Week 1 Devotions, Thoughts and Comments

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This is the first daily little devotional. Hope it focuses your day on God in the morning or whenever you read it.

Sunday 1/23/11
Philippians 4:6
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Basketball games can be tense times if you are a big fan. One seems to live and die with every made or missed shot. Its certainly easy to get anxious and nervous watching some games. In watching basketball this seems to be okay, as its part of the fan experience. In life it is not.

We have a God who Himself bore every burden we could ever have to the cross on calvary. We truly have nothing left to be anxious about that he hasn't already borne for us. The solution and alternative is to pray and talk to God about that with which we are worried..

in sports, when worries and hardship overwhelm, one must sometimes rely on a "Hail Mary" pass or basket. In life, we can always rely on Christ.

Prayer: Lord, when we want to set our sights on the problems we face, let us instead fix eyes on your only begotten Son who died for each of us. Amen

Monday 1/24/2011

Dan's Post

Isaiah 61:1a

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. “

The sermon yesterday was all about darkness and who to shine your light to, and where Jesus set up shop (so to speak). The pastor continued to remind us that Christ set up shop in a dark spot because those in darkness are the ones who need to be reached.

The pastor was from our sister congregation in the city and he was telling us all about the location of the church and the drug deals that go on down the street and the homeless and how they were put there for a reason, and how each of us is put where we are for a reason.

The book of Isaiah tells us to “proclaim the good news to the poor”. Not just those lacking income, but poor meaning those living in the darkness. I pray that each of us strives to shine as a light to all individuals, but especially to those who remain in the darkness.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are the Light of the World, help us to walk in your light and to shine as a light to those we come into contact with. Amen.

Tuesday 1/25/11

Written through Jason Highley

The God of Beginnings

Genesis 1:1

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.”

Many people want to label Genesis as a tale about our origins. I prefer to think of it as a story of beginnings. After all, Genesis is no canonized Origin of Species. It won’t put to rest the evolution argument, it doesn’t have much to say about geology or astronomy, and it certainly treads non-politically-correct ground when it comes to sexes. But those who would attempt to vivisect Genesis as a tale of origins focus too much on our own significance, and lose sight of the cosmic nature of our God.

On December 24, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 transmitted video from their lunar orbit to the earth. In that transmission, the world saw it’s first “earthrise” (with accompanying audio from the first 10 verses of Genesis) and realized just how small we really are. Astronaut Jim Lovell tried to put thoughts into words and remarked, “The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth." I don’t know that any of us have felt as alone as Jim Lovell did, seeing the only world he knew as a small blue sphere rolling through the void. But awe-inspiring it certainly was, because it reminds us of that basic truth that is more and more frequently neglected – God is really, really powerful.

I often feel that we as a society have lost touch with this God - the God of Genesis. After all, we “created” iPods, Android phones, the Motorola Xoom, and Xbox Kinect. The whole question of us - as affluent Americans - getting anything we truly “need” from scripture can start to feel laughable as we exercise our power to order anything from Amazon with two touches. It seems sometimes that what we really want is for God to acknowledge that we are the creators now. Just give us Jesus and all his feel-good talk about love and redemption, and leave the crazy, unpredictable pillar of fire from Exodus at home with our Palm Pilots. But our God is not tame, not watered-down, not packaged up inside our comfort zones. He is wild and miraculous. Next time you start to doubt God’s power to accomplish his will in your life, look up at the moon and ask yourself, “Who imagined that this whole world would be, and made it just so?”

Prayer: Lord, you are mighty and awesome. I trust you with everything that I am and everything that I will do. As your breath moved over the surface of the waters in Genesis, so let it move over the waters of my life, that you can create in me a clean and powerful heart, capable of doing your will. Amen.

Wednesday 1/26/11

Written through Liz Marler

This may be a girl thing, but I know EVERY single clothing item that I own. When I turned 13, I began to purchase my own clothing with my own money and became much more possessive over my belongings. Right now, I have a beautiful black cardigan with pearly white buttons from Old Navy that is missing. I wore it literally two times and then it disappeared. It was one of my favorite sweaters to wear! And now, it's GONE. If any of you happen to know where it is, please tell me...although, this WAS three years ago......:)

This situation may seem not to apply to most of you (who are men) and it may seem extremely dramatic for something so unimportant, but it relates to your very own life. Lucky for you, you are the classy Old Navy cardigan! :) We are specifically chosen by God to be his children (you feel free to substitute cardigan for children if that would make it better). God sent his most precious gift, his son, Jesus, as a price to pay for our sins so we could be God's belongings and His children! And He knows us all and never forgets even one. What a promising thought to "hang out" in God's closet/Kingdom!

Unfortunately, sin and the devil (or a night out on the town) draws us away from the secure hand of God. We tend to get lost very easily due to many worldly distractions and temptations. Unlike myself, God does NOT give up on his lost children. Just as in the story of the lost sheep in Luke, our Shepard would leave his 99 sheep to come and look for the one, lonely sheep.

Luke 15:4 (KJV)
"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, doth not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after that which is lost until he find it?"

"I once was lost, but now I'm found..." <--Amazing Grace may never have been sung by my cardigan, but it is sung daily by Christians around the world, who give thanks to their heavenly father for finding them in a world of darkness. I know I would most certainly wear and use my cardigan as much as Mr. Rogers did if I had it back. Similarly, God uses all of our talents and gifts to spread his Word in this lost world. We are FOUND! Praise God! Prayer: My gracious Shepard, thank you for choosing and finding me in this dark and fallen world. Forgive me for all the times I have hidden from you or your Word. Please give me the energy and strength to use my gifts and talents to praise you all the days of my life. Amen. AUTHOR'S NOTE: {I began to think of Lost and Found after seeing the concert at River of Life on Sunday. The men stress that the most important word in their name is "AND". They did an excellent job by the way...}

Thursday1/27/11

Devotion 1/27/11
Through Neil Harrington

Good morning everyone!

I don't know about you all, but it has been a long week that won't seem to end. I am definitely looking forward to the weekend that's for sure! ( and hopefully a Bears victory over UNI! :) One thing that has got me through this week is staying in the word and praying daily. I'm going to focus on the aspect of prayer for today. A lot of times it's hard to know how to pray or even what order to pray. The bible is clear that we need to pray in all that we do. Paul says in his letter to the church in Ephesus, "Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere." Clearly Paul says to pray at all times and on every occasion. So that means not just your "morning prayer" or evening prayer before you get tucked in! He means throughout the day we should be in constant contact with our Lord. The second part of that verse is where fall short at, including myself at times. Paul says stay alert and persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere. What Paul is to pray for others and not just yourself. It is definitely important to pray for yourself and give your needs to the Lord, but the focus of praying shouldn't be "ME". Jesus gives us the perfect example on how to pray. "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." Matthew 6:9-13. What does all that mean exactly?! Does that mean we are to pray those exact words every time we pray? No, that is not the case. Jesus was giving us an outline of how to approach praying and that we should pray for all things according to His will. There was a great way to approach prayer that my pastor taught me and easy to remember and to understand. A wonderful acronym for prayer that I learned from my pastor is ACTS. So four basic aspects of prayer:



Adoration (is to adore God, to worship Him and to fulfill the commandment to love Him with all of our heart, mind and soul. As we spend time in adoration, we praise God for who He is - our Creator, our Sustainer and our Redeemer.)



Confession ( allows us to clear away the things in the relationship between you and God which are displeasing to Him. All of us have sinned.The Apostle John writes in his epistle "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:8,9)



Thanksgiving( From childhood we are brought up to say "Thank You" when someone does something for us, or gives us a gift. Each moment God is blessing us, every minute we can recall the wonderful things that God has done for us, and the gifts that we have been given. And so, we need to be constantly thanking God for his blessings. In writing to Timothy, Paul makes it clear that we also need to be giving thanks for everyday, worldly things.



Submission( Finally we come to ask God for our needs and the needs of others. There are many demands on our prayer time - many topics and issues that we could pray for, so we need to choose, and to be specific).



I guarantee if we follow this way of prayer then it will make a huge difference in our lives.



Prayer for the day: Heavenly Father, thank you for all of your continued blessings and all that you do for us. Most importantly thank You for who You are and for what you have done for us. Guide us the rest of the week as we go in our daily lives and to shine the light of Jesus in all we do. Help us to be more caring for others and not to be selfish in things we do, including prayer. We love You and praise You and we do this the name of Christ Jesus, Amen.



As always, please visit twomenandabible.blogspot.com to comment on this or any other devotion

Devotion Friday 1/28/11

Through Colten Highley

Like Neil, I also chose to write about prayer. Neil covered the topic very well, but hopefully I can explain it a little further. Mine is more of an example of how not to pray, and why we don’t always get what we want.

“You do not have, because you do not ask God. And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask for the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. “- James 4:3

When I was in 4^th grade, I received my first pair of glasses. At the time, I hated it and thought it was the worst thing in my life. I prayed and prayed that I wouldn’t have to wear them. It seems ridiculously silly now, but I tried to rationalize my thoughts with God-

Just think, if I woke up tomorrow and had 20/20 vision, how great of a miracle that would be! I would tell everyone how I was healed, and it would lead more people to Jesus!

Looking back now, I understand why those prayers weren’t answered, or haven’t been answered yet. God had better plans in mind for me. As the Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) God chose not to restore my sight, so that I might learn to rely on grace. I look forward to being in heaven where I shall see with clarity- “And I- in righteousness I will see your face, when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.” (Psalm 17:15)

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for your many blessings. Great is your faithfulness; your mercies are new every morning. Help us to make your motives our motives. Help us to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. Thy will be done. Amen.

As always, please visit twomenandabible.blogspot.com to comment on the devotionals. Coming to you tomorrow is Cody Seidel

Saturday 1/29/11

Through Cody Seidel

I was listening to a song on the radio on Wednesday. This song is by Carrie Underwood, a country singer. I have put this last verse and refrain here which I have always found very interesting.

Old man, hospital bed / The room is filled with people he loves / And he whispers, “Don’t cry for me, I’ll see you all someday / He looks up and says, “I can see God’s face” / “This is my temporary home, it’s not where I belong/ Windows and rooms that I am passing through/ This was just a stop on the way to where I’m going/ I’m not afraid because I know this was my temporary home.” This is our temporary home.

An old man understands that our lives here on this Earth are just temporary. We are all living in His creation, using everything that He has given us. Even though we do not thank him for every single thing that has been given to us, he knows what is truly on our hearts. I believe we all appreciate the lives God has given us, and we should thank him for that by living our lives the way that He wants us to. We should be ready for that day because it can come at any time. A question you can ask yourself is, “If I were to die tomorrow, would I be ready?” The old man was ready to die because he knew that this place, our bodies, and everything in general is just a temporary place. John 14: 2-3 says “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. The absolute best place is awaiting us in heaven, and our names are written in the Book of Life. Yes, it can be scary, but I take great comfort in knowing that our names are written in the book, and God has loved has since before we were even born. He will continue to love us always!!! Oh how I cannot wait to be there, and be in His glory until the end of time.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for everything you have given us, from the most complex things to the simplest ones. You are truly great and awesome!! You have cared for us, and done so much for us. Help us to be better missionaries for you, and tell the world what you have done. Keep us safe through the weekend, and be with us always. In your holy name, Amen.