Thursday Devotional – Jesus is Worthy to Wipe Away Tears (3/19/26)

Sarah came home in tears last night from horseback riding. Her favorite horse has a disease that appears incurable after several different treatments. He has been declining, and she was told that he will be put down soon. She hasn’t been able to ride him in quite some time.

Death is inevitable on this earth. However, God is preparing a new heaven and new earth, free from death and suffering. After the millennium and after Satan and his followers are thrown into the lake of fire (as we’ve studied recently in Revelation), Jesus’ followers will join God in the new and perfect creation.

Revelation 21:1-4 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

What painful struggles are you experiencing right now? How are you encouraged knowing there will be a day when that won’t be the case anymore, ever again? How does the promise of a future free from suffering bring you comfort and hope?

It is beyond imagination how glorious the new heaven and new earth will be! No death, no hurt, no fear, no pain, no conflict, no stress, no disappointment. The most elated feeling we have ever experienced won’t compare to the joy in God’s presence on that day and for all eternity!

Alice

Thursday Devotional – Jesus is Worthy of Our Fearless Faith (11/7/24)

How fearless are you and I? James, our oldest, is fearless when it comes to trying new things or meeting new people. I, on the other hand, use to be terrified to try something new or talk to someone I didn’t know. God (and James) have helped me be less fearful of both.

Well, what about our walk with Jesus? How fearless are you and I when it comes to living for Christ? The church in Smyrna was quite fearless for Jesus!

Revelation 2:8-11    ⁸ “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

After reading about what the Smyrna church faced and what Jesus said they would face in the future, how fearless do you think you are now?

I wouldn’t like getting a letter telling me I was going to face even more persecution and suffering. However, it would be encouraging, knowing Jesus saw everything I already endured, knows what I’m about to face, and guarantees my eternal future.

Jesus reminded Smyrna (and us) that He was already victorious over earthly suffering and death. Therefore, He can promise life after death to His faithful followers. We do not have to be hurt by the second death, which is eternal separation from God in Hell.

What suffering do you and I find difficult to endure for Jesus? How can you and I be prepared to maintain joy and faithfulness through suffering? Do Jesus’s promised rewards help encourage you? The more we know God, love Him and understand what He’s done and will do for us, the easier it will be to live fearlessly for Him!

Thursday Devotional - All-Knowing God and Bungled Bildad (8/8/24)

Here comes Job’s second friend, Bildad! He doesn’t start out as encouraging as Eliphaz, Job’s first friend to speak (back in chapter 4). He’s just as ignorant as Eliphaz, though, and goes even further in claiming to know what God will and won’t do! 

Job 8:1-7   Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

² “How long will you say such things?
    Your words are a blustering wind.
³ Does God pervert justice?
    Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
⁴ When your children sinned against him,
    he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
⁵ But if you will seek God earnestly
    and plead with the Almighty,
⁶ if you are pure and upright,
    even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
    and restore you to your prosperous state.
⁷ Your beginnings will seem humble,
    so prosperous will your future be.

Bildad was correct that God doesn’t pervert justice. However, he was incorrect to assume that all suffering is a direct result of a person’s sin. He also preached a prosperity gospel – that if Job was truly upright, then God would lavish prosperity on him.

Only God is all-knowing. We can’t speak for Him. We can speak about Him. We can share about the truths from His Word and His unchanging attributes. God doesn’t need us to defend Him. He can defend Himself. He does desire us to declare Him.

I don’t want to be a bungled mess, like Bildad, but a faithful proclaimer of God’s truths.

Lord, help us not try to speak for you, but to point others to earnestly seek you for your unique purposes for them.

Thursday Devotional - All-Knowing God versus Lamenting Job (7/11/24)

 I had a shooting stomach pain yesterday for about 30 minutes that was debilitating. As my stomach negatively reacted, I was reminded that I could still praise God for who He is while also asking for help and relief. It was hard not to start by calling out for help and stating the same thing over and over. It was helpful to remember His attributes of being All-knowing, able to use everything for His purposes, etc.

 

My temporary suffering was nothing compared to what Job experienced for days and maybe even weeks. Yet, as we learned a few weeks ago, he didn’t sin in what he said. He never cursed God, like Satan desired. He did curse his birth.

Job 3:1-4, 11-13, 20-21, 24-26      After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. ² He said:

³ “May the day of my birth perish,
    and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’
⁴ That day—may it turn to darkness;
    may God above not care about it;
    may no light shine on it.

¹¹ “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?
¹² Why were there knees to receive me
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
¹³ For now I would be lying down in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest

²⁰ “Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,
²¹ to those who long for death that does not come,
    who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

²⁴ For sighing has become my daily food;
    my groans pour out like water.
²⁵ What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded has happened to me.
²⁶ I have no peace, no quietness;
    I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

It sounds as though there was no relief for Job, even in sleep. His pleas and laments are understandable. He wished for death, but he didn’t take things into his own hands. As he said in chapter 2 verse 10: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

The next time you and I face a painful or difficult situation, let’s remember God is always praiseworthy. He can also handle our questions and respectful laments. In the midst of it all, we can submit to His all-knowing care and timing, as Job did! 

Thursday Devotional - God is With Us in Our Confusion

Sarah got a positive COVID test result yesterday and James was beside himself. He questioned  why God allowed it and why I wasn’t upset. (I think he’s also scared about getting it himself, since he has asthma).

I told James I didn’t know why God allowed it, but I know He’s in control, has a plan and will be with us through it.

Similarly, Peter was confused and angry about Jesus’s upcoming suffering.

Matthew 16:21-23      From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

As much as it didn’t make sense to Peter in his limited human understanding, God had a much bigger and better plan.

God was with Peter through his confusion and anger. God is available to be with you and me through our confusion. We can take our questions to Him. Then, let’s look beyond our “merely human concerns” and look for God’s plan.

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Snake Bite Purpose

I wonder what Paul thought when he got the snake bite? Was he afraid? Did he wonder why God allowed yet another challenge and more pain?

After the drama we saw last week around the snake bite, we quickly see it was a way God used to draw attention to Paul and the Holy Spirit’s power and message through him.

Acts 27:7-10 ⁷ There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. ⁸ His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. ⁹ When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. ¹⁰ They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

The passage doesn’t say Paul preached the gospel and told the people on Malta about Jesus, but I don’t think Paul went anywhere where he didn’t talk about God’s message of Salvation. He must have told them it wasn’t his power (but God’s) that healed them. Paul could see now how God used the snake bite to give him a platform for sharing God’s power and message.  

This reminds me to have a different perspective when a family member or I experience pain or suffering. I can ask God for help AND ask Him to help me see how He is going to use it for His purposes.

That certainly wasn’t my first thought when my son, James, had a gymnastics injury Monday that left his vision blurred and half his face numb. I definitely asked God for help! It was a few hours, though, before I asked Him to show me how He might be using this for His purposes. As God answered prayers for direction and next steps (such as one of our doctors personally talking to us on the phone right as we got to ER and letting us come to his office immediately for an assessment, bypassing ER), we were able to share these answers to prayer with family members, coaches, and doctors!

James is still dealing with several issues, but we’re praising God he didn’t end up with a concussion and the nerve damage shouldn’t be permanent!

The next time you and I face a challenge, let’s remember to not only ask God for help, but to help us use it for His purposes!

Alice

No Pain, No Gain

“You yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not a failure. You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition. So you can see we were not preaching with any deceit or impure motives or trickery.”  1 Thessalonians 2:1-3 NLT

Derek Redmond was a great Olympic sprinter.  In the 1992 Olympic Games, he was running well in his event, the 400 Meters, winning his first two qualifying heats with ease.  In the semifinal, he started well, but midway through the race, something went terribly wrong.  He tore his right hamstring, and knelled to the ground in sheer agony.  Not to be deterred, he stood up, and hobbled on his good leg the next 100 meters even though the other competitors had already finished the race.  Still having another 100 meters to go, he was joined by a familiar face that would walk with him the rest of the way; his father.  As he sobbed on his father’s shoulder for the remaining 50 meters, the crowd at the stadium, which first started with a courteous applause, now had begun to cheer … louder and louder as they got closer to the finish line until his father and him crossed it.  In Derek’s pain and suffering, he still lost a race.  Because his father helped him across, he was disqualified.  However, he gained a world of fans and appreciators that watched his heroic feat.  No one remembers who won the race or even the gold medal for the 400 meters that year.  Everyone remembered that moment (https://youtu.be/t2G8KVzTwfw).

Some of you cannot relate to this kind of story, but many of us had parents who sacrificed a lot to ensure we could have a better life.  If so, I hope you appreciate all your parents did for you as mine did for me.  They many times struggled, but it was the pain of that struggle that allowed my brothers and me to do two things.  First, it set a standard for all our children to follow.  Second, it garnered attention that served as a platform to speak about who we are and who we serve.  These are the things that had me think about the writers of the Books of Thessalonians.  Like many of the early Christians, they suffered for what they believed in to reach something greater.  Something more important than a race.  Instead, it was the salvation of all mankind.  It reminded me of a saying my mother told me and what many of you have heard before; no pain, no gain.

Suffering is the currency of living a faithful life serving God.  Paul’s writing to the Thessalonians speaks of the suffering they encountered prior to their writing.  It is not the suffering that is of the greatest fascination.  It is clearly the ‘why’ behind it.  They saw a greater good in their suffering.  It allowed them to share the Good News of Christ.  It’s the suffering that gives credibility to their teaching.  We often look at suffering as tests of faith, and that is often true.  However, it is usually in preparation for something bigger that God has in store for you if you are willing to endure what comes with it.  We must prayerfully discuss with God His purpose, and remember the words of Hebrews 10:23, which says, “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”

While no one should look to suffer, we should always view it through a Godly lens.  Jesus Himself did not want to endure the suffering that came with the crucifixion saying in the beginning of Mark 14:36, “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me.” But as we read the latter half, He acknowledged the ‘why’ behind His suffering showing love for both God and us completing His thought saying, “Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”  Whenever we are faced with suffering, let us remember our ‘why’ knowing there is something greater God has planned for His purpose.  What pain and suffering are you enduring today that could use a Godly perspective?  What lessons from the suffering of Jesus and Paul can you draw from in your life?  My prayer is that we remember the purpose of suffering along with the saying, ‘No pain, no gain.’  Amen.

Thursday Devotional - Suffering in Anticipation of New Life!

Normally I write the devotionals on Wednesday evening after the kids go to bed. However, I was “in” Connecticut (via FaceTime) last night while my youngest sister gave birth to her 2^nd child (Heidi Elizabeth, 7 lbs. 15.2 oz, 21 inches and 9 days late). My sister, Mary, had complications with this pregnancy due to a large hemorrhage. They thought they lost the baby several times, but now they have a healthy baby girl that even nursed in the first 30 minutes!

It’s a huge answer to prayer after lots of concern and waiting. God graciously blessed Mary with strength for an all-natural deliver of only four hours of labor and 1-2 pushes!  Sarah has been praying for “Aunt Mary’s side not to bleed and the baby to live” for many months now! She will be very excited this morning when she wakes up!

As children of God, we are eagerly awaiting our complete salvation and fulfillment of eternal life! Just like childbirth, suffering proceeds blessings.   

Romans 8:16-25     The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

As God helped Mary focus on the impending blessing as she persevered through suffering, we can do the same as we patiently and eagerly await our full inheritance as God’s children!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Peace and Perseverance

Last week I mentioned our basement flooded. That day and week was anything but peaceful. The same day our basement flooded, James was very ill and could barely breathe. We didn’t know if we were going to have to take him to the ER. In the midst of trying to care for James is when I found the flood. My first thought was “I can’t handle all this at the same time!!!!” However, God reminded me that He has been there through all my other overwhelming situations. That’s when I was able to stop and praise Him. He also reminded me that the most important thing is to have peace with God and I knew James had peace with God through his faith in Jesus! 

Romans 5:1-5     “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Peace with God doesn’t mean life will be easy here on earth, but it helps us put everything in perspective and lean on Him as we persevere.

How have past sufferings developed perseverance and character in your life?

What current situation can you and I let God use to develop greater perseverance and character? 

Let’s give God the glory through all these circumstances, remembering our peace with Him is the most important!

Alice

P.S. – James isn’t back to normal, but we’re so thankful he’s doing much better.

Thurs Devo: Fearless Life

How fearless are you and I? How fearless are you and I when it comes to living for Christ?

Revelation 2:8-11     ⁸ “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

After reading about what the Smyrna church faced and what Jesus said they would face in the future, how fearless do you think you are now?

I wouldn’t like getting a letter telling me I was going to face even more persecution and suffering. However, it would be encouraging, knowing Jesus saw everything I already endured, knows what I’m about to face, and guarantees my eternal future.

Jesus reminded Smyrna (and us) that He was already victorious over earthly suffering and death. Therefore, He can promise life after death to His faithful followers. We do not have to be hurt by the second death, which is eternal separate from God in Hell.

How can you and I be prepared to maintain joy and faithfulness through suffering? The more we know God, love Him and understand what He’s done for us, the easier it will be to live fearlessly for Him!  

Alice