Devotionals for the Heart: The beauty of making a quiet life our ambition

Living a Quiet Life Should Be Your Ambition
A devotional by Kerry Sue Teravskis

“Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”—1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 (NIV)

The Bible advises us to make it our ambition to lead a quiet life. Have you ever wondered why this is God’s standard for our lifestyle?

According to the Oxford Languages Dictionary, ambition is “a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.”

This sums it up quite nicely and it is evident in our society around us. Climbing corporate ladders, switching jobs to get ahead, moving onto the next thing, networking, hyper-focused individuals who will stop at nothing to get their goals attained. But is this what life is all about? Are we to add to the “dog-eat-dog” world? Are we to clamor up the ladder at the risk of losing some—if not all—relationships, including our one with God? This may sound harsh, but we have all seen this happen, or have been the one left behind, for the sake of ambition.

The Apostle Paul gives us a goal of ambition which is quite shocking: leading a quiet life. Are we to become hermits? Are we to stay away from society, church, family, and work? It would be better to look at Paul’s definition of a quiet life: Mind your own business and work with your hands.

It seems the church in Thessalonica had some busybodies, and Paul was instructing them—and us in this modern era—to leave that life behind. What exactly is a busybody? A person who is busy looking over everybody else’s life. The gossip, news-spreader, the talker. The one who knows everything about everybody and shares the information with others, quite possibly embellishing it to add pizzazz—whether it’s truthful or not.

Is this a sore spot, an area we need to work on? We want to share love and concern for others, but we should not do so to gather information to spread to others. A ‘prayer request’ obtained for the purpose of gossiping is not seeking and pursuing holiness—it is seeking self-gratification. And it does nothing toward our mandate to lead a quiet life.

How can we lead a quiet life in this fast-paced world? Move to a deserted island? Hardly. Or how about ten thousand acres with no neighbors for miles and no Internet connection? Not practical for most of us.

What if we like to be involved in the fray, the community and church? We are given instructions to participate in church and to serve others. But here’s the bottom line: self-control. It takes saying no at times, maybe at others, and much prayer for all. Whether we are at a small church where each member is needed to keep it going, or a large church where many are serving, the principle is the same: Lead a quiet life.

Leading a quiet life can look like this: Choose the one in front of you to encourage at that moment. Pray with someone who asks or one who even doesn’t ask but needs it. Resist the temptation to say yes to one more thing—it is God’s worldwide church and He is capable of putting people where He wants them to be. God asks us to be obedient, not overly committed.

Leading a quiet life could also look like a day spent at home reading your Bible with your hot cup of coffee or tea (or lemonade). Spending time in prayer when on other days prayers seem to be a tag, rather than the main event. Your quiet time could be basking in the beauty of a sunrise or a sunset, working in the garden because you want to, not because you have to. It could be writing a letter, sending a text or calling an old friend just to catch up, and actually listening and enjoying the friendship in those moments.

Paul also gives instructions to work with your own hands—presumably for a job, but also around your own home. Since we are asked to practice hospitality, let’s make our home hospitable. We can make it more cozy, comfy, warm and inviting not just for our family who lives there but our friends and dinner guests.

Years ago, I saw a short video about a woman who had a picnic table in her front yard because she saw a need for a gathering place for her neighbors. It was nothing fancy and definitely not structured. Just a table under a tree. She would make time to just sit there, reading or studying. Pretty soon it became a quiet resting place for the neighborhood. A place for folks to talk, enjoy each other’s company, and share in one another’s joys and sorrows. It became a place of quiet ministry.

Guess who has a picnic table in her front yard? I do! We live on a lonely country road, with minimal traffic, but we put our table out front in our circular driveway. A place for us to have meals, gather and just enjoy the view of our rose garden and a newly planted field of almond trees. Has it become a neighborhood table? Not yet, partly because our neighbors are over half a mile away, and partly because I need to take the time to sit there more often, to encourage the moments. It has been there over a year, and the yellow umbrella is a sweet welcome from miles away, knowing we are almost home.

Would you like to join me as we seek the quiet life in our own neighborhoods, homes, and in our social lives both online and offline?

Let’s Pray: Father God, I do desire to slow down. To stop chasing the elusive “American Dream” because that dream is not really Your dream for me. I want to sit at Your feet and rest there, spending time with You, chatting with You and just sitting quietly in Your Presence. I want to model that in my home, my neighborhood and in my church. I want to be known as a quiet servant of Jesus Christ. Teach me how to become one who prays for others, ministers quietly for others and has the gospel of peace on my feet. In Jesus’s Name I Pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection: “If We Are The Body” by Casting Crowns. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Kerry Sue’s life is very full because she is a wife and Marmee to three adult children—two of whom are married—and a new grandson. 

Kerry Sue met her husband in college and served on the mission field with him for a few years before settling down back in the United States of America to raise their family.

Kerry Sue’s family was a homeschooling family for 20 years and they enjoyed it immensely. For the last 24 years they have lived on a small farm in Northern California where they have raised many farm animals, along with growing and preserving their food. Kerry Sue’s family farm has been a great source of enjoyment and a place to host many family gatherings. She maintains an open-door policy for dear friends—old and new.

Following and serving Jesus Christ is an integral part of Kerry Sue’s life as well as her family’s. Whether it’s singing in the church choir, teaching children or leading and lecturing at a women’s Bible study, Kerry Sue loves to demonstrate her love for Jesus by giving to Him in service. She’s been a blogger for more than eight years, a Bible study writer for four years, and a devotional writer for more than two years.

Kerry Sue feels led to write about finding God’s Sovereignty in our suffering because of her own ongoing journey of more than four years, with the hope to encourage others.

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Connect with Kerry:
Blog: https://www.sovereignblog.com/home
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kerry.teravskis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ksteravskis/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sovereignblog

Devotionals for the Heart: Grace and living your life for God

Work of Grace
A devotional by Allison M. Wilson

Key Scripture: 

John 6:28-29, Hebrews 12:2, Micah 6:8, John 15:5, John 15:4, John 5:19, Philippians 1:6, Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 4:4-8 (NASB)

Have you felt guilty for not reading your Bible more, praying more, or serving more? Have you heard a believer, pastor, teacher or trusted advisor tell you that these things must be done to please God? When you don’t measure up, you feel as if you’ve failed. You rededicate yourself to doing better, only to find you fail…again…and again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

How is that “good news” we can share with an unbeliever? “Hey! Come accept Christ and feel like you fail every single day. Well, there may be one or two times you think you get it right, but overall, you’re going to feel as if you only get it wrong. It’s great!” There’s a witnessing tool I’ve never seen in an evangelism class, but, isn’t that what we all go through as believers? There has to be something different! The truly good news is that there is.

John 6:28-29 tells us exactly what our work is as believers. We see it in Micah 6:8. What got Abraham his righteousness? It wasn’t his works, that’s for sure. Romans 4:3 tells us what it was. Can it really be that simple? Yes!

We who are believers in God realize we couldn’t save ourselves. We could not be perfect enough to fulfill the sacrifice required for our sins. We needed a Savior who was perfect, spotless, righteous. We acknowledge that part easily enough. What we then hold onto is the mistaken belief that we can fix ourselves and that we have some semblance of control. Remember John 15:5? There’s a part of the word “nothing” that we just don’t seem to grasp.

What abiding in Him does mean is that we are attached to the Vine. We are getting our source of water, air, and life from the One Who can do all He promised to do in us. It means acknowledging that I can do nothing…truly nothing. Nothing good, nothing of lasting value, nothing of worth unless it is first from God. Christ said the very same thing in John 5:19. If God, made flesh, had to rely on the Father for everything, why do we think some part of us can do otherwise? Oh, we may look good for a time, might even accomplish godly looking things, but will they last if He wasn’t in the midst of it?

We are not the ones who initiated any of this. Philippians 1:6 tells us who did. It also tells us who is responsible for seeing the work completed. In the process of the abiding, our Gardener will prune the vines and branches. He will take off those things that are dead in us to give way for more life in Him. A rose bush does nothing to shape itself. It cannot take off the dead blooms on its own to get more blooms to come through. It cannot fertilize itself. We cannot do any of those things on our own, either. John 15:4 tells us clearly what abiding in Him produces in us. It is not we who produce the fruit, though. It is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

How do we abide, then? What does it look like? We ask Him to give us a hunger and thirst for His Word. We seek to know more of Him through prayer, but understand that it’s not prayer which saves us, it is the relationship with the Father. We diligently seek His face. Philippians 4:4-8 also gives us some great ways to keep ourselves focused on Him.

Through all of this, we remember we can do nothing. It is not our “trying” which produces any good fruit in us. It is in our trusting that He will fulfill His promises to conform us into the image of His Son. (Romans 8:29)

Let’s Pray: Father God, we are nothing without You. You give life and are the One who does the work in us for Your glory. Give us the strength to let go of what we see as control and surrender to You. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

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Author Bio:

A very early reader and lover of the written word, Allison M. Wilson has been writing since the age of 8 with the heart to impart stories and God's truth. 

She has judged countless contests for the last 25 years, reviewed for several online publications, professionally edited, and written articles and devotionals.

Wife, mother, writer, editor, teacher, mentor, and mompreneur, God keeps her busy while living in east central Florida with her family.

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Connect with Allison:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allisonmwilson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amwilson

Devotionals for the Heart: Nanci's thoughts on Springtime and CPR

Springtime: God's CPR

A devotional by Nanci Rubin

"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."~Genesis 8:22 (KJV)

In February, you’ll find me pouring through the Burpee seed catalogue in anticipation of spring planting as God makes preparation to perform CPR and revive the earth from its winter repose. Nothing excites me more than to see crocus as they emerge through the snow-covered earth and the unforgettable sweet aroma of lavender and pink Hyacinths heralding re-birth. Nature fulfilling God’s promise found in Genesis.

To me, gardening epitomizes seed time and harvest and brings scripture to life. After many years of planting my garden, I can safely say you reap what you sow. If I plant green beans, I don’t expect to harvest beets. It’s the same in our daily lives. What seed are you sowing? Envy? Strife? Mercy? Love? Forgiveness?

In spring, as the earth goes through re-birth, I am reminded of the ‘born-again’ experience. As my seedlings sprout, I remember what Jesus said in Matthew 13:4-8 about the sower sowing the seed.

“And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and chocked them. But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” ~Matthew 13:4-8 (KJV)

Interesting how the seed (Word) was sown in different types of soil. The soil makes all the difference in your garden. I cultivate the soil, add nutrients when needed. My seedlings without good soil won’t develop to their expected potential. It’s the same for us as new creations. God has called us. He has forgiven us, written His Word on our hearts and desires for us to grow. It is up to us to cultivate and guard the seed sown in our hearts.

After you’ve received Jesus in your heart, the enemy will come immediately to destroy that which has been sown. He’ll accuse you, remind you of your past, beat you down with his weapons of mass destruction, his attacks individualized as we tell him our fears. We talk too much. Social media has become the enemy’s new battleground.

Most of us have purchased indoor plants or outdoor scrubs. They all come with instructions on care, how we are to nourish them and keep them alive. God has done the same for us. He’s given us his instruction manual, His Word, the Bible. Read it. Let it water your soul, nourish your body and give you direction. It is the fertilizer you need to grow up in Him.

Last summer, I experienced an infestation of Japanese Beetles, of Biblical proportion. Nothing I used worked. I had to ‘hand pick’ every single one. It took me weeks. The beetle fiasco reminded me how we should never allow our hearts to become hardened and immune to the Word of God.

As I hand-picked those beetles, I thought about God’s Word and how much the enemy hates it. He desires to infest our minds with his lies, pulling at us so he can divert us from God’s plan. However, no matter what he says or does, the enemy can NEVER pluck you from God’s hand.

Your mistakes don’t cancel God’s plan in your life. He’s planted you in the orchard of His heart. You're the apple of His eye, and He loves you. Bloom where you’re planted.

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Author Bio:

Nanci writes Inspy Amish romance. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and two fur kids, Romeo and Juliet, rescue cats. She is working on her debut novel, Plain Justice. 

She retired earlier than planned from nursing to care for her mother, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Her mom passed last year at the age of ninety-nine and Nanci has delved more into her writing.

She is active in an intercessory prayer ministry in her church, belongs to The Woman’s Club, a service-oriented volunteer organization dedicated to the welfare and enrichment of the community and volunteers two days a week at the Mary Washington Museum.

Currently, she's enrolled in Rhema Bible College’s correspondence Bible studies. She belongs to ACFW and RWA. When she’s not working, reading or writing she’s hiking with her husband at Shenandoah National Park.