Devotionals for the Heart: God's mercies and faithfulness in our life

Between These Walls
A devotional by Colleen C. Howard

“For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”––Psalm 100:5 (NIV)

Years ago, while house-hunting, my husband and I walked into a new house that had never been occupied.

We’d seen multiple listings and expected this one to disappoint like the others. As I lingered in its not-quite-finished rooms, a distinct feeling hovered over me. This felt more than just another listing. It was meant to be our home.

Somehow, I knew our teens would become adults between these walls, and we would grow older. Life would happen here. Sorrows and sadness, laughter and love, and the seemingly ordinary days that sometimes take your breath away would wash over our hearts and move us forward in life. God gave me a tiny glimpse of the future, and I was certain it would occur in this home.

Thirty years ago, we moved into this brand-new house, and it became our home. But in 2025, the time to say goodbye was knocking at the door of our hearts. We had to answer these important questions:

What will we leave behind? A house that served us well. It survived the desert heat, winds, and monsoon rains. Its walls, roof, and foundation are still in good condition despite the passage of time. But when we step out, we’ll leave behind our home and a piece of ourselves.

What will we take with us? Memories. Between these walls, there were celebrations—birthday parties, graduations, and anniversaries. Loved ones were lost while we lived here, and we mourned. Five grandchildren were loved, prayed for, and rocked to sleep in our arms. Five generations of our family have graced this house with their presence and their precious memories will remain in our hearts forever.

How will we say goodbye? With sadness and fondness. God saw us through victories and defeats, anger and reconciliation, and a multitude of unexpected events. Each moment we’ve spent here has reminded us that we’re part of God’s family, and His faithfulness is never-ending. Our hearts overflow with gratitude for the grace, comfort and mercies we’ve received from our Savior (Jesus Christ) while living between these walls.

We’re three decades older now. Our children are grown and our grandchildren are teens and young adults. When our moving day arrived, we said a heartfelt “Goodbye” to this home that served us well and a hearty “Hello” to the new adventures God has planned for us. Praise be to God, who is always faithful, good, and His love is never ending.

Let’s Pray:

Dear God,

Thank You for your faithfulness to us. We move through time and seasons seamlessly without giving it much thought. Help us to navigate our days with grace and heighten our awareness of your presence in our lives. Help us to notice the signs of shifting seasons and prepare us for the changes to come. As seasons come and go, we will turn to you our Lord and Savior. Praise be to God. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” by Carrie Underwood ft. CeCe Winans. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Colleen C. Howard is a follower of Jesus Christ, educator and writer. She lives with her husband in the Arizona desert where the sunsets are spectacular, the summers are relentless and the winters are a little slice of heaven. 

Colleen earned her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership. This degree opened opportunities to write science curriculum, develop district programs, work with Arizona teachers, community leaders, and more. With NASA Grant funding, she was also able to work with teachers all over the country and expand their knowledge of teaching science as a collaborative effort.

Over the last few years God has placed a strong desire in Colleen’s heart to shine a light on God’s presence throughout ordinary days and encourage women in their faith walk with Him. Although some days bring trials and others bring joy, Colleen believes that if you fix your eyes on Jesus then you will see the heart of God.

Colleen’s writing has been published in the following online publications: Living By Design, Her View From Home, Inside Out Worldwide, Inkspirations, and in anthologies like From Ruins to Restoration, Mountains Moved: 45 Devotions of Bold Faith, and The Miracle of Prayer. She is a monthly blogger for Dressing in God’s Love.

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Connect with Colleen:
Website: authorcolleenchoward.com

Devotionals for the Heart: The Light

Choosing The Light
A devotional by Gail Kittleson

“Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.” ~Luke 1:78-79 (NKJV)

My middle school English teacher would have diagrammed this complicated sentence with ease. She’d point out, “The meat of the statement, subject and verb, are in the second phrase and the other segments answer our questions—how, who, when, and why. But the writer begins with the source of what is to come...the heartfelt mercies of our God. Do you see how the author carefully arranged everything for clarity and purpose?”

Some of us saw—some of us didn’t. But today, we can focus on those “How and why,” which are questions that every journalist subscribes to answering.

How will the sunrise break? 

Through God’s heartfelt mercies. 

Upon whom will the light shine? 

Us—we who sit in darkness and death’s shadow. 

Why? (For what purpose?)

To enlighten our steps and bring us into peace. 

Allow me to illustrate my point using the Bible story about Zachariah.

Zachariah, slow to believe the angel’s prophecy that his wife would bear a son in her old age, spoke these words after his first and only child John entered the world. For nine long months, he had suffered the imposition of silence, and for decades before that, had mourned the lack of children to leave behind him when he died.

Perhaps this history helped his neighbors and friends to see how momentous his visitation had been, but still, it must’ve been difficult for Zachariah. Finally, God’s angel promised him a son, his wife had conceived in her old age, and he couldn’t express his excitement and joy. Bummer!

Once Zachariah agreed that his newborn son’s name would be John, his tongue was loosed. At long last, it was Zachariah’s turn to speak. Well aware of his imperfect faith, he’d had plenty of time to ponder what he might say at this long-awaited opportunity.

At this significant moment, a message inspired by the Holy Spirit poured forth. And what a message it was, pure poetry—pure exaltation! We might well take heed to this tale of mercy and light, drawing us from our gloomy outlook and assuring us of guidance and serenity.

My Prayer: Sometimes it’s easier to fall back into familiar negativity than to embrace Your fresh light, Father. Grant us hearts to listen to your words through Zachariah and entrust our lives to You. Deliver us from falling back from your promises in unbelief.

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Author Bio:

When Gail Kittleson's not steeped in World War II research, drafting scenes, or deep in an edit of her 1940’s novels, she does a limited amount of editing for other authors.

She also facilitates writing and creativity workshops, both in Iowa and Arizona, where she and her husband like to spend part of the winter in the amazing Ponderosa pine forest under the Mogollon Rim.

Favorites: spending time with grandchildren, walking, reading, meeting new people, and hearing from readers who fall in love with her characters.

Devotionals for the Heart: Balance

Balance 

A devotional by Gail Kittleson

The author of Ecclesiastes instructs us:

Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,

Drink wine with a robust heart.

Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!

Dress festively every morning.

Don’t skimp on colors and scarves.

Relish life with the spouse you love

Each and every day of your precarious life.

Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange

For the hard work of staying alive.

~Ecclesiastes 9:7-10, The Message (MSG)

How do we seize life? The key seems to be viewing each new day as a gift, even while acknowledging our struggles. We awaken with honest hearts, willing to live in the present—focusing on this twenty-four hours we’ve been given. On certain days of our lives, this seems almost impossible. We’ve all been there. 

I admit that it’s easy to look with doubt upon folks who “dress festively” and express constant good cheer. Don’t you wonder when they’ll finally admit life is tough, or if they’ll ever break down and show their tears? After all, no one ever instructed believers not to be human.

Once, I worked with someone who always smiled. No matter what you shared with her, she managed a cheery comeback. I began to observe her, certain that her façade would eventually crack and she’d admit to having a bad day. But that never happened. Maybe we didn’t work together long enough—I still believe that deep down, she was just like the rest of us.

But what good does the opposite attitude do? Going around with a long face can be so depressing, both for us and the people around us. Why not look for the good in others and in circumstances beyond our control? After all, we all know spiritual growth seems to accelerate during the rough times. 

The author of this scripture points to balancing our gusto with an honest recognition of this old world’s suffering. Not an easy task, but it’s essential to maintain our equilibrium.

Perhaps that’s the key—balance. Isn’t much of life a study in maintaining balance? I’ve pondered this after a bad bout with dizziness. With my equilibrium disturbed, my most frequent prayer became, “Help!”

Without a sense of balance, poise and steadiness become pipe dreams. Accomplishing much of anything goes by the wayside. But with balance restored, we walk securely and find the energy to embrace what each day brings and enjoy our lives.

My Prayer: Dear Lord, please teach me to maintain balance in this world of ups and downs, for Your glory and for my own happiness.

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Author Bio:

When Gail’s not steeped in World War II research, drafting scenes, or deep in an edit of her 1940’s novels, she does a limited amount of editing for other authors. 

She also facilitates writing and creativity workshops, both in Iowa and Arizona, where she and her husband like to spend part of the winter in the amazing Ponderosa pine forest under the Mogollon Rim.

Favorites: spending time with grandchildren, walking, reading, meeting new people, and hearing from readers who fall in love with her characters.

Devotionals for the Heart: Hospital Codes and God's Grace

Reason Together with God
A devotional by Shellie Arnold

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land." ~Isaiah 1:18-19 ESV

I once worked in a hospital as an admissions clerk. As part of the job, I was responsible for inputting all pertinent patient information, especially regarding insurance coverage. This information had to be documented on the appropriate computer screens—sometimes several of them—via the appropriate codes. The information had to be complete and correct. After all, timely billing depended on accuracy. Those screens directly affected how the hospital got paid.

Six months into the job, I learned that on that particular payday, I would not be picking up my check from the payroll clerk, as usual. Rather, my paycheck was held by my supervisor. Twice a year, I was required to meet with my supervisor and get my paycheck directly from her. What I did not expect, was sitting with my supervisor and being shown every error I had made on any patient information screen for the previous six months. Literally, someone had been assigned to go behind every admissions clerk (not just me) and audit their work. The errors were printed, and the corresponding stack of errors was given to each employee, along with our checks.

My stack of printed errors was huge. So huge, I was put on probation. I was at risk of losing my job.

Understand, I had pages of notes from when I was trained. Every day, I carried with me a full notebook of memos containing policy and procedure changes. And I consulted them throughout my work shift. Still, my number of mistakes was very high.

As I looked through the printouts, I realized I hadn’t made dozens of different mistakes. Rather, I’d made a few, same mistakes dozens of times. I was consistent. Consistently wrong, but still.

I shared this with my supervisor. “You can see I was consistent, which meant I thought I was doing it right. Why didn’t anyone tell me before now, instead of letting me do these things wrong for six months?”

She had no answer other than to quote the departmental policy, which in my opinion was flawed. Why set up your employees to fail?

I am so glad and thankful God doesn’t treat us this way. When I discovered Isaiah 1:18-19, I understood I was never at risk of having the same dynamic in my relationship with God. He doesn’t keep a running list of mistakes, simply so He can surprise us with them later. He doesn’t keep a tally to make us feel guilty and afraid.

Instead, He invites us to talk with Him about everything, even our sin. Scripture encourages us to “reason together” with Him. When we approach Him with a willingness to be obedient in the future, God will talk with us about our failings and mistakes. He wants to help us understand why we do the things we do, say the things we say, and think the things we think, even if those things aren’t necessarily pleasing to Him.

He doesn’t leave us alone to figure out how to live righteously. No, He’s always there, waiting to converse with us. Explain things to us. Share truth with us. Teach us. So that next time, with our better understanding, we might make better choices and suffer fewer consequences.

Don’t hide your failures and sin from God. Talk to Him about them. Ask Him why you did what you did. Ask Him how you can behave differently next time. God wants you to be successful in your spiritual journey. He’s not setting you up to fail. He’s in your corner. And He’s ready to listen and talk.

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Author Bio:

Shellie Arnold is a writer and speaker on marriage and family. She truly believes—despite baggage, neglect, or mistakes—if a husband and wife listen to God, they can live happily ever after. Her passion is sharing how God is helping her do exactly that. 

She maintains a blog at www.shelliearnold.com and is the founder of YOUR MARRIAGE resources.

Shellie is a mother of three and has home-schooled for over twenty years. She lives in Ohio with her husband of thirty-one years.

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Connect with Shellie:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/shellie.arnold.7
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ShellieArnold1
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/ShellieLArnold/
Website - www.shelliearnold.com