So, let's talk about the reading. Like I said before, there were a lot of inheritance laws, and regulations that were to be followed by the Israelites. It seems as if that's all we ever talk about now a days, or for the past few weeks, anyhow. But instead of trying to understand all of the laws, I think it'll be easier to try and relate all the inheritance laws to today's world. Back then, people were classified by wealth. Today, people are classified by their wealth, too! If someone is wearing the right clothes, or has their hair put just right, they're conside...

February 19th -- Numbers 30-32 Read these chapters with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post, or at www.bible.com . REVENGE It's a pretty evil thing. And I'm not just saying that to be funny, because revenge is often seen in comics, and the villains are evil... I mean it. Revenge is evil. It's that little voice inside your head that really wants to make someone feel worse about themselves, just because they treated you badly. You don't make them feel bad because they're a disgrace to the planet, or a mass murderer... you do it because they made you feel bad. Not your friend, or your parents, but they made you feel bad. It's a very personal thing, revenge. And frankly, I hate it. Today, I saw someone kick someone else. I was like "Why did you do that?" And, their reply? "They kicked me first." It wasn't just a joke-ish kick, either. It was a clear cut to the knee, and the only reason for it was because they'd been kicked. How 1s...

February 18th -- Numbers 27-29 Read these chapters with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post, or at www.bible.com . Good day, everyone. How many readers are we up to now, like two? Well, a wise person (whom I can't remember) once told me that any act of goodness is seen by God, no matter how big or small. Whether or not the action is received by someone, or if anyone sees you doing it, God knows. He always knows. So, today's reading. Fun stuff. So many sheep, and sacrifices, and wheat, and measurements, and Sabbaths... it was really confusing. Pretty boring to read all the way through, too. But, I got this message out of it: Sacrifice. It's important, no matter what branch of Christianity you are. So, let's talk about that for a little. I've talked about tithing before, and how you're offered to sacrifice 10% of your income to the church. But since all the Israelites were given strict instructions about sacrifice, I wanted to chat a little about it. Not all...

February 17th -- Numbers 25-26 Read these short two chapters at www.bible.com or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post. There's been a lot of talk about government lately. If our president is doing a good job, if congress made the right decision, blah blah blah. I'm sorry if I offend a few people by saying this, but I'm not really into the whole government thing. That's just me. However, I'm pretty pumped for the census that's going to take place one of these days, and if you read today's chapters, then you'd see that THEY (meaning the Israelites) took a census, too. It's a fancy way of counting people, and what not. But back to the subject of government. There are, like I said, a million different controversies going on out there about what's right, and what's wrong. I believe, to sum everything up, that we should base our country's beliefs on the BIBLE. Does anyone know what our constitution was created around? That's righ...

February 16th -- Numbers 22-24 I'm going to get a little deeper than usual into these four chapters, so be sure to read over them at http://www.bible.com/ or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post. It'll only take a few minutes. So, if I could describe today's reading in one word, I'd say this: Nursery Rhyme. There was a talking donkey! And, God spoke through people! It was pretty fantasy-ish, I think. But the funny thing is, it actually happened. I don't doubt anything in the Bible, because it's literally the living TRUTH. If you don't believe that, then you'll probably think everything I say is bologna. But the truth is... I don't mind being called a freak. As long as I'm a Jesus Freak! So, instead of pointing out weird looking things in the Bible, I'm going to get a little deeper into The Word. I've been thinking lately about people, and how others judge people for how they look, or how they dress. I don't want to point ou...

February 15th -- Numbers 19-21 You can read these chapters at www.bible.com or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post.  There's a lot that went on in today's reading. First and foremost, most of it was a little out of our comfort zones. It must be weird to read the chapters and realize how strange our God seemed back then.  I mean, with all the bronze snakes, and harsh deaths, and for Him to kill his own Aaron? Weird, right? But I also realized that it talked about ways to be clean, which can be pretty important back then. And today, too.  You and I might agree on the strangeness that is the Bible, but maybe that's because we don't understand it quite enough. Maybe we need to be cleansed. Sounds fair enough.  The Bible talks a lot about how you be "clean" or "unclean," which was really honored back then. It helped the Israelites realize what was really important in order to live a happy life.  What's that mean for us today? How do WE beco...

February 14th -- Numbers 16-18 Read these chapters at www.bible.com or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post! Has anyone ever been to a Vacation Bible School? It's like a Christian camp put on one week during the summer at churches all over. It's a fun way for kids to connect to Jesus. Each day, there's a new saying for kids to remember, like "God is powerful" or "God is amazing." Today's lesson, kids? GOD DOES WHAT HE SAYS HE DOES. Amen? Amen. In today's reading, the Israelites were upset with God. They were all "I don't think trusting in God is a good idea! He promised us goodness if we came with him, and guess what? He hasn't gotten us that. He weren't happy to be slaves from Egypt, but now we're hungry in the dessert! At least we had food in Egypt! Let's make a new leader! Let's leave! God broke his promise!" Liars. God never breaks his promises. In fact, God promised the Israelites that is they sin...

February 13th -- Numbers 14-15 Read these amazing chapters at www.bible.com , or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post! What's it mean to be a believer in something? Anyone have any ideas? I mean, it's easy to believe in a tangible object, because we can touch it, we can see it... we know it's there. But what about things we have the choice to believe in that we can't see? It's pretty tough. If you read today's readings, you'd see what the Israelites went through (yet again.) You'd thing they've already learned their darn lesson, but no. They had to make the same mistake again, by doubting God was with them, and God got pretty mad about it. In our daily life, it's sometimes hard to remind ourselves to always be conscious of God and what he wants us to do. It's not like we have a magical blinking sign that follows us around pointing out where we need to help people out at. That's be pretty sweet, though. My point is, that in order...

February 12th -- Numbers 11-13 Read these chapters with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post, or at www.bible.com . So, who out there reading this (if there IS anybody reading this) has ever felt... rejected? Like no one in the world is caring for them, ans they don't have anyone to lean on. A few people in the crowd raise their hand... It stinks, doesn't it? To feel that if you fell off the face of the Earth this very second, no one would miss you. To think that no one would look for you, and you'd be alone for the rest of eternity. Now, take an imaginary paper towel and wipe that thought from your mind. That thought doesn't exist... and if it ever comes up again, you can just remember this: God is always there for you. Valentines Day is in a few days. Feel lonely? You're not the only one. God, however, is the ultimate Valentine. Reasons God is the Ultimate Valentine: 1. He's always there 2. He listens to all of our (several) complaints, and actually helps...

February 11th -- Numbers 8-10 USE WHAT THE GOOD LORD GAVE YOU! Read these three chapters at www.bible.com or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post! Ever heard that saying? Use what the good Lord gave you? Well, that's the basis for today's reading. Jesus gave you all ears, right? If not, I'm terribly sorry... because that might of been offensive. But, I'm not talking about literal ears, I'm talking about your inner-ear. (If you have never heard of an inner-ear, then don't fret. I just made it up.) What's an inner-ear? Carly's Random Word Definition: Inner-ear. Noun. Definition: the little voice inside your head that can hear beyond what people are saying. For instance, if someone asks to see what you got for answer #4, but your inner-ear tells you that they want to copy the whole paper. So, I'm talking about every body's inner-ear. God has laid out a bunch of rules for us in the last couple of week's readings. How on earth are w...

February 10th -- Numbers 7 SHORT ON MONEY THIS MONTH? OFFER YOURSELF. Only one chapter to read today, folks. Read it on this very website with the BIBLE READER widget to the left of this post, or at www.bible.com . Anyone reading this ever been to church? Hope so. If not, there's a lovely church bound to be someplace near you... so go and check it out. There's some place for everyone. Those of you who have been to church, I'm assuming you know what an offering is, correct? The trustees of the church come around with collection plates, and everyone throws in a little money. There are other types of offerings, too. Like when you offer your time. Or, maybe you can offer your soul. Seems pretty deep. Maybe a little too deep for some of you. It's pretty confusing... offerings, I mean. So, I'm going to lay them out for you all. You are very welcome :) Types of Offerings: 1. Money (also known as tithes) 2. Time (not literally a clock, offering your efforts to those in need...

February 9th -- Numbers 5-6 Read these chapters at www.bible.com or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post! Rules, rules, and even more rules. But, what did they have in common? How about purity, or forgiveness for one's wrongs? Back then, you had to do a number of ceremonies and strange rituals to become clean again after you did something wrong. Today, we call them sins... and guess what? I have very good news. When's the last time you remember sinning? Since no one's perfect (including me,) I'll assume that it's been sometime recently. We sin all the time, with lying, and cheating, and being jealous, and stealing, and cursing, and saying God's name in vein. Truth is, the only person who isn't a sinner is Jesus. I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say that none of you are Jesus. (If Jesus is reading this, then HI JESUS! I LOVE YOU! ) Alright. So, we all sin. What can we do to get rid of our sins? How do we eliminate the guilt? No, you...

February 8th -- Numbers 3-4 Read these short chapters with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post, or at http://www.bible.com/ . Today's reading was only two short chapters, but it took forever to read through all those stats and numbers, right? And all those names! Today, I've decided to spare you and give you some statistics about the Bible. So, why are these facts important? Well, truthfully, they're not. They don't really obtain to any information in today's reading... at all. Pretty stupid, right? However, I'd like to point out something. You might think it's stupid of God to put a bunch of names and duties in these last few books of the Bible. Turns out, God isn't stupid. I hope you all knew that. In my opinion, God thought that telling the Israelites their duties while traveling around the land was important. It was do be treated with great care, as all duties and responsibilities should be. So, what's our duties? What does God want me to ...

February 7th -- Numbers 1-2 Hello kind reader. You only have two chapters you must read if you want to be caught up, and start fresh with a new book. So, whip out your Bible and start reading. Too lazy to go and find your Bible? Or, don't have one? First, I'd suggest to get a Bible. It's hard to read through the entire thing this year if you don't have one. But until then, you can read today's chapters at www.bible.com , or with the BIBLE READER widget to the left of this post. Don't know how to read? Oh yeah. You're reading this, right? So, let's get started. Yesterday, we finished the book of Leviticus, and now we're onto numbers. No, it really doesn't have to do all that much with numbers. It's just called Numbers. Why, you ask? You, my friend ask a lot of questions. Some, I will have no answers for. I guess you'll have to ask God then. So anyway, today, we start the book of numbers, and if you read the first two chapters, you'd re...

February 6th -- Leviticus 26-27 Read these few chapters to end the book of Leviticus! You can read them with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post, or you can go to www.bible.com to read them. Today is the last of Leviticus, (I know, you're all terribly sad.) But, today, I felt a major milestone has been brought to my attention. Today, God has set out his rules for his people, and I think we should really pay attention. Why today? Why is today so important to listen to him about his laws? Aren't there soooo many already? Well, I suggest you read today's readings. They're pretty harsh, if you ask me. Some people might be a little confused when they first read some of it, because it was pretty mean of God to threaten his people like he did. He was all "If you don't worship me I will turn my back on you," and blah blah blah. That doesn't sound very God-like, right? Wrong. Now, this is just an opinion... but I think that God wasn't trying to be har...

February 5th -- Leviticus 24-25 Read these fabulous chapters at www.bible.com , or with the BIBLE READER to the left. Two chapters today, people! You can read it! You know what I just realized? I shouldn't even be doing this post. I shouldn't be giving advice to people on being a better Christian when I'm not that good of one myself. I am a sinner, and I am absolutely not perfect. Then again, who is? Besides Jesus, anyway. In today's reading, one of the Israelites got stoned for using the Lord's name with a curse. In case some of you are unclear on what that means... he used the Lord's name in vain and got beaten with stones to death. Not exactly a fairytale ending. It got me thinking, though. Who am I to talk to you all about Jesus, when I don't have a clean heart myself? I wish there was some perfect person that could step up and do these devotionals, because I sure as heck aren't doing a perfect job. I had all day to write this devotional, but I kept...

Day Thirty-Five -- February 4ht --Leviticus 22-23 Please, feel free to read these chapters at www.bible.com or with the BIBLE READER widget to the left of this post. It's only two short chapters today! Howdy, reader. I'm still not sure if anyone is even reading this. But, oh well. Life moves on. Just for future notice... I'm not going to start these posts with "day thirty-five" anymore, it's too much to count out. Instead, I'll put the date. Alrighty? Oh yeah. No one's there. Of course you can't answer. Anyway, let's get this devotional started anyway. Sounds good to me. Today, we only had to read two chapters. A real treat, if you ask me. This way, we only have to read two chapters of the annoying rules and regulations that we've been enduring... or, I've been enduring. Me and Jesus. In these chapters, like I said, they were all about rules, and regulations, but like every other day, it has a pretty good theme... DAYS OF REST. Wouldn...

Day Thirty-Four -- Leviticus 19-21 Read these chapters with the BIBLE READER to the left, or at www.bible.com . Lets get to business. I'm not going to spend time groaning about all the rules we had to read today, because I'm pretty sure if you've read them that you've realized that there are yet ANOTHER set of rules today! Oops. So, what's new, then? What makes today's reading so special and the rest of the days different? Did you notice anything? We might all interpret things differently, and that's okay. But today, I saw that there were a lot of mentioning of God coming to Moses and saying "Do this, because I AM GOD ." I'm sure that Moses knew that God was in fact God... but God made it extra clear these few chapters. He wants Moses to tell the Israelites that there shouldn't be any questions about what God is doing, because he is GOD and he does everything right, whether we like it or not. It's hard to do some things, sometimes. I kn...

Day Thirty-Three -- February 2nd -- Leviticus 16-18 Read these chapters at www.bible.com or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post. It's only a few chapters! Alrighty, so let's get this bad boy started. Guess what I just found out? There are 5 whole chapters of rules and regulations, like today's reading. I almost cried. It's sooooo much reading, and it's pretty boring. However, I don't doubt that everything was put into the Bible for a good reason, so I'll just swallow my pride and keep on reading. We've already done half of the 5 chapters, so we're almost there. I think it's very possible. Heck, with God, anything is possible. So, what could the message possibly be for today's reading, you ask? How does all these rules that don't even apply to today's world help me at all? What did today's reading start out with? Let's start there. It started with God telling Moses what Aaron was supposed to do with sacrifices. I th...

Day Thirty-Two -- February 1st -- Leviticus 14-15 Read these short two chapters at www.bible.com or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post! Alright. So, there are more rules for the Israelites today, all of which God told Moses, and Moses told his people, so they'd follow the rules. One thing I realized while reading these chapters was one simple concept: cleanliness. That's why I added the Mr. Clean picture, if you were wondering. All the rules in these chapters were about how to became clean, or how to redeem yourself if you were ever to be unclean. So, how do we become clean? Now a days, we don't need to follow these sacrificial rules and regulations to cleanse our souls. We simply ask Jesus for forgiveness, (and we have to actually mean what we say,) and we should be forgiven. As long as you believe you sins are forgiven, we should be covered, right? Think again. So, we need to take a shower or something to be clean? We need to use extra soap? Is that what the...