Devotionals for the Heart: Absolutes

The Absolutes
A devotional by Nanci Rubin

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever."

~Hebrews 13:8 (KJV)

Our world is in such turmoil, and our youth struggle to find their place in an ever-changing environment. Teens look to their peers for acceptance as parental influence becomes almost nil. Don’t we all look for acceptance? The youth desire to be loved. They need to know God loves them.

I have worked with kids all my life. I was Head Nurse in the Health Center at our local university and when I was nursing I worked in pediatrics. I’ve taught Sunday School to middle-grade kids. I love children, and I’ve seen first-hand how easily they can get into trouble. We’re all familiar with the cute toddler who reaches out to grab something, stops, looks you in the face waiting for your response. A “no-no” will be uttered, and those tiny hands quickly grab the desired object and drop it almost at the same time. They push you beyond your limits. The urge to rebel doesn’t seem to go away, even into adulthood there remains some residual. We appear to like the forbidden thing.

I remember when I worked at the college some of our freshman students would come totally unprepared for the liberal world-view, and the freedom associated with being away from home for the first time. It was such a culture shock that some couldn’t handle it, and they ended up leaving school. We had a sweet young lady named, Roxanne. She was so naïve and easily upset that she refused to sleep in the dorm and received permission from the Dean to sleep in the infirmary. She did that her entire freshman year. It wasn’t long into her sophomore year that Roxanne embraced college life with both arms. I watched her bloom where God planted her. I’m glad we took the time to nurture Roxanne, she needed the extra care. She was worth it. However, there is a universal mantra they all relate to. It is, “I hurt, and I’ll do anything to stop the pain.” And they try whether it’s by drugs, promiscuity, or rebellion. They call out for help. But are we listening? 

Our young people need validation. They need to know how special they are, not only to their parents, friends, and relatives but to God. He created us in His image, so we’re starting off ahead in the game of life.

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."~Genesis 1:27 (KJV)

God knows us before we’re born. He has chosen us and selected our DNA before we were a glimmer in our mother’s eye. I like that. And I’m awed by it.

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."~Jeremiah 1:5 (KJV)

I would like every young person, old person and all in between to realize God didn’t make a mistake when he formed you. He made each of us unique and special. No one on planet earth has your fingerprint, your thoughts, memories, and your personal quirks. God didn’t make junk when he made you!

There is a gentleman in our Life Group from church who’d seemed troubled for several weeks but never mentioned anything nor asked for prayer. One evening, he finally asked for prayer. He’d begun to doubt what God had for him, and he felt he couldn’t be of use to God any longer because of his age. So many seniors believe their age can hinder their work for God. I am reminded that Sampson did greater feats at the end of his life than in the beginning. The patriarchs of the Bible were mighty men in the later years of their lives. God is not done with you yet. He is no respecter of persons.

"For God shows no partiality [no arbitrary favoritism; with Him one person is not more important than another]." ~Romans 2:11 (AMP)

No matter your age or station in life, you are God’s creation, and He loves you. He has a purpose and a plan for each life. Teach your children whom they can believe and count on. God will lead them through life. These are the absolutes they can hold onto. Be blessed and listen to His still small voice that says:

"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." ~Matthew 28:20 (KJV)

~*~
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.

Devotionals for the Heart: War, Veterans and Focusing on God

Keep Your Eyes On The Captain

A devotional by Don E. Atkinson

Some years ago, my Dad, a World War II veteran, told me of his voyage across the Pacific Ocean to the South Pacific theater of war. He and approximately 500 other soldiers were boarded on a liberty ship troopship (LST, as Dad so often referred to it) and set sail with a convoy of ships for the South Pacific theater.

LST’s were approximately 57 feet wide, 440 feet long and cruised at 11 knots (13 mph). Being designed as cargo ships, the LST’s were not heavily armed. Consequently, they relied primarily upon destroyers and cruisers in the convoy for protection from enemy aircraft, war ships, and submarines. Approximately 225 liberty ships were converted from cargo use to troop transport ships, able to transport 550 troops. President Roosevelt nicknamed these ships “ugly ducklings.”

Warning: Enemy Submarines and Crazy Kamikazes!

Because of their vulnerability, about 200 liberty ships were lost to submarine torpedoes, mines, explosions, Japanese kamikazes, and other aircraft during WWII. Dad noted there was a freight load of fear among his fellow soldiers. Due to their extreme fear, and in some cases also sea sickness, many soldiers could not eat much. When they noticed Dad eating well they asked him how he had such a strong appetite in such dangerous circumstances?

Look to the Captain

Dad told his inquirers that early in his wartime voyage he “looked up” to the bridge and noticed their captain did not appear worried. So, he asked himself, “Because the captain is calm in this situation, why should I worry?” Dad did not suffer from sea sickness and with a greatly reduced fear and anxiety level, ate well on his wartime voyage filled with several potential dangers.

How are you doing in your voyage of life? Are you fearing possible “emergencies” or “trials” or “losses” in your voyage that might be compared to deadly enemy submarines? Like Dad, look up to the captain of your boat, Jesus, the author and completer of your faith. Regarding the “voyage” ahead for each one of us, the author of Hebrews exhorted his readers:

“We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete...So keep your mind on Jesus, who put up with many insults from sinners. Then you won’t get discouraged and give up." ~Hebrews 12:2a, 3 (The Promise).

Yes, keep your eyes and mind on Jesus. Your boat’s captain is calm, strong, and all-knowing. He will: (1) “lead” you in the various storms of your voyage; (2) help you with “discouragement;” and (3) bring you safely into the harbor. He accomplished this for a WWII soldier years ago and He can do it for you today and in the future!

At the beginning of this New Year, make a resolution to more regularly “look up” and gaze on Jesus, the pioneer and completer of your faith—and the “captain” of your little boat.

~*~
Author Bio: 

Don E. Atkinson was born and raised in Lincoln, NE. He attended Southern Nazarene University (formerly Bethany Nazarene College) and Colorado State University securing a Bachelor of Science degree. Later, he completed his Master of Science degree at Texas A&M University. 

He completed a significant amount of coursework towards a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS).

Don has been active in his local church teaching adult Bible studies and preaching as needed. Married in December of 1982, he has three grown children. Currently, Don and his wife reside near Lyons, NE.

Connect with Don via his website (www.daybydayintheword.org) and his blog (daybydayintheword.blogspot.com).

Devotionals for the Heart: A New Start

A fresh, new, God-colored spiral notebook
A devotional by Jessica Brodie

Do you remember that first-day-of-school feeling? Not the butterfly-fluttery, heart-thumpy jitters about who your teacher is or whether you’ll make any friends, but that giddy-specialness kind of feeling: New spiral notebooks, pages all fresh and clean. Rows of sharpened pencils and slick, brand-new pens. Stacks of notebook paper gleaming in their plastic wrappers. Binders with their three shiny rings ready to be filled.

Everything ready. A clean start.

That’s how I feel about New Year’s Day—no matter what the year prior might have brought, good or bad, January 1 is a day of beginning, a chance to start anew, an opportunity to begin on the right foot. It’s like I’m getting my very own different-colored spiral notebook with 365 blank pages just waiting for their scribbles and wisdom, only I get to live it.

If the year prior has been a good year, I’m excited to keep riding that proverbial high and sail along with God to the next level. If it’s been meh or downright awful, I get to set it aside like that finally finished project, turn my head, and cast my eyes on the next adventure.

Yes, adventure—whatever our situation, whatever our condition, whatever our joy or grief or pain or illness or worry, a new year is a new adventure, and if we wrap our minds around it correctly and look at it in what I like to call the “God light,” it’s absolutely, magnificently glorious.

See, I take to heart the Scripture many of us are familiar with, 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) which says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

In Christ, I am a new creation. A new year is yet another opportunity to celebrate that.

If we look deeper at that chapter, we see that verse is part of God’s larger point: His ministry of reconciliation, of fresh starts, of bridge-building and wall-falling and barrier-breaking. We are urged to put on our God lenses, to view “no one from a worldly point of view.” After all, we are told, God “reconciled us to himself through Christ … not counting people’s sins against them.” The old has gone. All the sin is washed away. All we need to do is be reconciled—reunited in peaceful, beautiful harmony—with God, and we get to share in that.

“The new is here.” Literally and figuratively.

Every year is a new opportunity to walk in the light of God, to walk with Him, to let Him work His wonders and plans through us. He has big plans for us, and those plans can fly free and soar if we just step aside and make room for God.

That’s the catch, and sometimes it takes constant work to remember it: We are most certainly not in this alone. Our year, our life, our very existence is not only smoother and happier but fully in line with the Lord and His glory when we realize that. Our steps are not our own. They are steps with our Creator if we only take a moment to stop fighting Him like an independence-craving toddler and let Him light the way.

Happy New Year, my friends. May your fresh new spiral notebook of 2018 be God-colored, God-inspired, and God-led. The old has gone. The new is here.

~*~
Author bio:

Jessica Brodie is a Christian author, journalist, editor, blogger, and writing coach. 

She is the editor of the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, the oldest continuously published newspaper in Methodism. 

Learn more about her fiction and read her blog at this address, http://jessicabrodie.com/.