...is the Portland, ME, Head Light! :)
....which holds so many wonderful memories.
Posted on 01/01/2024 3:15:48 PM PST by luvie
...is the Portland, ME, Head Light! :)
....which holds so many wonderful memories.
Bible in a Year :
Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
“Where is my Faith?—even deep down right in there is nothing but emptiness & darkness. . . . If there be God—please forgive me.”
The author of those words might surprise you: Mother Teresa. Beloved and renowned as a tireless servant of the poor in Calcutta, India, Mother Teresa quietly waged a desperate war for her faith over five decades. After her death in 1997, that struggle came to light when portions of her journal were published in the book Come Be My Light.
What do we do with our doubts or feelings of God’s absence? Those moments may plague some believers more than others. But many faithful believers in Jesus may, at some point in their lives, experience moments or seasons of such doubts.
I’m thankful that Scripture has given us a beautiful, paradoxical prayer that expresses both faith and the lack thereof. In Mark 9, Jesus encounters a father whose son had been demonically tormented since childhood (v. 21). When Jesus said that the man must have faith—“Everything is possible for one who believes”—the man responded, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (vv. 23-24).
This honest, heartfelt plea invites those of us who struggle with doubt to give it to God, trusting that He can fortify our faith and hold on to us firmly amid the deepest, darkest valleys we’ll ever traverse. .
Reflect & Pray
When have you wrestled with doubt in your spiritual journey? What spiritual resources helped you hold on to your faith?
Dear Father, sometimes I doubt. Please help me when I struggle to feel Your presence.
Hi All! Suffering from weather whiplash today. Yesterday 70 degrees. Today 30 and windy. The thunderstorms went south of us last night. A few hundred miles south it was pretty bad last night (in the Chicago area).
Hope you are having a great day!
We kind of are, too, but not to that extent. Very windy yesterday and 30 degrees cooler today with a whiff of smoke from the fires in our Panhandle. That is making me sneeze, big time! Praying for the people impacted by those very damaging fires north of us. 🙏
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Wow...doing the same thing here!
Yesterday it seemed like Spring ahd sprung, and today, wet and windy.
YIKES!
You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy.
The topic was Leviticus, and I had a confession to make. “I skipped a lot of the reading,” I told my Bible study group. “I’m not reading about skin diseases again.”
That’s when my friend Dave spoke up. “I know a guy who believed in Jesus because of that passage,” he said. Dave explained that his friend—a doctor—had been an atheist. He decided that before he completely rejected the Bible, he’d better read it for himself. The section on skin diseases in Leviticus fascinated him. It contained surprising details about contagious and noncontagious sores (13:1–46) and how to treat them (14:8–9). He knew this far surpassed the medical knowledge of that day—yet there it was in Leviticus. There’s no way Moses could have known all this, he thought. The doctor began to consider that Moses really did receive his information from God. Eventually he put his faith in Jesus.
If parts of the Bible bore you, well, I’m with you. But everything it says is there for a reason. Leviticus was written so the Israelites would know how to live for and with God. As we learn more about this relationship between God and His people, we learn about God Himself.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” wrote the apostle Paul (2 Timothy 3:16). Let’s read on. Even Leviticus. .
Reflect & Pray
What sections of the Bible bore you or seem irrelevant? How can you learn to recognize their value?
Father, teach me how to appreciate the Bible. Let every part speak to me.
Betcha can’t choose just one! 🤎🖤
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Nope. I ain’t taking THAT bet!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Kitty Mittens... I’ll take one of those sweet babies!!!
I loved this reading. I know about passing over some of these scriptures, but there is most definitely a reason for it all....
This proved that point. Have a good night....
Good night, Kitty!
😴
Amen, thank you!
Bible in a Year :
Every animal of the forest is mine.
“Am I an owner or a steward?” The CEO of a multibillion-dollar company asked himself that question as he weighed what was best for his family. Concerned about the temptations that can come with vast wealth, he didn’t want to burden his heirs with that challenge. So he gave up ownership of his company and placed 100 percent of the voting stock in a trust. Recognizing that everything he owns belongs to God helped him make the decision to allow his family to earn a living in exchange for work while also using future profits to fund Christian ministry.
In Psalm 50:10, God tells His people, “Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” As the Creator of all things, God owes us nothing and needs nothing from us. “I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens,” He says (v. 9). He generously provides everything that we have and use as well as the strength and the ability to earn a living. Because He does, as the psalm shows us, He’s worthy of our heartfelt worship.
God owns everything. But because of His goodness, He even chose to give Himself, entering into a relationship with any who turn to Him. Jesus “did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). When we value the Giver over the gifts and serve Him with them, we're blessed to delight in Him forever. .
Reflect & Pray
What has God given you that you’re grateful for? How can you serve Him with it?
You made everything, faithful Creator. Please help me to live my life as a gift from You today.
Gain a biblical perspective of money.
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