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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. …
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Hope with Painted Wings
[Guest post by Rebecca Lamarche: This post is a two-fer! First, Rebecca shares a poem. Then, she has an “insight” that is more devotional style. I hope you enjoy Rebecca’s wordsmithery and viewpoint on hope as much as I did!] Hope with Painted Wings From the genesis of forming me inside my mother’s womb Through the exodus from innocence so early in my youth, In the desert of my wandering, I was thirsting for my purpose, And You led me through the sandstorms to oases of Your truth. From every bucket of belief I drew from wells of tainted water, You dipped ladles full of murky thoughts and turned them…
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Finding Your Identity in Christ
[Guest post by Ashley Linne: Sometimes I think, we as humans get wrapped up in ourselves and don’t stop to think about what a massive universe God has created. When we realize how small we are, it can be unsettling. But it can also give us to comfort to know that, even though we’re only one of His creations, we all have an identity in Christ.] I’ve been asking God who I am for what seems like forever. Not just “What should I be when I grow up?” although that has been a very frequent topic of discussion between the two of us. Most of the time, though, the questions…
