Tag Archives: Christian Devotions

Alexis A. Goring–Writer of the Day

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My Writer of the Day is Alexis A. Goring. She’s a passionate writer with a degree in Print Journalism and an MFA in Creative Writing. She loves the art of storytelling and hopes that her stories will connect readers with the enduring, forever love of Jesus Christ.

Alexis has written a new devotional–STORIES OF SONGS AND FAITH: MY JOURNEY WITH GOD. She’s sharing one of her devotions with us today.

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A God Who Hears

“Is anyone crying for help? God is listening, ready to rescue you.”

– Psalm 34:17 (MSG)

The idea for this devotional struck me when I interviewed for a part-time position at a daycare. This daycare was for children as young as six months until about Pre-K. I remember that part of the interview process was to have me observe a classroom to give me a real taste of what working there would be like. They placed me in the quietest classroom. But the teacher in that classroom told me that it was only quiet because the children were sleeping.

We sat at a table in the middle of the classroom. The adorable toddlers surrounded us, sleeping peacefully on their blue and red mats. They looked like little, sweet cherubs. The teacher of this classroom and I spoke in soft tones as not to wake the children. She informed me about the tasks that she and her classroom aide were responsible for each day and then she said something that still stays with me today.

“I couldn’t work in that classroom,” she said, pointing down the hall to the Cradle Roll, which was where the noise I noticed from the moment when I entered the secure hallway near the classrooms, originated.

“Really? Why?” I asked.

“Because those babies cry all day!”

We shared a quiet laugh (so not to wake the children in her classroom).

As I walked away from my hour spent interviewing and observing at that daycare, the humor stuck with me and I smiled, but then realization hit me. I realized that no matter how much we cry – in joy, in despair, in anxiety or what have you – we have a God who hears! Not only does He hear our cries, he never tires of hearing us cry. He wants us to cry out to Him. He is completely invested in caring for us and meeting our every need. We can never wear God out! He never gets tired of taking care of us! The Bible says that He never sleeps! The Bible says in Psalm 121:4 (MSG): “He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep.”

God never gets tired listening to our cries even if they are constant and never stop. His patience, perseverance and kindness in caring for us reminds me of the song by Scott Krippayne, “Every Single Tear.”

Here is my paraphrase of that song: We may feel like we’re not that important. We may feel invisible like nobody knows our name. But we’re priceless to God. He sees us and He knows each of our names! He sees every single tear that we shed on any given day, noon or night. His empathy is unique because He feels everything that we feel. God looks past our tears and sees our heart. He gets to the core of our pain and as the Master Physician, He carefully and effectively works on us in a way that will heal us and bring about complete restoration. We cry, He cries. But He doesn’t just empathize when He hears us cry, He listens to what we cannot even put into words and then He answers the cries of our heart in only ways that He can.

To the world, our cries may be annoying and misunderstood. But to God, our cries draw Him near to us because He’s concerned about everything that concerns us! He wants to be there for us and He’s readily available to help.

Bottom line: We don’t have to face pain alone because we have a God who hears and answers us!

The Bible says in Matthew 6:25-26 that if God takes care of the sparrows (He does) then He will take care of us too! The sparrows don’t worry about where they’re going to sleep or what they’re going to eat because they know that their Creator (God) will provide for their every need. The Bible says that we’re worth more than sparrows. So we can trust that God will meet all of our needs, from the food that we need to eat to the clothes that we need to wear and to the bills that we need to pay.

Here’s how The Message Bible (MSG) words Matthew 6:25-26: “If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.”

You are a child of God and He is a Good Father who loves you with all of His divine heart. Cry out to God. Pour your heart to Him. Go to Him for help that only He can give. Remember, God is always listening and ready to rescue you!

Reflection Questions:

  1. When was the last time that God meet your needs?
  2. How does reflecting on how God met your needs in the past, help you to not fear the future?

Readers, feel free to answer her questions here so others can learn from you. Thanks so much, Alexis, for sharing your devotion with us today.

I Want To Be Wise!

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Proverbs 10: 19

When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable. But he who restrains his lips is wise.

Wow. I love this verse.  Many words equals an unavoidable transgression but he who restrains his lips is wise.

I want to be wise.

It may not be the only thing we need to do become more wise, but it’s a good start. Thanks to social media, there’s way too many words out there in the universe. I can’t tell you how many times I’ll read something on social media and my first response will be to write something that won’t be so kind or useful. I’ll even write the post, but most of the time, I’ll delete it before I actually post it.

The times I don’t I usually wish I had.

For some reason we think we have to tell the world how to live, what’s right and wrong, how to feel or not feel. The list can go on and on. But a better choice is to restrain or lips–and our fingers!

God Bless & Good Reading!

SUNDAY DEVOTIONS!

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For the past few years, I’ve had a devotional blog. But I’m taking a break from that for the time being. Instead, I’m going to add devotions to this blog–probably on Sundays but I might actually post them on Saturday sometimes. After all, we seem to have an extra minute or so on Saturdays. We’ll just have to see how it works out.  I hope you enjoy this one!

 

SEEKING GOOD!

1 Corinthians 10: 24

Nobody should seek his own good but the good of others.

Me! Me! Me! It’s all about me! We’ve become a self-absorbed society. I don’t think many of us could deny that fact, but our life shouldn’t just be about us and what we want!  The Bible tells us to seek good for others. Wow–what a novel concept!

As a writer, this verse convicts me. After all marketing our books and ourselves is as much a part of being a writer as writing stories. And in fact, I think I have an obligation to my publisher to do this as much as possible to the best of my ability. (Even if I don’t like it!)

So, how do we reconcile this Bible verse with the reality of marketing?

For me, it’s about giving back to the writing community that I’m a part of. I do that in a few different ways. First, I give other writers the opportunity to be a guest on my blog. When the opportunity comes up, I also share their information with my circle of  “friends.” I give advice when I think I can add something to the discussion along with encouragement.

In my “other” life, I have to admit I need to improve in this area. I’ve been struggling with serious health issues for more than two years. Believe me when I say there’s nothing like a serious illness to make us selfish. Notice I say us–I certainly include myself in that statement. And in truth, when a serious health issue arrives we do need to focus on ourselves.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t seek good for others as well.

So, with the above verse in mind, I’m issuing a challenge. Find a way this week to do good for someone else and expect nothing back–not even a thank you. Or better yet, do something good for someone anonymously! How about it? Are you up for the challenge?

Once you’ve done it, come back and share your act of goodness with my readers and myself in the comment section. I’ll share mine after I’ve done it as well! Have a blessed week!

UNTIL NEXT TIME…GOD BLESS & GOOD READING!