• Devotionals,  Health & Body

    Mental Illness is My Gift from God

    [Guest post by Linda Svoboda: Thank you, Linda, for bravely sharing your story on mental illness! It’s challenging to accept mental illness in your life at all, let alone call it a gift from God!] I am so thankful for all the gifts that God has given me, but I am especially grateful for one that He has blessed me with. Many people would not see it as a gift, but rather a difficult challenge.  Most people have a hard time talking about my gift and don’t understand what it truly is.  However, a few really get it.  They understand that my gift is indeed a truly unique treasure and…

  • Devotionals

    My Extra is Someone Else's Everything

    [Guest post by Jo Ann Erwin: Jo Ann just recently posted in November, but I couldn’t turn this wonderful post from her away for our Christmas guest post series! I love the story of the widow in Mark & Luke, and Jo Ann’s story of how her extra was someone else’s everything is a great thing to remember at Christmas.] On two occasions I have heard someone say “that is too good to just give away.” When I heard it, both times, I immediately thought of the widow who gave all that she had. Mark 12:42-44  And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.  …

  • Devotionals

    Peace and Joy

    [Guest post by Rebekah Carrington: Maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones, but this post really tugged at my heart! I know exactly what kind of peace and joy Rebekah is talking about and it’s certainly a gift from God!]   There is heaven and earth and then there are some places where the two seem to converge blurring the lines of reality. One such place is a senior citizens home residing at the top of a hill with a sign that reads Fairhaven. If you are not careful, you will look at it but miss seeing the glimpses of glory and beauty inside just as one can miss the forest for…

  • Devotionals

    God's Gift of Faithfulness

    [Guest post by Dawn Wilson: This is exactly what I had in mind when I created the idea of this Christmas series. God’s faithfulness truly is a gift, and ultimately everything we receive is from Him!]   God’s gift of faithfulness is an ongoing blessing. When I was a young woman, I traveled all over the United States with a brand new revival team, Life Action Ministries. I arrived at the team proud and self-sufficient, and it didn’t take long for me to realize I was a “Phony Baloney” Christian. I trusted Christ—for real—and set out on a life-long adventure with Jesus. During those first days with the revival team,…

  • Devotionals

    Giving is Possible with God

    [Guest post by Ifeoma Samuel: I thought this was a great post to kick off our Christmas guest post series, “The Gifts God Has Given You.” Let’s remember that anything is possible with God!] I am a passionate Sunday school teacher. I love my Sunday school kids, so I call them my kids. I see them as cute little projects in God’s hands. Earlier in the year, God had laid it in my heart to bless all my kids with Bibles. There are quite a lot of them — over 45 in number. I had look beyond the cost of purchasing these items. Trusting God for a miracle was all I…

  • Devotionals

    Your Maker is Your Husband

    [Guest post by Kendra Arsenault: It’s so hard to just try to imagine the love Christ has for us. It’s posts like these that really get me praying.] I stood there lifeless, unable to hope, ashamed to be seen, abused by self and abused by others. It was my second…third… fourth… no fifth, maybe sixth failed relationship. Chasing, yet never obtaining. Compromised yet never respected, I had willfully agreed to be used rather than loved and the light of hope was soon fading. I was emptied out of my storehouse, how could I be filled again? How could dignity be restored? “Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well…

  • Relationships

    A Christian Fairy Tale

    [Guest Post by La Micia Genova: I’m thrilled for you to “meet” La Micia today because, although our stories are different, La Micia and I both dealt with depression before God gave us our knights in shining armor. I’m all about princesses and fairy tales and this is an awesome Christian fairy tale!] Do you believe God can give you a happily ever after? I’ve done things my way for 20 years and when I finally came to God, he gave me my fairy tale. I probably made just about every mistake a teenager and young adult could make, and what’s crazy is I grew up in the Church! From impurity to…

  • Devotionals

    Gratitude for Daily Blessings

    [Guest post by Jo Ann Erwin: Jo Ann sent me two samples from her “Daily Blessings” writings, but I was very partial to this one due to my pet-loving nature. I thought the message of gratitude was perfect to leave off with just before Thanksgiving here in the US. There will be no Saturday post, and now Devotional Diva is officially on Thanksgiving break! New posts will resume on December 2nd.] Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all…

  • Relationships

    Be Transparent & Get Naked

    [Guest post by Alicia Gill: I’m usually one to be pretty direct and honest; I have trouble holding in sour emotions. In this post, Alicia’s Sunday school student gives a great example of being transparent, letting it out, and “getting naked.”] “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?” Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 (NIV) A few years ago, I taught a very sweet high…

  • Devotionals

    The Magnitude of Our Gratitude

    [Guest post by Sherrie Harris: Sherrie sent in this post that is perfect for this thanksgiving time! Please enjoy her inspiring story of gratitude and grace.] As the girls entered the room, trickling in one or two at a time, their faces shone with gratefulness and possibilities. They began to cry out in unadulterated and uninhibited praise, as the tears of answered prayers streamed down their faces. “God is faithful,” they confessed. “God is faithful!” In 2012, I had the privilege of ministering to and serving women and children in Africa, during a missions’ trip with like-minded servant leaders.  Our team traveled to Kenya with the hope of resembling the…