Weekly Devotionals
2 Timothy 1:7 KJV - “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
I was aware back in June that I was going to be a full time teacher this school year. It didn't give me a shiver until I was up at 7 a.m. two weeks before the start of school, headed to in-service to learn what my new job entailed. I started to wonder what type of teacher I’d be? How would I handle unwanted behavior in the classroom? What if a student tried to get loud and disrespectful with me? Do I knock them out or keep my cool and issue that write up?
1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV - “Do not be deceived, bad company ruins good morals.”
Hopefully, I’m not the only Christian who’s dealt with this, but I find myself often wanting to revisit my past life. I see so many people doing some of the things I engaged in, some do it on a whole ‘nother level, and I notice that a strong part of me misses it. I wrestle with that thang too. Sex, drinking, and smoking had a strong hold over me that I just couldn’t shake. I let those things go when I realized I didn’t do them for fun. They were my getaways from dealing with the mess that was my life. These things would make me numb to emotion because I'm an extremely sensitive being and every inch of me is connected in some kind of way, where if my feelings are hurt by something, my entire body reacts to that one emotion. So to get away from that kind of pain, I would turn to what would take my mind off of it. Once I got to the place where I knew I didn’t need my vices anymore, I felt a little free but little did I know that I began to create something worse.
Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
“How can you do ministry in Frayser? Be honest, aren’t you scared when you’re out there?” I had to brace myself before responding to this fellow woman of God, as she was also being groomed in a leadership position at her suburban church. We were having a conversation about our calls to ministry and how God had been using us over the last few months. I responded by telling her that I can do ministry wherever God has called me, and I’d likely be “afraid” no matter the location, since following the will of God can be scary… period.
Matthew 13:7 “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.”
Before I could fully answer the phone with “Hello”, my oldest son quickly chimes in “Ma, Thousand Island dressing does NOT taste like dirt.” Confused, I paused before asking him what he was talking about. “Remember when I was a kid, we were at Barnhill’s restaurant and I asked you to put Thousand Island dressing on my salad and you said no, because it tastes like dirt?” I could not recall such a conversation, although I know I dislike Thousand Island dressing. “All this time I thought Thousand Island was nasty, but I tried it at camp and it’s really good.”
