December 1 marks the first Sunday of Advent for 2013.

Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas. It is the start of the new calendar year for the Christian calendar. Traditionally, the season of Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and continues through December 24, while the Christmas season starts on December 25 and goes until the Epiphany on January the 8th.

It seems that we often skip the season of Advent and jump right into Christmas. I wonder if Christmas would hold more meaning for us if we took the time to prepare our hearts to receive our Savior. That is the whole purpose of Advent. And that is the purpose of this devotional. It’s my prayer that by taking the time to read through these devotions during Advent that Christ will become even more special to you during the holiday season—and through the rest of the year too!

The word advent from the Latin adventus (Greek parousia), means “coming” or “arrival.” The season of Advent is focused on the coming of Jesus as Messiah (Christ or King). Our worship, scripture readings, and prayers not only prepare us spiritually for Christmas (His first coming), but also for His eventual Second Coming.

This is why the scripture readings during Advent include both Old Testament passages about the expected Messiah, and New Testament passages about Jesus’ Second Coming. We also read passages about John the Baptist, whom God sent ahead of Jesus to prepare the hearts of the people for Him.

Enjoy this Advent season, and may God bless you and your family.

Please click on the link below to download today’s devotional!

First Sunday of Advent

We have all heard that God speaks to His people from mountain tops and burning bushes but how about from underneath a bed? God does speak in mysterious ways! However He chooses to speak, we need to be ready to hear from Him. To read the devotional, A Still Small Voice … Under My Bed, please click on the link!
“Image courtesy of Phiseksit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

“Jane—is there an app for that?”

I called to my sister from her guest room while was tidying up her office across the hall. We had just returned from the Proverbs 31 She Speaks conference and were brain-storming on how to apply what we had learned to our lives and ministries. During one of my sessions the facilitator encouraged me to use a notebook to organize my writing ideas. I thought a computer would be more efficient than a notebook, so I asked my tech-savvy sister if there was such thing as a writer’s app.

Jane answered, “Yes, there is a writing organizer app for your Mac, but they also have apps for your Kindle.” My Kindle? I purchased a Kindle a few months ago and instantly became a Kindle fan. When I bought my e-reader, however, I thought it was only for reading books. I did not know that I could use my Kindle for other thing such as watching movies, making voice recordings, searching the Internet or editing documents.  I looked with new respect at the intricate little instrument sitting next to me on my bed. I wondered how many others untapped powers and abilities were hidden behind its glossy black screen.  Abruptly I felt my heart quicken as the Holy Spirit nudged my soul. “This is how people often live life … using only one app … John 3:16.”

The wheels began turning in my mind as I thought through what God was revealing to me. We app-ly John 3:16 to our hearts and get saved, but some never move on to live the abundant life. The John 3:16 app is just the beginning. Sadly, many Christians remain unaware of the powerful potential that is hidden within God’s app store, the Bible.

God has countless apps. In fact, God has an app for every need. For instance, if you have blown it big time, download Evergrace at Ephesians 1:7. Perhaps you feel lonely and need a little fellowship—purchase the app Faceinthebook at 1 John 1:3 and start interacting with social media. Maybe you are low on faith–try TheWord 2008, which must be directly downloaded to your heart from Romans 10:17. The best thing about God’s apps is they are free! (Save your coins for your tithe!)

What great need do you have today? Go to God’s app store (the Bible), and download an app (a verse) to your heart. Please remember–God’s apps are meant to be app-lied to your life. The more apps you download, the more you’ll realize there’s no limit to what God can do!

By Mary Kane

All rights reserved. Copyright 2013

Image courtesy of ddpavumba / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of nikorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

“And do not grumble as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.” 1 Corinthians 10:10

We’ve almost made it to Easter! Today we are looking at the following stanza of the True Lenten Discipline poem.

FAST from discontent; FEAST on gratitude.

(Here is the full poem of True Lenten Discipline. Here are the devotions for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,  Thursday, and Friday.Here is the link to the True Lenten Discipline Podcast.)

Today we will start out by looking at how seriously God takes our attitudes and obedience to Him. Our verse in 1 Corinthians is referring back to Numbers 16 when the Israelites were on their journey out of Egypt. Three men, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, became insolent and were sinning by complaining against Moses and Aaron. They were of the Levite tribe and felt that they should be part of the priesthood too. Their attitudes were spreading to those around them. A dramatic standoff occurred and what happened is that these men and all that belonged to them were swallowed up by the earth.

The next day the entire Israelite Community grumbled against Moses and Aaron blaming them for the deaths, and God was so upset with the rebellious camp that he started a plague. Aaron made atonement for the people’s offense by offering incense, but not before 14,700 people were killed. This plague is what the the verse in 1 Corinthians 10:10 is referring to.

Phew. This is a sad, scary story, but it shows us the importance of our attitudes and obedience to God. God was serious about weeding out evil from the camp, because He knew how fast it spreads. Today, as Christ followers, we have Jesus standing between us and God, making atonement for our sins, but God still takes our attitudes seriously.

The word for grumble is goggyzo, and it means “to murmur, mutter, say anything against in a low tone, of those who confer secretly together, discontentedly complain.”

It’s all to easy to fall into complaining when life doesn’t go the way we want it to, isn’t it? Thoughts of “my life would be better if ….” echo through my mind. The stanza of the poem redirects our thinking to gratitude, to being thankful for what we have, where we are right now. Mary Kane often refers to the illustration of Daniel in Daniel 6:10 as a person who offered thanks even in the midst of dire circumstances.

At the advice of his satraps (who wanted to trap Daniel), King Darius had issued a decree that for the next 30 days, no one could pray to anyone or anything but King Darius, otherwise the person would be thrown in the lion’s den. Verse 10 says that when Daniel heard this, he went home and prayed, giving thanks to God, just as he had done before. Now if anyone had cause to grumble, it would have been Daniel, but instead he chose to count his blessings and thank God. God protected Daniel from harm when he was thrown in the lion’s den.

The word for gratitude is charis, and it means “joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, lovliness.” When we dwell on these things in our lives, it lifts our spirits and puts our focus on God. Let’s cultivate that habit and redirect our focus. When we start to complain about something, let’s stop and mentally list one thing we are thankful for in our life. And the first thing we can be thankful for this Easter is  Jesus’ atonement for our sins, which has given us abundant life.

Application: Today let’s leave behind the “My life would be better if … mentality, and put on the mantle of gratitude and thanksgiving by acutally making a list and counting our blessings. We’ll be able to clearly see God at work in our lives, even if we’re in the midst of a difficult situation.

Prayer: Lord, we do thank you that you loved us so much that you sent Jesus to atone for our sins. Thank you for the gift of eternal life in heaven and the life you have given us to be lived out on earth. Help us to focus on our blessings. Amen.

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)

“A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Proverbs 25:11 (NIV)

For our fifth devotion this Holy Week, we are looking at the following stanza of the poem True Lenten Discipline:

FAST from words that pollute. FEAST on phrases that purify.

(Here is the full poem of True Lenten Discipline. Here are the devotions for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.)

The old saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” simply isn’t true. Anyone who has ever been wounded by unkind words knows that hurtful words sink deeply into our souls, setting up residence and becoming difficult to uproot. They echo through our lives for years to come, affecting what we believe about ourselves and our choices—whether they’re true or not.

The Greek word for unwholesome is sapros, and it means “bad, rotten, decayed.” And if we need any further proof of the harm mean words can cause, we’ll find it in the meaning of the root word of sapros, which is sepo. It means “to destroy.”

(Now this is not to say that we can’t ever respectfully discuss difficult situations and character issues that need to be changed with someone. That’s a sometimes necessary part of living life with family and friends and is entirely different than mean words that tear others up.)

Well, it would be logical that if unwholesome talk can destroy, then the opposite of this should be true; wholesome words can build others up, and that’s precisely what this verse in Ephesians tells us.

It’s one of the conundrums of life that it’s such an easy thing for ugly words to effortlessly roll off of our tongues; it seems to be much harder work to cultivate the soil of a person’s life with seeds of praise and encouragement. Perhaps we’re embarrassed or afraid we’ll be perceived as just trying to gain their favor.

To be sure, kind words need to be sincere. Insincerity rings falsely with, well, insincerity. Maybe part of the problem is that building another person up with words that benefit requires us to be observant. We have to take our focus off of ourselves long enough to study a person and recognize his or her strengths. Once we see the laudable characteristic, we must then give life to the thought and speak the words to that person. It can actually feel a little uncomfortable at first, and it’s tempting to take the easy way out and think “I’ll tell her the next time I see her.” But then you’ve missed a chance to build someone up. The “next time” may not lend itself so well to what you want to say.

Although I still may be able to hear the faint echoes of harsh words in my head, the shout of a “word aptly spoken” by people who have built into my life drowns out the other words. I’ve been encouraged by several someones to reach for goals I thought were beyond my grasp, to dream dreams, and to make a difference by relying on the power of God working in my life. That’s what we need to be doing for others.

Application: On this Good Friday, we will focus on encouraging and building others up with our words. Be on the alert for someone that you can sincerely speak words of kindness to today. And let’s not make this just a one-day event, but rather a lifelong habit.

Prayer: Jesus, may we follow your example of speaking words of life and blessing to others. Stop our tongues when harsh words want to leap out of our mouths. Amen.

“When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Him, and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.'” Matthew 8:16-17 (Original verse in Isaiah 53:4.)

For our fourth devotion of Holy Week, we are studying the following stanza of the True Lenten Discipline Poem:

FAST from thoughts of illness; FEAST on the healing power of God.

(Here is the full poem of True Lenten Discipline. Here are the devotions for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.)

What strikes me about this verse in Matthew is that every kind of infirmity is addressed by Jesus: spiritual, emotional, and physical diseases. We see just as many illnesses and problems in our times as were present in the Bible times–maybe even more. Jesus also wants us to be whole in mind, body, and spirit. That should always be our goal and desire too.

Physical Healing

I think many of us don’t have any doubts about our minds and spirits being whole, but when it comes to our bodies, we struggle with that because so many people are not healed of diseases. It’s difficult for us to fully understand why. But, I do feel that God wants us to pray for physical health and to control what we can in our lives so that we are healthy. The Bible tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and as such we need to care for our temple. This means watching what we eat, making sure we get enough rest, maintaining proper hygiene, exercising so that we are fit, living moral lives, and caring for ourselves if we get sick. Many physical problems can be avoided if we do these things–but not all of them.

I do believe that God wants us to seek healing for diseases like cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and the like. We are to pray continually for healing, and to use the resources of doctors, a healthy lifestyle, food supplements, and other treatments as God leads; we then leave the results up to Him. Whether we are healed to earth or healed to heaven, God loves us and desires the best for us.

Spiritual and Emotional Healing

We may think that physical healing is the most important type of healing, when in reality our spiritual state trumps everything else. Salvation–confessing our sins, accepting Jesus’ death on the cross in atonement for our sins, and giving Him control of our lives– is only the first step in our walk with God. If we just stop there, we will miss the richness of a life on earth lived in the power of the Holy Spirit to God’s glory. God wants us to grow, to be healed of any spiritual or emotional weaknesses and illnesses. Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that He has come so that we can have an abundant, full life.

Much of our emotional and spiritual state hinges on the things that we allow ourselves to “take in.” Philippians 4:8 tells us that our focus needs to be on the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy things. By doing this, we renew our minds (Romans 12:2). What we think and reflect on is what we become (Proverbs 23:7). Philippians 4:9 then goes on to tell us that whatever things we have learned or received or heard from Jesus, we are to “put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you,” (emphasis mine).

It’s also a good idea to be in the habit of protecting our spirits by praying through Ephesians 6:10-20. Jesus realized that His followers would have spiritual battles, and the Bible tells us how to protect ourselves by putting on the full armor of God. Several years ago, I read these verses aloud daily as I prayed for my family each morning. To my surprise, after a few months I found that I had memorized the entire section without even trying! So, if there’s a long section of scripture you want to memorize, get in the habit of reading it aloud every day.

Today, on this Maundy Thursday when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His apostles, let’s put our focus and our prayers on the Great Physician and his ability to heal the things in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones that need to be healed.

Application: What in your life needs to experience the healing power of God? Are there any changes that you can make that will speed up your healing? What resources has God given you that you can take advantage of?

Prayer: Dear Jesus, We thank You that ALL things are under your feet, are subject to you. We ask for Your healing power to be unleashed for these specific things: _______________ (you fill in the blank). Lead us to the people, resources, and lifestyle changes that will help us. We thank you for your mighty power that is at work in each of us. Amen.

You may find these other resources helpful: Are Your Walls Up?;            Praise the Lord!