Devotions

WHEN YOU'RE DISAPPOINTED. I don't know about you, but most days I find myself slipping into the clutches of sin and I just get SO disappointed in myself, and in God, sometimes, for not being with me. When, in reality, it was really just me not looking hard enough for Him. Psalm 22 tells us that during our distress when we pray and have faith, that that God will listen to us. That he understands . Believe it or not, getting mad at God doesn't really do that much help. My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. Psalm 22:2-5 NIV Most of the time when we're disappointed we lose our hope and trust in the Lord. By getting angry with Him for not letting our hopes and plans unfold like we planed them. But Isaiah tel...

LOVE IS KIND... Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. -Romans 11:22 NIV Those who are kind benefit themselves, but the cruel bring ruin on themselves. -Proverbs 11:17 NIV Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. -Job 6:14 NIV I bet when you read that this post was about kindness, you were under the impression that I would be talking about loving people and being kind to all people and skipping on pretty rainbows. Think again. Showing kindness to others is more than a suggestion. The Bible says that love itself is kind. If you love others, and if you love ALL people like the Bible commands, then you must be kind as well. I think often times people think that it's fine to get angry and snap at people, just as long as you love them at the end of the day. But kindness is much more serious than that-- you...

LOVE IS PATIENT. I'm afraid our world is very troubled. Shocker-- I know. But it is completely true. Our earth fails to love. It fails to love one another, fails to love our enemies, fails to truly love our spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. So many times I open up by Bible for comfort for myself, for ailing for my confusion and trials. And yesterday was a day that shall live in my heart forever-- the famous love passage was read. If you haven't already, go to http://www.biblegateway.com/ and read 1 Corinthians 13. It puts a lot of emphasis on love: If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-4 NI...

DRINK UP. NOTE: This is not encouragement to drink alcoholic beverages under the age of 21, or consume alcoholic beverages while operating machinery or vehicles. Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus... John 18: 10-12 NIV We all have a cup to drink. We are sinful people, and we mess up daily, straying from the plan that God has set out for us. Jesus did nothing wrong, but drank His cup anyway, leading to death on a cross. Maybe I'm losing a few of you. I'm talking about a figurative cup, obviously, one that is bitter and distasteful. God gives us mercy for our sins because of His Son, but in this world, Jesus states that we WILL have hardships. Sometimes hardships are in His plan, and like J...

PROACTIVE. No, I'm not talking about the acne product, but the characteristic that most all people seem to have. And maybe you're reading this and you're totally wanting to scream "I AM NOTTTTT PROACTIVE! I wait until the last possible moment to do stuff! You don't KNOW me, Carly!" But let's be completely honest for a second, okay? Have you ever had trouble sleeping because you can't stop thinking about the following day to come? Or have you ever expected a day to go a certain way and then BAM! It blows up in your face? I think we all have. I was working on a project with a group from my church when we were on a mission trip to Mexico, and we were planning a skit for the kids. I was freaking out because I didn't know much Spanish, and we didn't know how to get the right props, and the story was hard to act out, and I was acting like a crazy person. Our leader, a very wise woman, might I add, just told me we don't need to plan much. I was ba...

Philippians 2:1-8 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! If science had anything right, its the fact of adaptations. How animals adapt to their surroundings, their challeng...

BODY OF CHRIST This analogy is used a lot in the Bible. How we as believers are all one body, and how we should be working together to overcome. I think it's cool that we literally are Christ's body, too... as He lives in us, we act for Him. Philippians 3 tells us to forget what looms in the pasts and press towards the future. Paul writes that there are many people that are eager for destruction and want to push us down. We are to hold fast to the idea of our home in heaven, and to wait patiently for the Lord. I love this passage: Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior...

Turned Upside Down Sometimes I wish everything were black and white in Christianity. I guess it used to be, in the old testament, when God laid out the commandments to His followers. Thou shall not____ is pretty self-explanatory. But then Jesus came, and changed the world forever. His words were revolutionary, and still are today. Instead of Jesus telling people to stay away from the less fortunate, He calls us to reach out to them. "The last will be first" was a huge statement to make, even today. But what does that mean? Who are the "last"? And why does Jesus call us to be servants to others? We want to please God, and we want to follow in His footsteps, but HOW? Matthew 20:25-28 pretty much sums it up: Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be ...