Devotionals for the Heart: A Challenge to love people even when it's not easy

Loving When It’s Hard
A devotional by Victoria Bylin

“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 

– 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NASB)

I work part-time as a receptionist in a large behavioral health practice. 

Every day, I come face-to-face with people in the throes of clinical anxiety, the pain of depression, and a myriad of other thought patterns that cause difficulty and mental suffering. This isn’t an easy place to work, but I wouldn’t trade a minute of the experience. 

I’ve learned a lot here, particularly what it means to be “Jesus with skin on.”

I’m so far from that goal that’s it’s embarrassing, but my word for this year (2019) is "Love."

We use the word "love" so freely and so often that it threatens to become meaningless. We love lasagna and we love our kids. We love our family and friends, but it’s not nearly as easy to love people who aren’t easy to be around. How about the older person fumbling with their phone while trying to add an appointment to the calendar that is somehow locked on the wrong year? That would be me!

Or what about the mother whose worry for her child comes out in misplaced anger? It can be hard to take, but what’s really happening? When her child is suffering, the mother bear in her comes out, and sometimes the claws are sharp.

When I leave work, my frustration is sometimes sky high, a reminder of just how human I am. I’m so grateful for God’s forgiveness for my own failings. We’ve all fallen short—all been that demanding person—and it’s that awareness that reminds of how great God’s love is for us.

I’m not advocating being a doormat. Loving difficult people doesn’t mean we let them run rough shod over the circumstances. Sometimes love demands firmness and even fierceness. The person who takes cuts in the line still needs to wait. But we can all be kind while we live, work and care for others.

Here’s the bottom line: We don’t know what that difficult person is experiencing. That lesson was driven home to me when I worked in a dermatology office. A woman came in with her teenage daughter for a new patient appointment. It was prom season, and the daughter’s acne was flaring badly. It was a busy practice, and they had waited several weeks for that slot.

Mom charged through the waiting room with her phone pressed to her ear, tapped on the glass window, then opened it. In short, she broke every rule of doctor’s office etiquette, and I was judging her left and right. Forcing a smile, I did my job.

As she fumbled with her insurance card, this is what she said into her phone: “Yes, I heard you. Tell mom I’ll be there as soon as I can. The ICU on the second floor. Yes . . . Yes . . . Tell dad I love him.” Her voice cracked, and so did my heart.

We don’t know what others are dealing with. We can’t see below the surface. But God knows, and he loves us. It’s a privilege to extend that love as best as I can.

~*~
Author Bio:

Victoria Bylin is the author of 18 traditionally published romances. Known for tackling difficult subjects with great compassion, she delights in stories that shine the spotlight of God’s love on ordinary men and women facing realistic challenges. 

Writing has always been a part of Victoria’s life. As a child, she wrote hundreds of letters and scribbled in journals. As an adult, she worked as a freelance journalist and editor before taking on the challenge of fiction.

She had one goal when she started her first novel: to finish a book-length manuscript, good or bad. That first effort will never see the light of day, but it led to a second manuscript and a sale to Harlequin Historical. Since then, she has written westerns and contemporary romances for both mainstream and Christian publishers, with Together With You winning the 2016 Inspirational Readers Choice Award for Best Contemporary.

Writing is a joy and a challenge for Victoria, but faith, friends and family matter to her far more. She’s a wife, mom, proud grandmother, and a dog-mom to a wacky Jack Russell Terrier. Originally from California, she and her husband currently make their home in Lexington, Kentucky. When she’s not writing, Victoria enjoys long walks, travel, and dark chocolate.

~*~
Connect with Victoria:
Website: https://www.victoriabylin.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Victoria.Bylin.Author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VictoriaBylin
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/victoria-bylin
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/568102.Victoria_Bylin

Devotionals for the Heart: Patience

Patience
A devotional by Allison M. Wilson

Key Scripture: Galatians 5:22-23

Love, joy, peace, and patience are probably the most well known of the Fruit of the Spirit, yet they are some of the hardest to see manifested in our own, or other believers’, lives. Patience tends to be difficult for me. I want perfection now. That’s likely a very common human trait, but still not what God wants from us.

Love is needed for joy to be expressed. Joy is needed for peace to flow. Peace is necessary for patience. Why? If we have peace, we’re not going to be thinking things should be a different way, or done in a different timeframe. We’ll be content with whenever God deems the timing to be right.

As with all the Fruit of the Spirit, patience is something which is given to us, not something we can do on our own. I used to tell God that I would work to be more patient. It might last a few hours before the human side of me would come back out. I would then beat myself up for not following through on what I promised to God. The issue was, God already knew I could not make myself more patient. It’s called a fruit of the Spirit for a reason. Only the Spirit can manifest this, and all the other fruits, in us. Otherwise, it’s just works, and they will burn up as nothing.

Patience only grows in me as I’ve given up. I’ve surrendered. I’ve put my life into the Savior’s hands, and said it’s no longer mine to live. I don’t want to live my life for Christ. I want Him to live His life through me. Only one perfect life was ever lived.

Giving up has been a process. We sing about surrendering all to Him, but we really don’t have a clue what that means, or how to do it. He doesn’t ask us to do that, anyway. He calls us to one step at a time. One moment of surrender, and then another, and another, and another until we look back and see how far He’s brought us.

Know where this surrender is hardest for me? Traffic. Yup. The Lord uses traffic to teach me about patience the most. Several of the other fruits get thrown into the lessons, too, but patience is the biggie. You see, I’m a rule follower. If there’s a sign that says, “Wet paint. Don’t touch,” I’m not going to touch it. If a person has a sign saying to stay off their lawn, I’m going to respect that. I use my turn signal, am careful to move out of the way of traffic on multiple lane roads, and have studied the traffic laws for the state where I live in order to be a better driver. I expect others to have done the same, but that’s not the case. Don’t get me started on driving pet peeves! I live in Florida, and it seems like every other state is represented, poorly, by the drivers who come to visit…or live.

But, if I am truly allowing the love of Christ to be a fruit of His Spirit in me, then joy will be a natural outflow, even in traffic. From that joy will come peace in the knowledge of God’s overwhelming love for me. Peace will manifest in patience, because I know that God’s got the timing down perfectly for all He needs to do in my life. I’ll be someone known as patient, peaceful, joyful, and loving. The Father’s heart will be what others see when they see me. He will be living His life through me to love those around me. That is what I want to be seen in me. Only Jesus. Only love. Only joy. Only peace. Only patience. May it be made so in me, Lord.

My Prayer: Heavenly Daddy, I can’t do any of this on my own. It all has to come from You as You get me to surrender more and more of the things which hold me back from the life You want to live through me. Show me more of You. In Jesus Christ’s Name I pray, Amen.

~*~
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.

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

Devotionals for the Heart: Rest

Rest in God
A devotional by Tammy Karasek

I wish I could say my soul is perfectly content—that I have the kind of soul-rest that comes from God. But I’m a stubborn only child and often behave like a toddler ready to strike into a full-blown tantrum. I like to do things “by myself.” What the toddler is usually trying to say is, I don’t need you. I can handle this on my own. Have you ever felt this way?

We are told to take time to rest. Articles from women’s magazines to medical journals shout from the rooftops the benefits of rest. While I will not argue the importance of resting as in sitting down for a period of solitude or even sleep, the rest I’m talking about is a rest that comes from God. “My soul finds rest in God alone” (Psalm 62:1, NIV).

The kind of rest written in the above scripture is what I seek. What about you?

As I have grown older and wiser, I have learned true rest in my soul can’t be obtained by anyone or anything other than God. No amount of sitting and relaxing in the sand by the ocean or in a rocking chair at a mountain cabin can give me that kind of soulful peace. Oh, most definitely it can slow us down and give us the opportunity to calm down or de-stress, but it cannot give us the kind of rest deep within us. We can get in the way of that.

When we read through Scripture and are quiet with God—it’s there in that time and space where we find that rest. Where we close out the world. Where we turn off the noise. There is where we find sweet rest, deep down in our innermost being.

With this knowledge, one would think we’d take the opportunity every chance we could get. But nope, we try other things to calm us down. We read a magazine, a new book, go shopping or maybe dine with a friend. Yet, more times than not, we end up in a worse mess than we started. We are left stressed, frustrated and wondering why God won’t fix it.

When in this spot myself, I realized I haven’t asked for the calm, let alone the rest. I’ve ignored my time to sit with God and process the issues at hand. I’ve not read my Bible to meet God in that quiet space to allow him to pour into me that soulful rest I’m longing for.

It’s me getting in the way. Not God ignoring me.

My prayer for you today is that you make it a priority to find time to sit with the Lord and seek that rest, deep in your soul, that only He can give you. Will you be so kind to do that for me as well?

~*~
Author Bio: 

You’ll find Tammy seeing humor and causing laughter in every aspect of life. Tammy’s past filled with bullying and criticism is the driving force of her passion to always encourage others and share with them the Reason to smile. 

She’s been blissfully wedded to her college sweetheart, Larry, for 36 years, mom to their grown daughter, Kristen and wrapped around the paw of a little puppy named Hattie.

She’s the President of Cross N Pens Christian Writers and a member of ACFW. She will be published in the 2018 Divine Moments book – Cool-nary Moments.
~*~
Connect with Tammy:
Blog - http://www.tammykarasek.com
Twitter - https://twitter.com/tickledpinktam
Email - tickledpinktammy@gmail.com

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Devotionals for the Heart: Fighting Fair and Not Winning Arguments

Fighting fair (or why you shouldn’t ‘win’ an argument)
A devotional by Jessica Brodie

One of the hardest things I’ve learned to do in my marriage is to fight fairly, but it’s been the most critical love lesson of all. For when it’s done right, I’ve learned, God is at the core.

See, at the heart of how a couple argues is how they relate to each other, how they respect each other. In the best scenarios, arguing stems from care, from a place of love, typically from frustration about a small or large issue threatening the peace of the home in some way. You might be bickering about how big of a house to purchase or some perceived slight, or it might be deeper, like a dark secret now come to light.

Healthy, loving marriages—just like healthy, loving friendships—don’t avoid issues, sweeping them out the door and hoping they’ll fly away. They shine holy light into the darkness, and in that light, a deeper love emerges.

Throughout the New Testament, early Christians are called to hold each other accountable. The Apostle Paul frequently acknowledges that disagreements happen. People sin, whether intentionally or not. But as he instructs the nascent church, don’t ignore the problem. Address it. As he says in Galatians 6:1 (NIV), “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently,” or in Ephesians 4:25 (NIV), “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body."

Be honest, he’s saying. If the argument has to do with a sin on someone’s part, gently tell the one you love there’s a problem, and urge them toward repentance.

Gently. That’s the key word here. I’m not saying you should have scrappy yelling matches or those long periods of the silent treatment. That’s just reacting, not communicating. When we address an issue in a godly manner, we are to do it with love and consideration, not accusation and anger.

Paul ends Ephesians 4:32 (NIV) saying, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Those same sentiments are reflected in his advice to the Colossians: “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12-14, NIV).

Of course, not all arguments are that simple. Maybe you think your spouse or friend has sinned against you, but the proverbial log in your eye is preventing you from seeing your own sin in the situation. Or maybe you’re being called out for misunderstood or unintentional behavior and you feel hurt that your loved one would judge your actions in this way. Maybe one of you is just plain grumpy.

The best and only way through it is that one “greatest” attribute—love.

Happily, Paul defines that for us, too: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, NIV).

God is love. He commands us to love others as ourselves, to show our faith through our love, to point to Him through our love.

So when it comes to arguments, remember: the only way to win is for everyone to win. If you come through a battle with one arm unscathed but the other broken and bloody, you’re still injured.

We are one body, literally and figuratively.

~*~
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 (AdvocateSC.org), the oldest newspaper in Methodism. 

Learn more about her fiction and read her blog at http://jessicabrodie.com.
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Testimony: What God Taught Me

Okay, it's almost midnight and I am sleepy but I had to get out of bed to bring this message to you. Here's my testimony:

I was lying in my bed, trying to sleep but not being successful because my mind was focused on all that's wrong with the world. My mind also started focusing on my own issues and experiences that were upsetting. I felt the frustration of feeling like God is silent and asking Jesus Christ why He continues to let these horrible things happen in this world.

It was to the point where I told Jesus (talking/praying to Him): Why am I here? What's the purpose of my life? I am not okay. I am NOT OKAY!

After five minutes of venting to Jesus Christ (through talking/prayer), my anger simmered and I was silent. It was then that I realized that a song was playing in my head. It was a song that I had not heard or thought of for months. But it was just what I needed as the opening lyrics played in my head. Guess what the opening lyrics to the song are? "It's okay to not be okay."

The song "Exhale" is sung by Christian music artist Plumb. It took me being silent and still to realize those opening lyrics were looping in my mind for what must have been at least two minutes only I was too upset to hear it. But when I became still and silent, God spoke to me through this song. He let me know that "It's okay to not be okay/This is a safe place."

Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come boldly before God's throne of grace so that we may find help in time of need. So my venting session was more like a bold and honest prayer to God and He answered me. He told me "It's okay to NOT be OKAY." God is not afraid of honest prayers. He invites us to be open and real with him (but still respectful because He is King of the Universe). His Son Jesus Christ knows our pain and He knows exactly what we go through because He lived on Earth and experienced our pain. *Read Hebrews 4:15. 

Only Christ truly "gets it" and He's for us! He is our Advocate and Mediator before the throne of God. When we pray, it's important to end our prayers to God with "In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen." *Read John 14:13-14 (KJV).

God cares all about you and He's there for you no matter what. I woke up when I realized that God just spoke to me through the opening lines of this song "Exhale" by Plumb and I knew that I needed to share this revelation with you. But before I got out of bed, God spoke to my heart with this thought, "Remember what I taught you in Montana?" Instantly, I remembered how God told me through the words of my insurance agent (after my car crashed) before she became silent in order to focus on processing my claim. Before she went silent to focus on it, she told me "Even though I'm silent, I'm still here." Those words spoke to my heart that day (about four years ago) and it still spoke to my heart tonight. Her simple yet poignant sentence reminded me that I serve a Great God who is always there for me, even when I feel like He's being silent.

Well, there you go! I'm being transparent in this blog post because I believe that this message that God shared with me, this lesson He taught me, is not just for me. Somebody needs to hear it. I hope that it will change your life (for the better). Always keep in mind Jeremiah 29:11. 

God bless you!

Love,

Alexis