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Infatuation Makes Us Very Vulnerable
[Guest Post by Gary Thomas. I’m very excited for him to share on the blog today as he is one of my heroes (he doesn’t know that yet). My husband Marc and I went through Sacred Marriage in our pre engagement counseling and believe in his message. He is also one of my upcoming speakers at Quarter Life Conference, a free online conference for the 20/30-somethings on Thursday. Register here for free.] Not only are you stupid when you’re infatuated, but you also become extremely vulnerable. I’m speaking as a pastor who has witnessed the tremendous pain that romanticism has led so many people into. Psychologically, “hearts broken from lost…
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How to Write Devotionals
[Monthly Columnist – Wendy van Eyck] – Starting this January, I am introducing a few new regular contributors who will be guest blogging on a monthly basis. I asked Wendy because we share a common love of devotionals. She runs the site ilovedevotionals.com and lives in South Africa. She has written on my site about facing her husband’s cancer within the first year of marriage. I admire her courage and welcome her to DevotionalDiva.com with open arms. How To Write Devotionals I have always loved writing about God sticking his fingers into our everyday lives. I have loved the way you can look at something in your life – good…
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Monday Meditations #5 – Your Situational Comedy
[Guest Post by Lindsay Morelli] – I love watching situational comedy on TV. Not because of the great writing, or the relatable characters, or the not-so-relatable characters, but because for 22 minutes I am reminded that it’s entirely normal for our lives to become comical chaos. Each Monday morning the world wakes up to a brand new week; another chance at fulfilling our purpose in life and hopefully avoid any conflict or obstacle that comes our way. If you are smiling after that last sentence, you know that the perfect week is a rare occurrence. You have a great week at work, but your toilet overflowed and flooded your bathroom.…
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Monday Meditations #4 – Ungrateful
[Guest Post by Ashley] – The past couple weeks I have found myself very down and ungrateful. Trying to keep it together on the outside but ready to burst into tears on the inside at any given moment. I moved to Nashville 4 years ago. When I moved here I didn’t see myself working a Monday – Friday 8-4 job. I wanted to do music. Isn’t that why everyone comes to Nashville? Not only that I thought that by now, by 29 I would be married, have a house, maybe talking about a family.. like I see so many of my friends doing… Neither of those things have happened and…
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Monday Meditations #3 – Moving Forward
[Guest Post by Tyler Braun ] – Before I ever had a GPS navigational unit in my car or on my phone, I made sure to carefully plot out driving directions before moving forward. You remember the drill right? Pull out a map and a piece of paper. Look up the shortest right and then begin jotting down all the different turns. Some people love the adventure of trying to find a specific location without directions, but I’m not one of them. I’m the same way when it comes to camping. Why do we take our comfortable lives and transplant them into a forest? It’s inevitable something will go wrong…
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Monday Meditations #2 – Carrying On The Work
[Guest Post by Marc Fisher] – “Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died” (Exodus 1:6). Yes a generation was now gone but God’s work was not yet complete. His promise was not fulfilled so there was still work to be done. Joseph had continued the work which his father Jacob had picked up after Issac which was built on the foundation laid by Abraham. John Wesley’s once said, ‘God buries the workmen and carries on the work.’ We must understand in whatever work God has given us that it is not for nothing if it is a part of the mighty whole. It is a great…
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Monday Meditations #1 – 24 Bible Verses
My Favorite 24 Bible Verses. Write them down and memorize for times of need, comfort, and encouragement. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7, NLT). “We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5, NLT). “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time he will restore us, so that we may live in his presence.…
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True Friendship
Sometimes the most holy and true act of friendship is to give up our rights. Everybody wants to be King David. Nobody wants to be Jonathan. David didn’t manipulate Jonathan for an easy way in or deceive him for the biggest seat in the house. Why? Jon was his friend. David endured shame, ran for his life, and stole scraps for food to survive. He never once took revenge on Saul or his friend Jon to become king. Everybody wants to be king. Nobody wants to suffer. Jon had it made. He was [already] royalty. He lived a life of luxury in the palace. Why did he give it all…
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God Said Man Said
God said man said goes something like this: God said: “Speak to that rock.” Man said: “[Struck] the rock twice with his staff.” What’s wrong with this picture? Sounds to me God and Moses were saying two different things. I was reading Numbers 20 in my One-Year Bible this week, and couldn’t help but see a familiar picture. God says one thing; we do another. Or he (or she) says one thing, and we say (or do) another. It Starts With A Problem (Doesn’t it always?) “Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron” (Numbers 20:2, NIV). No matter how…
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Your Relationship Status
[Guest post by Jessica Bufkin] – And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. Don’t think I’m being harder on you than on the others. I give this same counsel in all the churches. (1 Corinthians 7:17 MSG) People mean well. Really, they do. But honestly, sometimes the things that they say, despite their well-meaning intentions, remain lodged in our minds for a very long time. For instance, your relationship status. My parents have never once poked or prodded…
