From Psalm 3:3-4: “But you, O Lord, are a shield around me,my glory, and the one who lifts up my head. I cry aloud to the Lord,and He answers me from His holy hill.”
From Acts 13:23-25: “Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as He promised; before His coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John was finishing his work, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. No, but One is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the strap of the sandals on His feet.’”
From John 15:1-2: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit He prunes to make it bear more fruit.”
From Psalm 34:4-5: “I sought the Lord, and he answered meand delivered me from all my fears. Look to him, and be radiant,so your faces shall never be ashamed.”
From John 5:20-21: “The Father loves the Son and shows Him all that He Himself is doing, and He will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever He wishes.”
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
From Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Reinhold Neibuhr (1892-1971) was an American theologian as well as a commentator on public affairs. He was a professor at Union Theological Seminary for over 30 years.
The visible mark of extraordinary wisdom and power appear so plainly in all the works of creation.
From Psalm 19:1-2: “The heavens are telling the glory of God,and the firmament proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech,and night to night declares knowledge.”
John Locke (1632-1704) was an English philosopher and writer.
From 1 Peter 2:2-3: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
From Colossians 1:10-11: “So that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from His glorious power, so that you may have all endurance and patience.”
From Matthew 21:14-16: “The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He cured them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that He did and heard the children crying out in the temple and saying, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they became angry and said to Him, ‘Do you hear what these are saying?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read, Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babiesyou have prepared praise for yourself?'”
Auto-generated from WordPress.
“Please, Mommy, please! Can we listen to our records? Heather and I want to listen to a record. We don’t want to watch what’s on TV. We want to listen to records!” As I flipped through the TV stations, Taryn was jumping up and down, pulling on my arm. Heather was following her lead. They were trying to persuade me to listen to their favorite records rather than watch TV. From songs they had learned in Sunday School, they both loved listening to and singing them.
There was no way I could refuse their pleading! They were learning the lesson I’d been trying to teach them. Today, they were teaching me! There are so many more interesting and fun things to do than watch TV all day. I realized Satan is using the television more and more in the world every day. It’s become one of the main vehicles to share deception and trickery. The violence, suggestive language, actions, vanity, and other worldly issues we are shown can attack our families in very subtle ways. As these have eased themselves onto the screen and into our minds, we’ve found ourselves becoming used to them. We accept them without a fight. Things that would have upset us five or ten years ago are seen in homes every day without a thought.
God tells us to think on things that are honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. Our children must be brought up with this attitude instilled in their minds. To ignore what they watch on television is a tragic mistake. When we allow them to see cartoons or other shows filled with violence, hatred, magic, or witchcraft, we are falling short of the teaching in God’s Word. If this garbage Satan 23 is dumping on our children continually invades their minds, what effect will it have on them next week, next year, or five years from now?
What a precious reminder Taryn and Heather had given me! I praised God for the wisdom of my children as we sang the songs on their record that morning. They smiled back at me as we sang, “I am a promise. I am a possibility. I am a promise. I can be anything, anything God wants me to be.”
This devotional post is written by my wife, Colleen. It is taken from her book’s section on Devotions. She has recently been blessed with seeing her BITS ‘N’ PIECES OF MY HEART available at a Christian bookstore in the United Kingdom. God continues to light a pathway for others to read her book, as it is available on most online bookstore sites.
This series of poems (written in the German-inspired style of Elfchen or Elevenie) shares a total of eleven words in each poem, with a sequence by line of one, two, three, four, and one words.
Big Sky Buckeye 