D E V O T I O N A L S:
- "Fitting In"
Many girls try so hard to "fit in." They believe that fitting in will help them feel valuable, confident, or a part of something. They believe that fitting will stop others from criticizing them. Lovely, you don't have to fit in to feel valuable, confident, or a part of something. You are a daughter of God! HE gave you a beautiful value that nobody can take away. Nobody. And if others don't see it, that's on them. You don't need to please this world that is not even your home. You focus on pleasing the Maker of your life, and you will then see how things will be so much better. Do not conform or apply yourself to the wicked ways of this world. God made you for more than that. He made you to shine! He made you to STAND OUT! He placed you on this world to be a light to all those living in darkness. If others like you, glory to God. If others don't like you, glory to God. Pray for those who may criticize you, for remember that they will never know what you may be going through. You focus on fitting into who Christ wants you to be! He made you, YOU for a reason. He has a beautiful purpose for you. He made you to shine brighter than the sun, and smile greater than the stars. Every time you smile at the sky, and give God thanks for who He made you to be, know that God will be smiling back. Sister, you are every bit of lovely. I'm sorry but no matter how many times you try to fit in, you just won't. This world is too filthy, tiny, and blind to see the true YOU that God made YOU to be. This world will always have something negative to say, see, or hear about you. This world will always try to see your flaws or imperfections. So sis, set your eyes on Christ, and allow Him to help you become better and better. Allow Him to make the best out of you. Set your eyes on the Maker of the stars that lives deep within you. He is the One worth pleasing.
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Bible Verse: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2 (NIV)
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Bible Verse: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 (NIV)
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- "Finding True Love"
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Bible Verse: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 (NIV)
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------------------------------------------------------------End of "Finding True Love" Devotional----------------------------------------------------------------
Jealousy is a feeling that traps you into thinking so many things against yourself and against others. It has you thinking why can't I have that? Or, I deserve better why do they get everything handed to them? When we see that other people have success over us, or have something that we desired, and when we focus so much on that, we may start feeling jealous. Why? Because we wanted it, but they got it. Because they were successful, and we were not. But if you were to let go of all those feelings, and allow God to take over, we would not feel jealousy. Why? Well, God does not want us feeling jealous for other people's blessings that He has given them. He wants us to keep praying for our blessings to come, not to hate against others because they obtained it before we did. Now many people have asked, "Is there a good kind of jealousy?" The answer is yes. What? How can that be? Well you see the Bible tells us that the Lord is a jealous God. He wants us to worship Him and love Him, unlike any other gods of this world. But He feels jealous, because He loves us. He knows that outside of Him, there is no other true love. When we apart from His ways, and give time to other things, He gets jealous for us. That is one type of jealousy that will not hurt us, but instead will embrace us closer to God. Another type of jealousy is our jealousy for God's things. That if someone is blaspheming God's Name or taking it in vain, we feel jealous for the Holy Name of God, and say something. That when you may see people tossing or messing with the Bible, you feel jealous for God's word, and ask them to stop. Feeling jealousy for God's things, proves that we strongly love Christ. Because we feel hurt when they say something bad about Him. Because we feel angry when someone says they are better than Jesus Christ. When we feel sad when someone says that they don't believe in our great God. All these feelings lead up to being jealous for God. We love Him so much, but when others play around with His Name, we feel that strong feeling of discontent. If you have ever felt that way, then you have felt jealous for God. Just like when a married woman may feel jealous for her husband. Why would she feel jealous at times? Because she loves her husband dearly. That's why when someone messes around with God's things, the Spirit of God that lives inside us, feels all these different ways of jealousy. We ourselves have the King of Kings living inside of us, which is another reason why we have that feeling of jealousy towards God. Because He Himself lives within us, and remember He is a jealous God. So don't feel jealous for the earthly things that others may have. Your blessings will come soon, keep praying for them instead of feeling jealous. Focus and center your life in God, and focus on what really is important. Jealousy for the things of this world will always leave us discontent and empty, but the jealousy that we feel for God and His ways will keep us spiritually awake and graceful in His eyes. It will have our love for God getting stronger and stronger. Now, don't go out there and act "jealous" to every one just because. No. Let the Spirit of God guide your feelings so that you do not hurt others.
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Bible Verse: "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:" Exodus 34:14 (KJV)
-------------------------------------------End of "Jealousy" Devotional----------------------------------------------
Bible Verses:
“To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” —Ecclesiastes 2:26
“Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.” — Ecclesiastes 5:19
“When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.”-- Ecclesiastes 7:14
I've been reading the book of Ecclesiastes, and it has so much to say about life and “the pursuit of happiness”. Solomon shares with us that we should eat, drink, be merry, & follow God and his path for us. (Ecc. 5:18) To truly make the most of life, we need to not try to acquire everything and live for ourselves. We need to live first most for God and everything else will fall in place in it's time. (Ecc 3:1-12)
That's just a summary of Ecclesiastes. What you really need to know, that this book was written as a way of Solomon going on a journey to pursue true happiness. This man had anything money could buy and more. He had anything and everything but soon realized he was not truly happy. So he started searching for something "new under the sun" but realized he could find nothing new, because life is always the same.
You see, no matter what he tried he could not find his joy. He tried the best food, got super drunk on wine, endorsed in physical pleasures, watched amazing theatre, gained power and a name for himself and gained prestige. But he was still not satisfied. Sound a lot like us today? We get to the top job at work, we're not happy. We get to 10k or 20k on instagram, and that's not gratification enough. We get an A on a project, but aren't "happy" until we get an A+ and then find out that doesn't truly make us happy. You see, like Solomon, we need to discover that nothing will make us happy but God. God gave us a life to honor him and live for him, and the only way we are going to be satisfied with our life is if we honor God with it. Everything else will fall into place.
So next time you think that buying the new iPhone or spending hard earned money on clothes will make you happy, just remember. It might feel like instant gratification, but soon you will realize it is not true happiness.
I highly recommend reading Ecclesiastes, it isn't a super long book but it will surely leave an impression on your heart. Happy reading!
-----------------------------------------------End of "A Look At Ecclesiastes" Devotional---------------------------------------------
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Bible Verse: "When I am afraid, I put my trust in You." Psalm 56:3 (ESV)
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- "Jealousy"
Jealousy is a feeling that traps you into thinking so many things against yourself and against others. It has you thinking why can't I have that? Or, I deserve better why do they get everything handed to them? When we see that other people have success over us, or have something that we desired, and when we focus so much on that, we may start feeling jealous. Why? Because we wanted it, but they got it. Because they were successful, and we were not. But if you were to let go of all those feelings, and allow God to take over, we would not feel jealousy. Why? Well, God does not want us feeling jealous for other people's blessings that He has given them. He wants us to keep praying for our blessings to come, not to hate against others because they obtained it before we did. Now many people have asked, "Is there a good kind of jealousy?" The answer is yes. What? How can that be? Well you see the Bible tells us that the Lord is a jealous God. He wants us to worship Him and love Him, unlike any other gods of this world. But He feels jealous, because He loves us. He knows that outside of Him, there is no other true love. When we apart from His ways, and give time to other things, He gets jealous for us. That is one type of jealousy that will not hurt us, but instead will embrace us closer to God. Another type of jealousy is our jealousy for God's things. That if someone is blaspheming God's Name or taking it in vain, we feel jealous for the Holy Name of God, and say something. That when you may see people tossing or messing with the Bible, you feel jealous for God's word, and ask them to stop. Feeling jealousy for God's things, proves that we strongly love Christ. Because we feel hurt when they say something bad about Him. Because we feel angry when someone says they are better than Jesus Christ. When we feel sad when someone says that they don't believe in our great God. All these feelings lead up to being jealous for God. We love Him so much, but when others play around with His Name, we feel that strong feeling of discontent. If you have ever felt that way, then you have felt jealous for God. Just like when a married woman may feel jealous for her husband. Why would she feel jealous at times? Because she loves her husband dearly. That's why when someone messes around with God's things, the Spirit of God that lives inside us, feels all these different ways of jealousy. We ourselves have the King of Kings living inside of us, which is another reason why we have that feeling of jealousy towards God. Because He Himself lives within us, and remember He is a jealous God. So don't feel jealous for the earthly things that others may have. Your blessings will come soon, keep praying for them instead of feeling jealous. Focus and center your life in God, and focus on what really is important. Jealousy for the things of this world will always leave us discontent and empty, but the jealousy that we feel for God and His ways will keep us spiritually awake and graceful in His eyes. It will have our love for God getting stronger and stronger. Now, don't go out there and act "jealous" to every one just because. No. Let the Spirit of God guide your feelings so that you do not hurt others.
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Bible Verse: "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:" Exodus 34:14 (KJV)
-------------------------------------------End of "Jealousy" Devotional----------------------------------------------
- "A Look at Ecclesiastes"
Bible Verses:
“To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” —Ecclesiastes 2:26
“Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God.” — Ecclesiastes 5:19
“When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.”-- Ecclesiastes 7:14
I've been reading the book of Ecclesiastes, and it has so much to say about life and “the pursuit of happiness”. Solomon shares with us that we should eat, drink, be merry, & follow God and his path for us. (Ecc. 5:18) To truly make the most of life, we need to not try to acquire everything and live for ourselves. We need to live first most for God and everything else will fall in place in it's time. (Ecc 3:1-12)
That's just a summary of Ecclesiastes. What you really need to know, that this book was written as a way of Solomon going on a journey to pursue true happiness. This man had anything money could buy and more. He had anything and everything but soon realized he was not truly happy. So he started searching for something "new under the sun" but realized he could find nothing new, because life is always the same.
You see, no matter what he tried he could not find his joy. He tried the best food, got super drunk on wine, endorsed in physical pleasures, watched amazing theatre, gained power and a name for himself and gained prestige. But he was still not satisfied. Sound a lot like us today? We get to the top job at work, we're not happy. We get to 10k or 20k on instagram, and that's not gratification enough. We get an A on a project, but aren't "happy" until we get an A+ and then find out that doesn't truly make us happy. You see, like Solomon, we need to discover that nothing will make us happy but God. God gave us a life to honor him and live for him, and the only way we are going to be satisfied with our life is if we honor God with it. Everything else will fall into place.
So next time you think that buying the new iPhone or spending hard earned money on clothes will make you happy, just remember. It might feel like instant gratification, but soon you will realize it is not true happiness.
I highly recommend reading Ecclesiastes, it isn't a super long book but it will surely leave an impression on your heart. Happy reading!
-----------------------------------------------End of "A Look At Ecclesiastes" Devotional---------------------------------------------
- "Fears"
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Bible Verse: "When I am afraid, I put my trust in You." Psalm 56:3 (ESV)
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