10/28/19-11/1/19 Devo Two - Braided Together

This is the second devotional for the week of October 28-November 1. This is a devotional from the Our Daily Bread website. Read this devotional and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below the post. Three or four sentences would be good. Your comments give you devotion credit.

Braided Together

"A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
Ecclesiastes 4:12

A friend gave me a houseplant she’d owned for more than forty years. The plant was equal to my height, and it produced large leaves from three separate spindly trunks. Over time, the weight of the leaves had caused all three of the stalks to curve down toward the floor. To straighten them, I put a wedge under the plant’s pot and placed it near a window so the sunlight could draw the leaves upward and help cure its bad posture.

Shortly after receiving the plant, I saw one just like it in a waiting room at a local business. It also grew from three long skinny stalks, but they’d been braided together to form a larger, more solid core. This plant stood upright without any help.

Any two people may stay in the same “pot” for years, yet grow apart and experience fewer of the benefits God wants them to enjoy. When their lives are woven together with God, however, there is a greater sense of stability and closeness. Their relationship will grow stronger. “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

Like houseplants, marriages and friendships require some nurturing. Tending to these relationships involves merging spiritually so that God is present at the center of each important bond. He’s an endless supply of love and grace—the things we need most to stay happily united with each other.

By:  Jennifer Benson Schuldt

Reflect & Pray

What can you do to strengthen the spiritual bonds you share with the important people in your life? How might your relationships change if serving and worshiping God together became a priority?

Dear God, I welcome You into my closest relationships today.

10/28/19-11/1/19 Devo One - Santus Real "Pray"

This is the first devotional for the week of October 28-November 1. This video is called "Pray" by the band Sanctus Real. The lyrics are written below if you'd like to follow along. Watch this video and let us know what you think by leaving a few sentences as comment below the post. The comments are what give you credit.

You can click on the video above or click on this link: https://youtu.be/a_J4I4gsvYA

Pray

Sanctus Real

I bow my head to pray, I don't know what to say
I'm not sure how to fix the things I'm dealing with
I'm in a desperate place, I need to share the weight
But I just don't know how, to let it all pour out
Though I'm silent, my heart is crying
'Cause I was made to come to You

So I pray
God I need You more than words can say
Right here in this moment
You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
So even if it's just to speak Your name
I'm gonna pray

I failed to find the time, but You've been calling out
I let the days go by as if I could live without
But it's gotta be here now, I won't be pulled away
'Cause it's just You and I, so let the world around us fade

As I pray
God I need You more than words can say
Right here in this moment
You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
So even if it's just to speak Your name
I'm gonna pray
I'm gonna pray

Will You meet me here right now?
(Father)
I surrender, lay it down
(Father)
And every time I close my eyes
I know that I was made
To lift my hands and pray
I lift my hands and pray

You know my heart, You know my need
And every single part of me
So even if it's just to speak Your name
I'm gonna pray
I'm gonna pray

You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
I bring willing words and one heart (?)
Take it as an offering

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Mark O. Everett

Pray lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

10/14/19-10/17/19 Devo Two - Student Thanks by Nairi

This is the second devotional for the week of October 14-17. This video is the last in a series of encouraging videos for all the Faculty and Staff in the VCS Conservatory of the Arts. This one is by Nairi Babayan. It has many JH students saying words of appreciation. May these devotions be encouraging and inspiring for you. Watch this video and let us know what you think by leaving a few sentences as comment below the post. The comments are what give you credit.

Click the video above or this link to watch: https://youtu.be/oePzTp1Z2Ik

10/14/19-10/17/19 Haystack Prayers

This is the first devotional for the week of October 14-17. This is a devotional from the Our Daily Bread website. Our emphasis this year is on Prayer, so this is an encouragement toward this theme. Read this devotional and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below the post. Three or four sentences would be good. Your comments give you devotion credit.

Haystack Prayers

"You help us by your prayers."
2 Corinthians 1:11

Samuel Mills and four of his friends often gathered together to pray for God to send more people to share the good news of Jesus. One day in 1806, after returning from their prayer meeting, they got caught in a thunderstorm and took refuge in a haystack. Their weekly prayer gathering then became known as the Haystack Prayer Meeting, which resulted in a global mission movement. Today the Haystack Prayer Monument stands at Williams College in the US as a reminder of what God can do through prayer.

Our heavenly Father is delighted when His children approach Him with a common request. It’s like a family gathering where they’re united in purpose, sharing a common burden.

The apostle Paul acknowledges how God helped him through the prayers of others during a time of severe suffering: “He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers” (2 Corinthians 1:10–11). God has chosen to use our prayers—especially our prayers together—to accomplish His work in the world. No wonder the verse continues: “Then many will give thanks . . . [for the] answer to the prayers of many.”

Let’s pray together so we can also rejoice together in God’s goodness. Our loving Father is waiting for us to come to Him so He can work through us in ways that reach far beyond anything we could ever imagine.

By:  Poh Fang Chia

Reflect & Pray

What request can you and others pray for?
How has your faith been strengthened when you pray with others?

Father, help us to pray together even as we work together.

10/7/19-10/11/19 Devo Two - Student Thanks by Marlo

This is the second devotional for the week of October 7-11. This video is an encouraging video for all the Faculty and Staff in the VCS Conservatory of the Arts. It has many JH students saying words of appreciation. May these devotions be encouraging and inspiring for you. Watch this video and let us know what you think by leaving a few sentences as comment below the post. The comments are what give you credit.

Click the video above or this link to watch: https://youtu.be/XIbhY3QHUMI

10/7/19-10/11/19 Devo One - Hang in There

This is the first devotional for the week of October 7-11. This is a devotional from the Our Daily Bread website. Read this devotional and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below the post. Three or four sentences would be good. Your comments give you devotion credit.

Hang in There!

“...I will strengthen you and help you...”
Isaiah 41:10

My father-in-law turned seventy-eight recently, and during our family gathering to honor him, someone asked him, “What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in your life so far?” His answer? “Hang in there.” 

Hang in there. It might be tempting to dismiss those words as simplistic. But my father-in-law wasn’t promoting blind optimism or positive thinking. He’s endured tough things in his nearly eight decades. His determination to press on wasn’t grounded in some vague hope that things might get better, but in Christ’s work in his life.

“Hanging in there”—the Bible calls it perseverance—isn’t possible through mere willpower. We persevere because God promised, over and over, that He’s with us, that He’ll give us strength, and that He’ll accomplish His purposes in our lives. That’s the message He spoke to the Israelites through Isaiah: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

What does it take to “hang in there”? According to Isaiah, the foundation for hope is God’s character. Knowing God’s goodness allows us to release our grip on fear so we can cling to the Father and His promise that He will provide what we need each day: strength, help, and God’s comforting, empowering, and upholding presence.

By:  Adam Holz

Reflect & Pray

How have you experienced God’s provision for you in moments of fear?
How can the support of other believers help you to hang on?  

Father, Your love gives us everything we need to “hang in there.” 
Help us to remember Your promise of strength and to rely upon it each day.

9/30/19-10/4/19 Devo Two - Student Thanks by Bryce

This is the second devotional for the week of September 30-October 4. This video is an encouraging video for all the Faculty and Staff in the VCS Conservatory of the Arts. It has many JH students saying words of appreciation. May these devotions be encouraging and inspiring for you. Watch this video and let us know what you think by leaving a few sentences as comment below the post. The comments are what give you credit.

Click this link to view the video or just click the video above

https://youtu.be/VNfkNV40iMY

9/30/19-10/4/19 Devo One - Catching Foxes

This is the first devotional for the week of September 30-October 4. This is a devotional from the Our Daily Bread website. Read this devotional and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below the post. Three or four sentences would be good. Your comments give you devotion credit.

Catching Foxes

"Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards"
Song of Songs 2:15

The first time a bat invaded our home we dismissed it as a fluke. But after a second nighttime visit, I read up on the little critters and discovered they don’t need much of an opening to pay humans a visit. In fact, if they find a gap as small as the side of a coin they’ll let themselves in.

So I loaded up my caulk gun and went on a mission. I went around the house and closed up every tiny opening I could find.

In Songs of Songs 2:15, Solomon mentions another troublesome mammal. He writes of the danger of “little foxes,” which can “ruin the vineyards.” Symbolically, he’s speaking of threats that can enter a relationship and ruin it. Now I don’t mean to offend bat-lovers or fox-lovers, but keeping bats out of the house and foxes out of the vineyard is a bit like dealing with sin in our lives (Ephesians 5:3). By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit works within us so that we don’t have to “live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). By the Spirit’s power we can resist the temptation to sin.

Praise God that, in Christ, we’re now “light in the Lord” and can live in a way that “pleases” Him (Ephesians 5:8–10). The Spirit helps us catch those little foxes.

By:  Dave Branon

Reflect & Pray

When you’re tempted to sin, how can you lean into the Holy Spirit’s power to resist it?
What little foxes can the Spirit help you deal with today?

"God, use Your power to give me the strength to resist sinning and damaging my relationship with You and others."