Spirit & Soul

Every time I go out of town, I face adversity.

I travel frequently to Minnesota from Illinois. One time, I rented a car to attend a wedding. When I returned to the car after the wedding, someone had smashed the front windshield. On another occasion, I had issues with a bad tire. Once, I bought a plane ticket at the last minute. Although I got to Minnesota okay, the airline had a problem, and most of their flights were canceled for days. Fortunately, I drove home and dropped off the rental car at the St Louis Airport instead of Minneapolis for only another thirty-eight dollars. The cost could have been much higher.

Satan knows I have faced some difficulties. I grew up in a broken home. My mom was an alcoholic and committed suicide when I was fourteen. That thief is Satan, and I am convinced he does not want me to enjoy my life. Instead, he wants to steal, kill, and destroy, as the Bible says. Yet in times of adversity, I sometimes think about Job in the Old Testament. He went through more hardship than me but refused to deny God.

We can’t let Satan take control. When he attacks, we must keep moving forward. We can’t stop in our tracks as he wants. Satan may place things in our way, but we can’t let him steal, kill, and destroy.

When trials come, keep on trucking. Trust that the Lord will help you walk by faith and not sight.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and 822640.)

It was summer and every teacher’s chance to finally breathe. The deck of my home boasted a myriad of newly potted flowers. My fenced yard was my haven of green space within the city limits.

Amidst the harmony of bird song and dancing leaves, I read my devotions. My husband came outside and noticed the beautiful variegated purple flower blooming in a pot beside me—its leaves healthy and turning to the sun.

But yesterday, it hadn’t been. The leaves were closed, and the petals sagged in the throes of death. It looked wilted, forlorn, and helpless.

Fortunately, my husband had noticed its sad condition. He smiled and said, “It just needed water.”

I thought about the difference water had made in the life of my flower. From hopeless to hopeful, dejected to beautiful, and dying to new life. I realized that giving a cup of cold water in Christ’s name works similarly. I needed to reach out and bathe those in my circle of influence with the refreshing water of God’s love, truth, grace, and mercy. I needed to pour His kindness into others in practical ways. Perhaps the Lord would use my cup of water to point a despondent, hopeless person toward the giver of living water. And by doing so, revive a soul thirsting for compassion and truth.

Think of some ways to give a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and 6653167.)

“I don’t know what to do.” How many times have we thought or said those words?

In 2009, following a stroke, heart attack, and fall that resulted in a severe brain injury, my husband lay in the emergency room of our local hospital on a respirator, not expected to live. Tests showed little brain activity. He had said many times he did not want artificial support if no hope of recovery existed. Although the prognosis appeared grim, the doctor said he never used the words “no hope.”

Our circle of support included my sister, a sister-in-law, two close friends, and two pastors. None of us knew what to do, so we prayed one at a time. Baring our hearts to God, we sought direction for the hours that followed. During that prayer, I understood, as never before, that God loved my husband before I did and more than I could. I claimed God’s peace, regardless of the outcome.

We delayed a decision until we consulted a cardiologist the next day. The afternoon of the following day, the admitting physician removed the respirator. My husband breathed on his own and gave limited responses to prompts. Two days later, he sat up, talked, and began use of the weaker right side of his body.

Through it all, like Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah who faced enemy attack, we praised God for past, present, and future presence and provision. Although we did not know what to do or what would happen, we did know where to turn our eyes.

Daily, we thank God for direction as we walk into an unknown future. And daily, we rest assured of God’s unconditional, unfailing love and care. You can too.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and RobinHiggins.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)

My husband and I married on July 3, many years ago. We spent the first night of our honeymoon at the motorcycle races (sad, right?), then watched a brilliant fireworks display the next night on the Fourth.

The Fourth of July has always been special to me because it’s the day after my anniversary and because I love fireworks. But there was a time when that was all the significance it held for me—just another holiday.

For many others, it’s the same … just another holiday, like Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and even Easter. We love a long weekend or an extra day off work but forget what we celebrate.

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed, announcing the political separation of the thirteen North American colonies from Great Britain and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation. This special holiday celebrates freedom.

But there is a greater freedom we should celebrate every single day—freedom from death, hell, and the grave—freedom that Jesus purchased with His shed blood over two thousand years ago. This is the greatest form of freedom a child of God can ever experience.

So, today, we celebrate our freedom as a nation. Go out and enjoy those fireworks. But don’t forget to celebrate your freedom in Christ.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and JillWellington.)

Mind reading or Extrasensory Perception (ESP) involves communicating thoughts from one person’s mind to another without using any sense organs.

God is Spirit and so are people. We have a body with a brain into which our spirit secretes its thoughts. Then the brain articulates them and sends them through its senses for the body to animate.

The Bible does not say God has a brain. It does say He has a mind and His own thoughts and acts according to His thoughts.

Although we have a brain, we are made in God’s image. Therefore, we think in our spirits or hearts (Proverbs 23:7; Matthew 15:19). Thoughts come as images on the screen of our mind, and we flip through numerous images until we see the one we approve of. We then interpret and translate those images into words that we use as the medium for communicating through words and actions. We give advice, opinions, or examples.

I don’t believe anyone can read someone else's mind. The mind and its thoughts are protected as the property of the sovereign individual. Our thoughts are private. When we act on them, they become public and are scrutinized by all.

But God does know our thoughts and reads our mind. He sees the images we reject and the ones we select.

No one can read or know God's mind directly. We only know God's mind indirectly through His Word. By reading the Bible, we know what God thinks about everything. God communicates His mind and thoughts to us through His written Word and demonstrates His mind and will to us through the Living Word, Jesus Christ.

When we read God's Word and think as He does, we are reading His mind. This will change the way we think and the way we live.

Commit to reading God’s mind daily.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and pexels.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)