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Christian Devotional – October 18, 2023
Evangelism 101, Day 3 The information Jonah shared. Read Jonah 1:7-10. Jonah hadn’t known these people for very long and yet they already knew his reputation. He had told them he was running from God. So when the situation was becoming critical, they turned to him. Everything was pointing to Jonah. Why did Jonah tell them that he was running to God? These people didn’t know him and it seems an odd thing for Jonah to just share with them in casual conversation. What do we share with people? Jonah was still talking about God to others, even as he was being disobedient. Do we talk about God? Are we…
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Christian Devotional – October 17, 2023
Evangelism 101, Day 2 What are you sleeping through? Read Jonah 1:4-6. Jonah was on the run and he was desperate to get away from what God was leading him to do. But, he wasn’t paying attention to anything else except his disobedience. They were in a terrible situation and Jonah was oblivious. He was asleep in the bottom of the boat. When we are following God, he keeps us in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. However, if we are not being obedient, we can often find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Are we paying attention to all that is going on…
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Christian Devotional – October 16, 2023
Evangelism 101, Day 1 Have a message worth sharing. Read Jonah 1:1-3. This month at our church, Discover Church, we have an emphasis on sharing your faith. We are encouraging all our members to share their faith with at least one person this month. God has given us an incredible message to share! As we spend the next several days going through the book of Jonah, Jonah had a message to share as well. God gave Jonah a message and he wanted Jonah to share it, but Jonah didn’t want to. As we study through this incredible book, we’re going to keep the focus on evangelism and make sure that…
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Christian Devotional – October 15, 2023
Living for God’s Glory, Day 14 What does it mean to live for God’s glory and how do we avoid stumbling? Read Hosea chapter 14. As we come to the end of the book of Hosea, this verse stood out to me today as the culmination of what it means to live for God’s glory. We are to be wise and discerning. We are to focus on Christ and on all that he is. Anything less is stumbling in rebellion. Are we walking in God’s glory each day? Do we move forward in every area that God has for us? Are we living for God’s glory in every area of…
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Christian Devotional – October 14, 2023
Living for God’s Glory, Day 13 One of the saddest verses. Read Hosea chapter 13. Reading through this chapter today, this verse jumped out of the page at me. What a incredibly sad verse! God provides for his people. When his people receive his provision, they are happy and blessed and satisfied. As they become satisfied, they turned away from God thinking that they don’t need him. This describes the state of many countries and people today. God has done amazing things in their past and shown himself to be the truly awesome God that he is, and as a result the people are blessed and happy. However, they have…
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Christian Devotional – October 13, 2023
Living for God’s Glory, Day 12 Return. Read Hosea chapter 12. The idea of returning is interesting to me. It implies that at one point we where were we need to be and then for some reason we left. We changed positions or stopped our focus or in some way fell away from what we have been doing. We are to return to God. We know what we are missing and all that God has provided for us because we used to experience it. Yet when we are not following him, we are choosing to go without everything that he provides. We are to return to him. God wants to…
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Christian Devotional – October 12, 2023
Living for God’s Glory, Day 11 God’s tremendous love. Read Hosea chapter 11. As we read through this chapter, we see the description of all the different things that Israel has done to God. Israel has fallen away from God. Still, God continues to have such tremendous love for Israel. When we think about all the things that we have done, we are truly no better. We have all sinned against God in such horrific ways. However, God continues to love us. God seeks to find ways to bring us back and to get our attention so that we will be made right with him. God wants to have a…
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Christian Devotional – October 11, 2023
Living for God’s Glory, Day 10 Now is the time. Read Hosea chapter 10. Seek the Lord and recognize that now is the time to come to him. We do not know what is coming next and with all the upheaval in the world today, it is even more apparent that we need him. What are we sowing and what are we reaping? We desperately need to seek the Lord. Please continue to pray for Israel and for the devastation they are experiencing.
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Christian Devotional – October 9, 2023
Living for God’s Glory, Day 9 Obedience. Read Hosea chapter 9. So many places through scripture we read that God desires obedience more than sacrifice. God wants his people to come to him and to obey him. As we read through this chapter in Hosea, we see so many ways that the people rejected God. As a result, God rejected them. God wants to bring us into relationship with him, but he’s not going to force it. If we don’t want a relationship with him, he’s not going to make us have one. As a result, our obedience is a demonstration of our love of God and it shows him…
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Christian Devotional – October 8, 2023
Living for God’s Glory, Day 8 Do our creations fulfill their purpose? Read Hosea chapter 8. The people built altars with the original intent of worshipping God. They built these altars so they could bring sin offerings and sacrifices to glorify God. However, these very creations were now being used as a way to sin against God by worshipping other things. Look around our lives at the things we have built or created. Do we use those things for the originally intended purpose? If our desire is to glorify God, is everything in our life being built around that desire to glorify him? Or, are we repurposing some things in…