so here's my first devotional I wrote but I'll need to change it some.
17th
The end of the school year is getting closer and closer for most of us, and that means summer! Who doesn’t love summer break? No school, camp, swimming, sunny warm weather, sleepovers, sunglasses, shorts, flip-flops, and no worries all equal summer to me. Summer is a great way to relax and get away from all the stress of school. For most of the summer months I’m sitting around my house waiting for the two things that Minnesota’s known for in the summer to dissipate; humidity and mosquitoes. Watching TV and lounging around comes naturally, along with not thinking about, well pretty much anything except for the weather and your plans for the next few days. It’s definitely not difficult to let your mind wander and your relationship with God to slowly become weakened.
One of the things that most people I know use as an excuse is, “Hey, I’ll just wait until church camp. It’s only a few weeks away and once it gets over, I promise that I will start reading my Bible. Then I can just reconnect with Him then!”
Psalm 78:37 talks about what will happen if we’re not consistently following God closely. The farther away from God we are, the harder it is to be faithful and close to him. When we back away from God or take a break, it becomes harder to go back to being a strong disciple of Him. If you go the whole summer up until camp without cracking open your Bible or talking with God, won’t it be more difficult to gain that close relationship back?
Verse 37 also talks of how those who weren’t invariably seeking after God were no longer faithful and went away from the covenant of God. I would hate to go away from God and no longer be in on the biggest thing that has ever happened to me! God covenant is a big deal! On the occasion that I would stop reading my Bible and talking daily and deeply with my Heavenly Father, I could and would lose out on having Jesus in my heart and with me everywhere I go, and that means on my way to Heaven. Without Jesus, there’s no way that I could possibly get in.
Summer is sneaking up fast and don’t be pulled in to the usual slump. With all of the extra time we have in these next few months, if should be taken advantage of in a wonderful way. Praying continually and breaking out for Bible for some one on one with our Lord won’t take up that much of your TV or shopping time so I challenge you to make a plan to do it!
Pray
Talk to God about anything and everything and make a renewed pledge to keep faithful to him over these summer months!
second.
A few weeks ago I was in the Fine Arts Festival. It is a Christian arts competition where you can do a sermon, play your instrument, write a poem, sing, or dance to glorify God and possibly place high enough to make it to the National Festival later that year. I deciding to play my violin and preach. I unfortunately got very nervous so neither went as well as planned. But, it was really fun and next year I know what to work on. The risk of getting a terrible score was worth the experience.
Sometimes it feels like God is calling you in a confusing direction. It’s scary and extremely uncertain! “How can I do this?” or “I have no idea what I’m doing and there are so many things that could go wrong!” might be crossing your mind in a moment of concern and stress. Both thoughts are completely normal but there’s something that you might be forgetting here! If no one has told you before now, you are a child of God! As the daughter of the King of Kings you have extraordinary things as your disposal. For example, the power of God, his comfort and his unfailing direction!
God tells his children to go and it’s not always so easy. Remember my story about Fine Arts? During my sermon, I clung to the podium like a helpless child because I was so scared but now I know what I have to work on and I also know another huge thing. I have God on my side. When you reach out of your comfort zone, God will help you through it! He will never leave us hanging there and if we are faithful He is too.
God should be the ultimate authority in our life in the way that what he says goes (which includes listening to our teachers, parents, aunts and uncles, and the government). So, then of course our reaction to his commands should be obeying and seeking out a way to pursue the orders he has given. However, our Lord doesn’t leave us by ourselves whatsoever! He seeks out a way to help us pursue His goals when we do. Many times in the Bible God has helped out those who seek His will because we cannot do anything without his help. A few examples are of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22:1-14), Ruth (the whole book of Ruth), and Daniel and the lion’s den (Daniel 1, 2, and 6).
The really important thing I want you to know is that God will lead you through anything that you can think of! One of the biggest comforts in my life is the fact that all things work together for my and God’s good. No matter what’s going on in your life, God is working it to strengthen you and use it to bring others closer to Him.
Read: Psalm 9:10, Psalm 22:4-5, Psalm 118:6-9,
Pray
Ask God to comfort you in your times of need and confirm you knowledge of His wonderful plans!
And this is my new start
Devo
A few weeks ago I was at youth group and we sang the song “Hosanna” by Hillsong United. I love singing this song because I feel like it really speaks to me and our generation. I especially love the part that says,
I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith
I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We’re on our knees
We’re on our knees
I felt God’s presence in my heart and in the room. I went up to the front and asked my youth pastor if I could say something to everyone because I was positive it was from God. I can usually tell when it is because I start crying and I’m so overcome with emotion I can barely talk, all I do is cry. But, I still feel that same longing and knowledge that I’ve known for a long time that we are the generation to rise up and take our place with selfless faith. When you take a stand for your faith and speak what you believe, people will notice God in you. We can’t be scared to share the wonderful news that we have! God’s Word and Jesus’ precious (or presh as I’ve been saying lately) gift, is all we have. Nothing else comes with us to Heaven with us. No money, clothes, awards, medals, or report cards. School, your job, family, sports, and friends are important but if those things are getting in the way of stepping out in selfless faith then something needs to change.
Read: Deuteronomy 31:6, 23; Ezra 10:4; Isaiah 49:6, Romans 10:14-15
Talk: Talk to God about how you’re feeling with being a messenger of selfless faith.
Devos
Do you ever just feel so overwhelmed? I do, actually quite a bit. And most of the time it’s been with public speaking. I really don’t know why, but I just get so nervous! I definitely feel like God has helped me more and more with it though. Whenever I’m talking about Jesus, almost all the nervousness leaves me immediately! It helps to know that God is always there. This morning I had to give a speech in my Communications class about the fabulous and famous author Jane Austen. It was a little stressful but God helped me through it all.
I'm still finishing this last one.
-Janae
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