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Christian Devotional – August 20, 2022
Prayer in Action, Day 4 A sadness that was overwhelming. As Nehemiah stood in the presence of the king, he couldn’t help being sad. Read Nehemiah 2:1-5. When we are going through our situations, we need to recognize that no matter what is going on, we need God’s help. Nehemiah was in a circumstance where he was broken about the people and the king saw that. However, when the king asked him about it, he didn’t immediately start asking for things. He immediately prayed. What do we do when we are faced with difficult situations? How do we respond? Our response must be to seek God and His will first.…
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Christian Devotional – August 19, 2022
Prayer in Action, Day 3 I need help! Essentially, that is how Nehemiah starts out. There is a problem and he desperately needs God’s help. Read Nehemiah 1:8-11. As Nehemiah continues to pray, he has acknowledged all the failings and shortcomings that the people have. Still, Nehemiah begs for God’s help. He knows that he can not do anything without God to help and support him. There are no answers to be had and no solutions to be found apart from Jesus Christ. Do we beg God for help? Do we recognize that there is nothing that we can do apart from him? Even now, we all have our own…
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Christian Devotional – August 18, 2022
Prayer in Action, Day 2 What does prayer in action look like? Well, first it starts with prayer. Read Nehemiah 1:5-7. Nehemiah is broken for the situation and position that the people find themselves in. As a result, he begins to pray. Nehemiah’s prayer begins by glorifying God and reminding God of his faithfulness. Nehemiah shares that God is there and blesses the people. Unfortunately, the people haven’t been praising or blessing God. Nehemiah knows this and he pours out his cries to God begging for him to be open to helping the people, even when they don’t deserve it. Do we cry out to God? Do we beg for…
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Christian Devotional – August 17, 2022
Prayer in Action, Day 1 We’re going to move back to the Old Testament for a bit and journey through the book of Nehemiah. Read Nehemiah 1:1-4. Nehemiah starts off in a rather dramatic fashion. We see Nehemiah receiving a visitor who gives him news about the state of things in Israel. Nehemiah and many others were taken into captivity and away from Israel. But now, Nehemiah is working for the king, and he hears word of how those who were left behind are faring. And it’s not good. As we go through this book, we’re going to focus on the action that accompanies the prayers of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is…
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Christian Devotional – August 16, 2022
Teaching and Training, Day 35 The Lord be with your Spirit. What a beautiful phrase! Read 2 Timothy 4:19-22. As Paul closes out his letter to Timothy, he adds some final words or greeting to individuals and then closes with these final words in this verse pictured above. Not just that the Lord should be with you, but that the Lord be with your spirit. On the days when we are discouraged or delighted, the days when we are overwhelmed or overjoyed, no matter our circumstance, the Lord is to keep our spirit in check and lift it up. He is with us, but not just that. He is with…
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Christian Devotional – August 15, 2022
Teaching and Training, Day 34 Attacks. Read 2 Timothy 4:16-18. Attacks will come. Paul knew this and he wanted to guard Timothy as much as possible and prepare him for the attacks that will come. However, it’s not Paul that was going to protect Timothy. God protects Timothy. They same us true for us today. We are to understand that the attacks that we face we are to be prepared for them. We are not to be surprised by them. But we must remember that God is the one that defends us. We don’t have to fight these battles on our own. God defends us. Are we relying on him…
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Christian Devotional – August 14, 2022
Teaching and Training, Day 33 The personal message. As Paul is concluding this letter to Timothy, things start to get personal. Read 2 Timothy 4:9-15. We start to see that Paul is in need of fellowship. He lists multiple people who have left him and he requests that Timothy come to him. Then he explains that there has been someone who has made life very difficult for Paul and he advises Timothy to watch out for him. We could take the same advice. We all need people in our lives that we can love and walk through life with. We need those relationships because we cannot do this on our…
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Christian Devotional – August 13, 2022
Teaching and Training, Day 32 Endurance. What does it take to finish well? That is the question that Paul is pondering as he works through his concluding statements to Timothy. Read 2 Timothy 4:6-8. Paul wants Timothy to understand that the end will come. Paul knows that he will die at some point. Yet, that is not a cause for grief, that is an opportunity for celebration. As Paul sees that end coming toward him, his focus is on ensuring that he finishes well. Is he enduring in the path that God has laid out before him? How else can Paul continue to glorify God and my God and bring…
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Christian Devotional – August 12, 2022
Teaching and Training, Day 31 Real and fake. As Paul is wrapping up his letter to Timothy, he wants to make sure that Timothy can tell the difference between the real and the fake. Read 2 Timothy 4:1-5. Paul knows that there will come a point when people will no longer want to hear the truth of God. People will much prefer to hear what they want to hear, what is comfortable to hear, and as a result will move away from God’s truth. Just like this picture with the reflection of the sun, some people would choose to have just the reflection and not the actual sun itself. Paul…
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Christian Devotional – August 11, 2022
Teaching and Training, Day 30 Consistency. I can’t tell you how many conversations I have each day talking about the importance of consistency. Read 2 Timothy 3:14-17. There are so many amazing truths in these four verses. I could separately discuss each and every one of them. However, for today, this verse stands out to me. Are we being consistent in what we do? Are we standing firm and continuing on as we do the things that we should be doing? So often, the Christian life is difficult and frustrating, and life happens and that can be really challenging. However, God calls us to consistently follow through on the things…