Tag: devotionals

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September 2019 Devotionals


So, ladies! I am switching things up for September. Are you ready?

In the month of September, I will not be sending out a daily e-mail nor posting in my blog. BUT, I will still be making a post on my Instagram account and Facebook page.

If you have not read today’s devotion yet, please take a minute to do so (Day 31: V is for Voice) … well, it will probably take 2-3 minutes, but you know what I mean! It has some important information in it to launch us into the month of September.

Basically, my goal is to have EACH … yes, EACH … of you to help me share God’s Word in September. I do not believe that we have a loud enough voice in our social media presence, my friend. The devil is having a hey-day while we hide away in any nook and cranny that we can find! Let us turn that around this month! 

I know that we do not all like to post, but sometimes choose to be silent readers instead. I understand that, BUT, God has called each one of us to have a voice proclaiming His Truth. So, just for this month, PLEASE join with me in having a voice in social media.

You can do this one of two ways. You can either TYPE out one verse from your personal devotions each day on your personal timeline … you are having your personal devotions each day, correct? Then TAG ME … I’d love to write an encouraging word! Or you can just type a verse from your personal devotions each day as a comment under my daily post. It really does not matter to me which way you choose … because the entire purpose is to promote the truths of God’s Word.

Remember, this is only a verse. You do not even have to write anything else … no words, not an entire devotional, nothing! Just simply proclaiming God’s Word … will not return void!

I do NOT encourage you to post something that someone else has posted or “share” what someone else has posted. Why? Because I want us to be in God’s Word for ourselves! I need to be there and YOU need to be there. We do not grow near as much when we are spoon-fed by someone else. We grow the most when we are mature enough to feed ourselves.

So, what do you say? Let us share what the voice of the Lord is saying to us … each day in September!

I love y’all and am truly grateful for your love, prayers, and words of encouragement along the way! Do not desert me this month, but help me proclaim God’s Word!

His voice,
Bettina

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Day 31: V is for Voice

“He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord …” John 1:23

V is for voice. Voice means a sound coming from vocal utterance. Have you ever had such a bad sore throat that you did not want to talk … and wished that you and everyone you know knew sign language? Well, I have. But, what a quiet world it would be if no one could use their voice.

God made our bodies, did He not? God also made us with vocal chords to be able to speak, to sing, and to make sound. So, what would happen, I wonder, if we all decided that we would not use our voice? Yes, God has given it to me … but I just do not feel like using it today, it is too much trouble, or it is my voice and I will use it when and how I want to. Ding, ding! Is your bell ringing?

Do we need a gentle reminder today that our bodies and our voices are not our own? I Corinthians 6:19-20 so clearly assures us of this … “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

At the Christian Writer’s Workshop a couple of weeks ago, Sister De shared with us about “The Power of One Anointed Voice.” She spoke about John the Baptist and the voice that he was as “ONE crying in the wilderness.” What did he cry (proclaim)? To “make straight the way of the Lord!” How many were crying? Only ONE … you and God make a majority!

How refreshing to hear one proclaiming forth Christ instead of self! I get so frustrated and discouraged when I’m on social media and see people post so much about self or share quotes that sound good and make you feel all fuzzy inside, yet are totally misleading and are not even biblical. Be careful, my friend, at what voice you are proclaiming! Make straight the paths of righteousness.

The paths of this life can be so twisted and jumbled without adding more to it to confuse and deceive. The devil does a good enough job of that on his own. Let us not be his puppet or tool. I would love to turn the tables on the devil. Would you? I know that I am not the only one who is proclaiming God’s truth every day on social media, but there should be more of us … in fact, EACH and every one of us has an accountability to God to be a voice for Him!! Whoa! Did I just say that EVERY single one of us needs to be proclaiming every single day? Yes, I did!

Lesson Objective: Think about this … if you are not proclaiming God’s truth on social media (which is very simple to do), who are you proclaiming it to?

I want to encourage and challenge you to post one verse every single day in the month of September on social media. You must type it out or you can use a picture with a verse, but it must NOT be shared from another’s timeline. Then tag me in that post. The world needs to hear our voices … as “one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord …” Will you do this, my friend?

Will you pass or will you fail?

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Day 30: S is for Sink

“… And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.” Matthew 14:29-30

S is for sink. To sink means to be submerged (beneath the surface); to fall or drop to a lower place. Life in the shoes of anyone is not easy, but life in the shoes of a Christian is even harder. What is the difference? Well, for starters, the devil already has control of your life as an unsaved person, so he is not worried about you. But, if you are a Christian, be assured that he is going to be in a constant battle with you to try to break your resolve and your faith in God.

When the devil can get you so disturbed, distraught, and discouraged, he knows that your eyes are then on the circumstances around you … and consequently, are no longer on Jesus. When this happens, we begin to sink spiritually. We are weakened. Our faith begins to shake and cracks begin to appear in places that did not have cracks before.

Some days it seems like the devil spends his whole entire day sitting on your shoulder whispering lie after lie into your ear. Right now he is residing in deep south Texas on my shoulder … and is not showing signs of heading north to your shoulder anytime soon. Everyone thinks that the temperatures here are hot outside right now, but they are nothing compared to what is inside!

The devil was even brave enough to go up against Christ in the wilderness (Matthew 4). When he fed Christ lies, what did Christ do in response? He quoted scripture. What do we do when he feeds us lies? We usually gullibly believe them and wallow around in them, do we not? But, what are we to do instead? What example did Christ set for us? We are to quote scripture, right? God’s Word is the truth and we must fight lies with truth!

I recently gifted a good friend of mine with a journal specifically for one purpose. That purpose was to write down a lie of the devil on the top of each page and then to fill that page with scripture (God’s Word aka the Truth). She and I had already been sharing scriptures to refute the lies that the devil had been trying to feed us. But, having it in black and white … on paper … just seems to make it more concrete and more sure, does it not? I encourage you to do the same thing. You do not have to buy a journal. Even a notebook will work.

You may also be interested in devoting one page to “Why sink when you can swim?” verses. What are these? Well, these are your “go-to” verses when you are needing extra reinforcements from scripture to fight the devil. Your page will probably look different than mine, but that is not what is important. What is important is that you write verses there that give YOU strength. If you do not know of any verses, ask God to show you ones and then start digging in His Word.

Lesson Objective: To understand what it means to sink. To use this knowledge to learn how to swim (fight the devil’s lies with God’s Truth). To start your own “Why sink when you can swim?” journal.

Did you pass or did you fail?

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Day 12: The Wrath

“Cease from anger, and forsake WRATH …” Psalm 37:8

Yesterday we talked about anger and more specifically ceasing (stopping) anger in our lives. What are the next three words that David wrote here? “And forsake wrath.” I can just hear David now saying, “Cease from anger … oh! AND      forsake wrath!” Why do you think David added that part? Why did he not just stop with anger?

Remember our definition of anger was a strong feeling of displeasure or annoyance. Well, wrath means extreme anger. What is David subtly telling us? He is telling us that anger has degrees. Oftentimes anger is compared to heat or fire,    correct? Well, we find that fire has varying degrees. A small flame or fire will not be as hot as a huge, raging forest fire.

When I think of fire in the Bible, the first thing that pops into my mind is the tongue. In James 3:5, James tells us, “Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” In other words, it does not take much for a fire to turn from a small thing to an uncontrollable thing. We must at all times be on watch with the words that we say, especially when anger is present.

When a person is angry, they do not always show it on the outside. It may just be simmering on the inside. I believe that David realized that quenching a small spark of anger was much easier than a full-fledged outward inferno. Ephesians 4:26 tells us to “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Anger is an emotion and anger in itself is not always a sin. Anger, if not controlled, can turn into sin. So, how do we control our anger and how can we overcome our anger once it has taken hold? Here are a few things to consider:

· Consider it’s origin. Often times anger has its roots in the heart. Hebrews 12:15 “Looking diligently … lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” To overcome, you must deal with the roots.

· It is a tool of the devil to destroy a Christian’s growth, life, and testimony. Anger very assuredly divides and destroys. This is especially seen when someone hurts you with their words or actions. If we are weak spiritually, we will tend to fight back with words or actions, do we not? Does that make us feel better? Does it resolve the issue? I believe not because we are fighting in the flesh and the Bible so clearly tells us that we are fighting a spiritual battle (warfare). Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

· As a Christian, our greatest desire should be to be Christ-like. If we are to be/act Christ-like, we must have the mind of Christ. Ephesians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

In closing, let me encourage you as David did, “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath!” Do not let your anger linger any longer. Seek God’s help to find the roots, fight the devil and pattern your thoughts and your actions after the mind of Christ!

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Portraits of Grace – Robin Wood

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” II Peter 3:18

I am a housewife of 31 years with 2 children, 3 grandchildren and 1 on the way. I have been saved for 37 years; the end of May will be 38. I love the Lord and strive to live my life to be a blessing and a help to others. Here is my testimony of grace.

I am the third of four children and the only girl. I grew up going to a United Methodist Church. My mom took us to church only on Sunday morning. Somewhere around the age of 10 I asked my mom how you get to   heaven. Her reply, “be good enough”. I went on my merry way thinking, ‘I can be good’. Only I was not good.

One day, at the age of 14, a friend of mine at school, during lunch, asked if he could read in the Bible to me. I didn’t want to be rude so I said, sure. I could not tell you what he read, though I’m pretty sure it was in Romans, for as soon as he started reading the Lord smote my heart with conviction. Over and over in my mind were going these words “you are not good enough to go to heaven”. (Romans 3:10-12,) When he was done reading he asked if I wanted to pray. Of course I didn’t want to pray; not in a lunch room full of kids. So I politely told him, “No”. The Lord didn’t leave me alone though. I’m not exactly sure what day it was, Thursday or  Friday, but the words ‘you are not good enough to go to heaven’ just kept playing over and over in my mind over the weekend.

On Monday night was our high school graduation. I being in the band was sitting on the field with the band when the Lord came right beside me and said, “You are not good enough to go to heaven. You are going to hell!” That kept playing over and over in my mind. How miserable I was! I knew that hell is where I deserved to go. As soon as I got home that night I got down beside my bed and called on the Lord, trusting that He was the way to heaven. What a peace and a change came over me that night. How the Lord worked to save me.

Not only did He save my soul, but He worked and saved me from false doctrine (it would take up too much space to tell about that part) and guided me to an Independent Bible Believing Baptist Church, where I met my husband. After 6 years of marriage the Lord moved us to another state where we could be part of a church where my husband’s cousin is the pastor. We have grown so much in this church and have learned so much more on growing in grace (2 Peter 3:18). I thank the Lord for His saving, changing, and keeping grace!