Divine Nature

Have you ever experienced the love of an animal? Written by GodLife on 19/01/2013 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Creation, God, Love "Ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature."(Romans 1:20) Have you ever experienced the love of an animal? I have pet cats, and like many pet owners or people who work with animals, I know that they can be very affectionate. When my cat loves me, I praise God for His wonderful Creation and for sharing His love with us through animals. Do you ever see God’s love because of interaction with nature? It is fun to praise Him when we can witness the amazing world He has made. Loving Creator God God made a marvelous universe, and He has a miraculous plan to redeem all Creation. The Apostle Paul preached to the wise people of Athens, “He is the God who made the world and everything in it” (Acts 17:24).

Everything God creates reveals something about Him Written by Don Olson on 26/02/2019 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Creation, Science, Bible, Joy, Wonder For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20 God delights in His creation and in revealing Himself in and through it. Everything God creates reveals something about Him. That is why He told us about His creation in more than 200 verses and passages throughout the Bible.  “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20) In this verse, Paul is saying that we only have to look around at nature to see that an almighty God -- a supreme creator -- exists. Creation is a source of joy From the

What does your name mean? Written by Christina Fox on 25/02/2020 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Forgive, Onesimus, Useful, Worthless, Precious Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me. Philemon 11 I once did a study with my children on the names of God. We started by looking at each of their names and what they mean. I laughed to myself at the irony of how my children significantly reflect their names’ meanings. My own name means Christian, or “Christ follower.” Unlike my children, I did not come out of the womb reflecting the meaning of my name. Rather, I put on my name when God grabbed my heart and made me his child. From Useless to Useful Onesimus had a similar experience with his name. Onesimus was a slave who had stolen things from his master, Philemon, and ran away. He later came to faith in Christ through the apostle Paul’s ministry. In fact, Paul refers to himself as Onesimus’s “father” because Paul directly shared Christ w

The Church is designed to be a real family. Written by Stephen G. Brown on 18/02/2020 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Church, Devotion, Isolation, New Believer And all who believed were together and had all things in common. Acts 2:44 One of the key benefits of a relationship with God is the relationship that we share with other believers. Once we receive the grace gift of salvation, we are positioned to receive other grace gifts, namely, the gift of community. Yes, living life with others is a grace gift. It is within this framework of community that support, sacrifice, and accountability are established. As time progresses, and as fellowship is cultivated, we become a true family. A glimpse at the early church The early church was intentional about community. They were intentional about family. They worked to remove hindrances that limited the power of community: isolation, insecurity, fear. Each of these hindrances was met with love, acceptance, and unity. Our passa

What comes after the death of our dreams? Written by Ruth on 26/03/2019 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Hope, Dreams, Hopeless Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God. Psalm 146:5 Where do you turn when all your dreams and hopes for your life have been crushed? When your dreams for life die Maybe you spent all this money on a great education, you did well in school, and now you can not find a job. Maybe you wanted a child so much, and now your child is ill or has died and your marriage is shattered. Maybe you invested your savings into a business that was to keep you living comfortably for the rest of your life, and now the business is bankrupt and you have lost everything. Maybe you accepted a job that promised great promotions, and now you discover you are at a dead end with no promotions coming your way. Do any of these sound familiar to you? Peter felt that way the morning after he watched Jesus die. He had so many dreams! He

What does the Bible have to say about hope? Written by Gary Fleetwood on 03/12/2019 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Depression, Hope, Despair, Expectation Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3 It is always very sad to see people who have no hope or meaningful expectations for their life. It is a life of simple despair that leads people to misery, gloom and dark depression. People who have no hope quickly lose heart. They see no light at the end of the tunnel and just want to give up on their life. Unfortunately, one of the worst things someone can do is place their hope in something or someone that cannot help them. People place their hope in things such as the government, money, jobs, financial security, promotions or even friends, but none of those things are able to provide meaningful or permanent hope for a

We have hope, because God is going to make everything new! Written by Hope on 07/09/2014 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Devil, Evil, Hope “Nothing evil will be allowed to enter.” Revelation 21:27a The Bible teaches us that God loves and cares for His Creation, and that includes us. This love caused Him to offer us Salvation through Jesus Christ. God promises eternal, peaceful life with Him. Our current existence is filled with temptation, sin and evil; but God’s plan includes removing all remainders of evil in His creation. We have hope, because God is going to make everything new! Evil Won’t Last In 2 Timothy, Paul says we will have a “difficult” time on earth before Jesus Christ returns: “People will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their f

Is God really still in control? Written by Ruth on 27/02/2018 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Creation, Sin, Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Jesus “…In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 If God is really in control, why are so many people hurt and killed in earthquakes, fires or floods? Creation: Everything was good When God created the world and everything that exists, He created it to be good. We read this in many of the verses in Genesis 1 where it tells us about the end of each day’s work – see verses 10, 12, 18, 21, and 25. Then in verse 31, when God had completed creation, He said it was “very good.” Sin damaged creation God created Adam and Eve to be different from the rest of creation – He created them in His image. He gave them the ability to make choices, and then He gave them a choice of whether they would obey a simple command from Him – they could eat anything in the Garden of Eden except the fruit of one t

This is a choice that sets us free Written by Janet Perez Eckles on 04/02/2020 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Forgive, Freedom, Hurt, Tragedy, Suffer and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:12 Tears flowed. The eulogy for this young man evoked sobs that echoed throughout the room. When a young man dies unexpectedly, shock brings unspeakable sorrow. He and my son, Joe, grew up together and remained close friends. My Joe had been in the glory of heaven since 2002, and now his close friend had joined him to share in the unimaginable paradise. They both played football, they both did mischievous things, they both had a contagious passion for life. And they both guaranteed their life eternal as they each invited Christ to be their savior. Although we knew they were both in heaven with joy overflowing, their families still on earth wondered what to do with the tragedy that had barged in. And that’s understandable. All crises rattle our

Why doesn’t God stop people from hurting others? Written by Ruth on 06/03/2018 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Forgiveness, Hope, Love, Suffering But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in Heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:44-45 Some sources of evil from people Someone tells a lie about you resulting in you losing your job. A person you love hurts you either emotionally or physically. Someone you trusted steals from you, and you are the one who must pay for what was taken. We continue our study in the Bible of why God allows so much evil in the world with a look at the evil that is done to us by the actions against us by people. According to the Bible, evil is found within “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life: (1 John 2:16). However, there are many other situations where evil c

This is a choice that sets us free Written by Janet Perez Eckles on 04/02/2020 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Forgive, Freedom, Hurt, Tragedy, Suffer and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:12 Tears flowed. The eulogy for this young man evoked sobs that echoed throughout the room. When a young man dies unexpectedly, shock brings unspeakable sorrow. He and my son, Joe, grew up together and remained close friends. My Joe had been in the glory of heaven since 2002, and now his close friend had joined him to share in the unimaginable paradise. They both played football, they both did mischievous things, they both had a contagious passion for life. And they both guaranteed their life eternal as they each invited Christ to be their savior. Although we knew they were both in heaven with joy overflowing, their families still on earth wondered what to do with the tragedy that had barged in. And that’s understandable. All crises rattle our

The truth is, you don’t have it all together. Written by Laurie Coombs on 21/01/2020 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Grace, Love, Distraction, Mess, Adequate Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you... Isaiah 43:4a If there is one thing I know, it’s that I don’t have it all together. Not a day goes by that I’m not faced with my shortcomings. Thoughts flood my mind continually. Thoughts like: I shouldn’t have eaten that. I should have said that differently. I need to love Travis (my husband) better. I should have given more undivided attention to my girls. I shouldn’t have spoken those critical words. I need to be building up, not tearing down. I should have spent more time with Jesus this morning. I need a greater passion for the Lord. I should be loving and serving people better. And it goes on and on. I am far from perfect. But you know what? I’ve learned that it’s okay because you see, I serve a big God. A God who sees my mess an