Christian Devotionals and Scripture Applied to Everyday Life

From the time I was young I always loved words. Some of my favorite games to play were Scrabble and Boggle. I love learning new vocabulary and discovering meanings. Words are like keys that unlock understanding. There are many key words in the Bible. Joy is one that keeps popping up over and over again. Though joy may be an easy find in the game of Boggle it is not so easy to find when it comes to life experiences. The Bible states that joy should characterize the life of a Christian. It is a gift of God and a fruit of the Holy Spirit. We are supposed to find it in the midst of trials and the joy of the Lord is to give us strength. Why then are so many of God’s people devoid of this important key word?

Life is pretty rough when we face it alone. God promises He will never leave nor forsake us and often He sends encouragement through other believers. That is why the Bible teaches that we need each other. A good friend can build us up, correct us, strengthen us, help us, stretch us, and protect us. And sometimes a good friend can even get you to dance at midnight!

Discouragement is a tool of the devil. He knows when a person is feeling down and has his ways of utilizing those times to drive a weary soul even deeper into the ground. Those are the times when a child of God must rely heavily on the truth instead of on their feelings. I was having one of those days recently. The holiday cheer had just about done me in and I was sure that I could not go on any longer. I had done everything I could do, said everything I could say, and used all the strength I could muster. I felt that I needed to get out of the house. So since we were low on food, I decided to go to the grocery store to restock the pantry and let my brain chill.

All of us have times when we experience loneliness and friendlessness. These are not good feelings and can create the perception that we are worthless and unwanted. Often these emotions are based on untrue feelings, but sometimes the events of our lives really do put us in a position of rejection and loneliness. As an African American born in 1896, Ethel Waters had every reason to feel alone and unwanted. Born to a 13-year old rape victim, Ethel spent most of her young life raising herself. Though her maternal grandmother had responsibility for her, she spent much of the time running wild in the slums of Philadelphia.

It is amazing how little things can sneak into your life. When you are least expecting it (and from the craziest places), wrong ideas and thoughts can enter the mind and totally upset your world. It kind of reminds me of living in an old house. I love this historic farmhouse that is our home, but there are certain things that I will always have a hard time getting used to. About this time every year, as the weather turns colder, intruders disrupt our usual routine. Though I have no problem with cute gray mice in cartoons, I have a big problem with them invading my house. Yet every year a new troop of them decides to find warmth and comfort within our walls.

Good things come in small packages! Each Christmas there are many packages of different sizes nestled under the tree. The brightly colored wrappings and decorative ribbons please the eye and tantalize our curiosity about what special something could be inside each box. The biggest gifts draw the most attention. They are what you see right away. But it has been my experience that the best gifts  are often the ones in the smallest packages.