Christian Daily Devotionals

by Sylvia Gunter

I don't know your story and you don't know mine, but we share a common theme. We are driven by the search for true identity, a desire to be understood and appreciated for who we are. We have longing to seek out something more. Those are not evil desires. God gave us the desire to seek the essence of who he created us to be, so that he can fulfill it.  He created the thirst so we can enjoy the Living Water.  Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time and energy looking everywhere else but to him for that fulfillment.

In Jeremiah 2 God paints a picture of how his people loved him like a bride loves her groom, full of passion and complete in their devotion to him. But their hearts changed. In Jeremiah 2:13 God says that his people have forsaken him, the spring of Living Water, and have dug their own cisterns. They are looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places. You can hear the Father's grieved heart as he lays out their behavior before them and then ends with "How's that working for you?"

My heart sinks as I see the areas in my life where I have chosen to find identity in my own cisterns, rather than drinking the Living Water. We too easily revert back to our own cisterns that can hold no water. Look at the cisterns in your life. What seemed like such a good source of legitimacy suddenly pales in comparison to true legitimacy found in God. That is why it is critical to meditate on the truths of who God is and who we are in Him until it sinks down deep into our spirit, soul, and body. John Calvin wrote in The Institutes Of The Christian Religion, "It now remains to pour into the heart itself what the mind has absorbed. For the Word of God is not received by faith if it fills the top of the brain, but when it takes root in the depth of the heart." Calvin is urging us to take deep drinks of the Living Water of who he is and what we have because of who he is:

He is Jehovah-Jireh (provider).
Genesis 22:14 Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide.
You can be sure he sees and knows your every need.
Matthew 6:8 Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

He is Jehovah-Rophe (healer).
Exodus 15:26 I am the LORD, who heals you.
You are being renewed.
Isaiah 40:31 ... those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength...

He is Jehovah-Shalom (peace).
Judges 6:24 ... and called it The LORD is Peace.
You have life and peace.
Romans 8:6 ... to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

He is Jehovah-Nissi (banner).
Exodus 17:15 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.
You are led in Christ's triumph.
2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ...

He is Jehovah-Rohi (shepherd).
Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd...
You are his well-tended sheep.
Psalm 100:3 We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

He is Jehovah-Tsidkenu (righteousness).
Jeremiah 23:6 This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.
You are free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:2 Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

He is Jehovah-Shammah (THE LORD IS THERE, Ezekiel 48:35)
Matthew 28:20 Surely I am with you always...
You are continually with God.
Psalm 73:23 Yet I am always with you...

Stop and allow these truths to sink deep into your spirit.  You may "know" these Scriptural facts, but now really receive their truth deeply in your spirit where your legitimacy, identity, significance, and birthright are defined by God.

Remember whose you are... and who you are in him!

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/03/09/sg_whose-you-are/
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by Sylvia Gunter

Beloved child of God, listen to your Father's heart and his ways for you in Galatians 5:22-23,25.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

Listen with your spirit to Romans 5:5 "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Be blessed to know how dearly God loves you, because he has given you his Spirit to fill your heart with his love. You were created of your Father's love. You are the evidence of God's love deposited in you in lavish measure in making you just the way you are. Know deep within that your Father who is love speaks his love to you. He enjoys you and finds pleasure in who you are. You are not an "it." You are you, the real you in your essence, your inner being, your spirit.

Deep inside, be blessed with larger-than-the-universe love, the faithful love of your infinite Father for you. Be blessed to know that you are shielded in his love that always seeks your highest good, no matter what you do. Be blessed with God's kind of self-giving love that gives freely without asking anything in return. Be blessed with knowing deeply that you are accepted and affirmed in him. His love for you was forever settled on the cross. Be blessed with being completely persuaded that nothing can separate you from his love. He loves you with a mighty love that has no end. Marvel at the goodness of his holy love without measure. His love extends its covering over a multitude of sins. He perfectly loves you, and you need have no fear before him.

Be blessed to love others as the fruit of God's love living in you. You love others because he first loved you and lives in you to love through you. Be blessed with the love of Christ that compels you. Be blessed with 1 Corinthians 13 unfailing love filling you through and through. Be blessed as you let that love flow through you to your family and everyone around you.

Be blessed to love by character and by choice, not by emotion. Love must give, whatever the cost. Be blessed with increasing and overflowing love for others (1 Thessalonians 3:12). God who is love lives in you to will and to do it.

Be blessed to display the fruit of the love of God that the Holy Spirit produces in you, your grace-inspired response from his love (Galatians 5:22).

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/03/01/sg_fruit/
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by Rick Warren

“Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insights.” Proverbs18:15 (MSG)

Over the years, I've noticed when people are stuck in life. It's usually because they're still working off a set of assumptions that no longer apply. Or they're using problem solving techniques that once worked, but don't work anymore.

God wants us to always be learning, "always listening for fresh insights." Proverbs 18:15 (MSG)

Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing mysterious about being creative. The basic principle of creativity is simply combining two or more known ideas in a new way to create a fresh idea. This is a skill you can develop and it starts with awareness:

Here are the five steps I use in the creative process:

1. State the problem clearly. What is wrong? Be as precise as you can. Vague problems are more difficult to solve.

2. Set a specific goal. What is it that you really want to accomplish?

3. Generate as many ideas as possible. The more ideas you have, the better. Force yourself to list at least 5 options. Brainstorm. Have fun. Use your intuition. Ask a lot of questions.

4. Narrow the list to the one best idea. One new idea is all you need to get unstuck.

5. Take action! Do it now. God has given you fresh insight, now act on it!

You must always be developing and growing and becoming what God wants you to be. Learning to be a leader takes a lifetime.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/02/25/rw_developing/

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by Vonette Bright

“He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken”  Psalm 62:6

While some musicians dread getting ready for a tour, Rynn looks forward to it.

She says, “God has prepared me for the journey…it’s my job to show-up, sing and serve”.

But when she was a teenager traveling with the youth choir, she wasn’t ready for the hostile world beyond her loving, Christian home.

Yet on the trip she met teens who had accepted Christ… teens from abusive homes, life-threatening addictions, and more.

But their lives were transformed by the power of Christ!

Rynn learned that whatever she might face, with Christ, she’d make it through, too.

Today she admits that Christ is her Absolute Rock. And her peace and comfort in the storms.

Friend, it’s a harsh world some, maybe you, might be facing.

Lean on Jesus the Rock to get you through.

“Her love for Christ shines through in her heart, her eyes, her personality and most assuredly, her voice”
(James Bullard, MCG Records President and Executive Producer)

You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2010/02/15/vb_absolute/

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