Weekly Devotionals
Psalm 66:10 “For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined.”
There’s a meme going around social media that I believe, though very catchy, is sending the wrong message to and about the body of Christ. “Try Jesus- Don’t Try Me” has flooded our timelines and feeds, as we see hundreds of people co-signing the message. Although this particular message is fun to say and seemingly points people to Jesus, there’s one thing wrong with it… This is not the message of the body of Christ. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of our message.
Psalm 34:4 “I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.”
When we were kids, my dad had a dog named “Bo”. Bo was big. Bo was fast. And I didn’t like Bo very much. As soon as I stepped into the house, Bo would come charging towards me and I’d have to take off running. It was always the same thing. I’d run through the kitchen, around to the den, back to the family room, until I saw my dad and I’d jump into his arms. I would be so scared, but every time, he’d be smiling and ask “Why do you run from Bo?”, as if it wasn’t obvious. He’d tell me, “Just stop running. Bo won’t chase you if you don’t run.” That seemed like the dumbest thing ever to me. Could he not see that the moment I stepped foot into the house, Bo would come running towards me?!
Romans 8:28 - “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Talking to my mother, I proclaimed “We were so blessed not to lose power. God was looking out for us.” She replied, “I lost power, but we were blessed that our power was restored the next day.” I later spoke with a co-worker who said “My power is still out, but I’m so blessed that no damage was done to my house when all those trees fell.” I watched the news and saw the story of a woman who tragically had a tree fall on her house, but she, with tears in her eyes stated “I thank God that no one was hurt. No one was in the living room where the tree fell. We lost our home, but we are still very blessed.”
Genesis 35:18 “As she breathed her last--for she was dying--she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.”
Often times, we read the love story of Jacob and Rachel and get completely wrapped up in the romanticism of the story. We dote over the fact that Jacob worked many years to marry Rachel, but there’s a part of their story that is not so romantic… the end of their life together.
