Articles and Devotionals – Page 57

My Vision of Boundaries-Lent 10, 2020

March 7, 2020 No Comments

Prayer Focus: Boundaries are an act of love

Thank You, Father, for giving us boundaries for our health and our protection. May we never look at Your commands and requirements as being burdensome or feel a resentment over Your desire for our holiness. May we always see that Your holiness–and desire for us to be holy as well– are the loving reasons behind Your establishing boundaries for mankind. When we might feel tempted to listen to our adversary who points to Your boundaries and hints that You are withholding what is good, strengthen us in Your Word. By the power of Your Holy Spirit may we persevere in holiness, confident that You alone are good. Give us assurance that Your boundaries are an act of love. Be with us this day. Remind us of the consequences of breaking Your commands and the blessings that are ours in Christ. Nothing can separate us from Your love in Christ, and for that we praise You. Any boundaries You have established are for our safety and preservation. We thank You for this display of Your love! Preserve us in the power of Jesus Christ, in whose Name we pray. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2020 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Articles and Devotionals, Devotionals

My Vision of Your Glory-Lent 9, 2020

March 6, 2020 No Comments

Prayer Focus: God’s Glory in Creation

Lord Jesus, help me to see Your glory as it is reflected back to You in Your creation. It’s beautiful that You rested on the seventh day, that space and time for resting was blessed by You, and You called it holy. Your creation will be forever reflecting Your glory back to You. There is still so much good and beautiful in this world even though it must grieve You that it has been marred by human sin. As I admire the night sky filled with stars and a moon seeming to smile from the heavens, and as I shield my eyes from the brilliance of the sun that gives off light and heat even all these years since You created them, I’m filled with wonder at the work of Your hands. Help me to see that there’s beauty in work. Help me also to rest from my work so that I may have space to reflect on all that You have made and all that I can do by Your grace. I’m amazed how You designed mankind that way. You gave human beings minds and hands and You give us strength, innovation, and creativity. Forgive me for the times I take credit for my work as if I had ownership instead of stewardship responsibilities. Forgive me for the times I feel my work is too important or too critical to set it aside to honor Your Sabbath. Give me wisdom to know when to work, and when to rest. May all I do bring glory to You and may I set apart a time and space to rest and reflect on the glory which is Yours alone. In Christ’s Name. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2020 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Articles and Devotionals, Devotionals

My Vision of Fatherly Love-Lent 8, 2020

March 5, 2020 No Comments

Prayer Focus: A Father’s Love

Thank You Father, that I am deeply loved by You even though I don’t deserve it. I praise You Father, that You know my frame, You know my weakness, You know how much I can bear, and that You never give me more to bear then I can do with Your grace to carry me. So I thank You for Your Fatherly love and Your compassion that feels the pain of my circumstances every bit as much as if it were happening to Jesus. I thank You, that as the pioneer and author of our faith Jesus experienced everything just as we do and yet was without sin. We praise You for His sinless life. We praise You for His perfect sacrifice. We thank You that He is able to see us through life’s difficulties, giving us strength and power to endure. I praise You Lord that though I am as dust of the earth–my body destined to die once– I praise You that You still love me. Even though I am as insignificant as can be, I thank You Lord Jesus, for the love of the Father that compelled You to the Cross. Not anything I bring as dust of the earth, but for the love of God’s image in humanity displayed perfectly by You throughout Your earthly ministry. I ask, Father, that You would strengthen me for the journey ahead, that You would encourage my heart when I’m downcast, and that You would lift my head in heavenly hope and fatherly encouragement. Surround me by other members of the body of Christ whom You have placed in my life and let me encourage them in return. During difficult times I praise You. During good times I praise You. I thank You that Your mercies are new every morning and that You love us with a Fatherly love and compassion. We are blessed, Lord, as Your Word says when we persevere under trials because we will receive the crown of life that You promise. Night or day, Lord, we can come to You because Jesus opened the way through the curtain so that we could approach the most holy place in prayer. We praise You and thank You for Your Holy Spirit who guides and teaches us, who helps us in our difficulties, so much that we can consider it pure joy and take the trials that we’ve experienced and turn them into a ministry of comfort for others. Thank You Lord, that You never leave our side. I thank You Lord. May all thanks and praise return to You as glory. In the mighty Name of Jesus Christ Your Son and my Savior. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2020 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Articles and Devotionals, Devotionals

My Vision of Community-Lent 7, 2020

March 4, 2020 No Comments

Prayer Focus: Being Better Together

Lord God, forgive me. You know how often my heart prefers solitude. To go it alone. To be my own master without having to take into account anyone else. To long for the simple life of selfishness that seeks the satisfaction of only one person’s concerns: mine. The minute another person enters my arena, life becomes more complicated, more complex, and frankly, I have a tendency to see it as being less satisfying. The truth is You said that it’s not good for us to be alone. When we’re separated from the beauty of community, we’re like embers separated from the fire, we darken and cease to provide comfort and warmth in the presence of others. The truth is, Lord, I am always in community with You as I seek to follow Jesus Christ all day, every day. His concerns are supposed to be foremost in my mind and I do try to seek Your will continually. You are my Father in heaven. I want to bring glory to You through Your Holy Spirit as my ongoing advocate and counselor. I fall short. A lot. It’s hard to see clearly through the forest of personal preferences, preferred life styles, forged agendas, and layered objectives. Sometimes I can’t even see that I’m missing the mark of community. But You call me to see the beauty in it. The beauty in friendship. The beauty in the family of Christ. The beauty in relationship. It’s only sin that has broken what You designed to be perfect and harmonious. Help me, Lord, to know the way relationship can be when it’s without sin. When it’s all love and grace and holiness. When it’s perfection. Help me, Father, to see through and beyond all that is sin and instead to see You and others with Your eyes. Help me to know the value of community so great in Your eyes that You’ve made an eternity of its perfection possible through the sacrifice of Your Son Jesus. By His blood, You’ve created a kingdom and a priesthood from sinners. By His blood, You’ve made family from aliens and strangers. By His blood, You’ve washed away our sins. By His blood, we find forgiveness and restoration in Christ. Help me, Father, to live like Your child, bearing Your image, for my good and Your glory. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2020 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Articles and Devotionals, Devotionals

My Vision of Gratitude for What is Given-Lent 6, 2020

March 3, 2020 No Comments

Prayer Focus: Gratitude

Lord God, loving Father, Lord of all creation, we praise You and offer thanks to You for the wonders of creation. Not only that You would delegate responsibility to care and nurture the created world You have made, but also, Lord, for the way our creation provides for us as Your provision to us. Back in the Garden of Eden, caring for creation was no real work at all. No sweat of the brow until after the fall of mankind. No weeds or thorns or thistles. The trees and plants just yielded their fruit for man to eat. On this side of the fall, the land still produces and the miracle of provision remains because it was designed by You in the beginning to yield food for us as a gift of Your grace. Though now we must work for it as all creation groans under the burden of human sin, nevertheless, we ought to remain grateful because there’s no reason our work should be profitable at all. There is nothing we bring to the table, no amount of earning we could do to make it happen apart from You. Everything in all creation is Yours. Every good and perfect gift comes from You. You provide for the lilies of the field and the birds of the sky. You provide for the sparrows and for mankind. Help me, Lord, to value my work no more highly than it deserves and to value Your gift of provision with deep and humble gratitude. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2020 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Articles and Devotionals, Devotionals

My Vision of Caring for Your Creation-Lent 5, 2020

March 2, 2020 No Comments

Prayer Focus: Stewardship of Creation

Gracious Lord, Your creation is something amazing to behold. The diversity of animals and plants. The splendor of the stars and sky. The complexity of every form of life. The genius of reproduction, both sexual and asexual, the beauty of innocent life, and the grandeur of maturity. When I think about all You have made, I marvel at both the design and the delegation. Who is mankind that You would have placed us as stewards over this awesome wonder, to care, learn, and grow as an act of worship of You? We praise You for the fact of creation and how You brought it to be out of Your wisdom and by Your Word. We praise You for how You designed this world as a harmonious ecosystem with plants and animals dependent upon each other, dependent upon the sun and the rain. Trees grow and may yield fruit and the seed within was designed to replicate the same type of tree, each according to their kind. Animals grow and reproduce and replicate their own species. It is truly remarkable! Help us to see how to take care of what You designed and created. Help us to see that it’s not a political issue at all, but one of faith and worship of the One whose Word brought it to be. Help us to be wise and respectful stewards, never abusing this privilege of delegation, but rather to cherish our role as an act of love toward the creation upon which we are dependent, too. Give us eyes to see how You want us to care for the world and to live in peace and harmony with all You have made. We thank You for Your faithfulness to bring it all to perfect renewal when our Lord Jesus returns. It is in His Name we pray. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2020 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Articles and Devotionals, Devotionals

My Vision of Sabbath-1-Lent 2020

March 1, 2020 No Comments

Meditation Focus: His Name is to be Praised

This year’s Lent Devotional Series: Be Thou My Vision resumes tomorrow after today’s Sabbath rest to meditate and worship.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2020 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Articles and Devotionals, Devotionals

My Vision of a Walk with You-Lent 4, 2020

February 29, 2020 No Comments

Prayer Focus: Walking with God

Father, as I reflect upon the words of the hymn “In the Garden” I am overtaken by the knowledge that Adam and Eve once had the continual joy of a close and perfect walk with You in the perfect place called Eden. The hymnist wrote, “I come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses; And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, The Son of God discloses. Refrain: And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am His own, And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known.” We thank You that we can walk with You because of Your love and mercy, even more now because of the grace and sacrifice of Your Son Jesus Christ. It was His blood that paid for my sins so I could have a walk with You. That my reply to Your question of Adam and Eve “Where are you?” doesn’t have to be their response of hiding. How awful that temptation is so insidious to lure them away from a perfect walk with You and into human sin and hiding in total shame. May I be reminded at times I sin, both knowingly and unwittingly, that forgiveness was bought at such a heavy price as the blood of Christ. I want to walk with You and to hear Your voice of assurance. Assurance of forgiveness. Assurance of Your mercy. Assurance of Your love. Assurance of my being able to walk with You in eternity and that it isn’t based upon my efforts, but rests solely on the foundation of Christ’s sacrifice. The punishment—all Your righteous wrath against sin—was poured out on Him so I could be forgiven. Assurance that even though I still fall short time and again of the way I want to be, that I can repent and find You ready to forgive, abounding in grace, and merciful because You know my frame and my heart. Lord God, help me to walk with You at all times, pray without ceasing, and to know that walking with You is a combination of intentional awareness and habit of life. May I set out each day to walk more closely with You. To hear Your voice in all circumstances shining a light before my feet, telling me “This is the way. Walk in it” and that my response would be automatic and eager. Be with me this day, Lord. Guide me by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Keep me from sin and temptation. Preserve me by Your grace, forgiven through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2020 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Articles and Devotionals, Devotionals

My Vision of the Potter-Lent 3, 2020

February 28, 2020 No Comments

Prayer Focus: God is the Potter, I’m just clay

Almighty God, help me to see what it truly means that I am a created being. That You formed all of mankind from the dust of the ground in essence when You created Adam and when You formed Eve from one of his ribs. Lord, we praise You for breathing life into Adam and that is how he became… a living being. We thank You for the life we have even though human sin has made our existence a world outside of Eden. We remember that ours wasn’t created to be an imperfect world with thorns and thistles, pain and suffering. No. At one point when You breathed life into Adam and placed him in Your perfect garden, everything was completely perfect, holy, and in harmony. Remind me, Lord, that You are the Potter and I’m just clay. I am the dust of the earth and You formed me in the womb just as You continue to form me for eternity. I pray You will form my character and heart so my actions will bring glory to You. May heaven forbid that my heart or actions would grieve You. Help me to remember that You are the Potter and Your plan is both perfect and wise. So when I don’t get a choice of Your will for me or my circumstance, I pray Lord that I will see You in this all and know that Your will is always good and always perfect, though sometimes I can’t see it. May I willingly and cheerfully submit myself to Your almighty hand forming me, molding me, and to use me for Your purposes in this world… to bring others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ … to do Your work as Your hands and feet now that Jesus Christ is ascended to heaven. We thank You for the Great Commission that You have given to each of us to make disciples of all nations and to teach others–without prejudice–about who You are and about Your goodness to us all. Give me ears to hear and a mind to remember everything that You have taught us, recorded in Your Word, about the life of Jesus on Earth. May I be a willing instrument in Your hand, to be formed even as You use me to form others for Your glory. Thank You for creating us Lord. We praise You that while we are hard-pressed, we are not crushed to destruction because of Your mercy. We have hope and a future. We offer thanks to You in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Savior. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2020 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Articles and Devotionals, Devotionals

My Vision of Divine Creator-Lent 2, 2020

February 27, 2020 No Comments

Prayer Focus: God as Divine Creator

Lord God, our Divine Creator, we praise You and thank You for the beauty of this creation that You have made… that You designed well before it ever came to be. We praise You that out of nothing ex nihilo that You created the stars in the sky, the sun, the moon, the earth, the plants, the animals, the fish, and the birds. We praise You that every part of the creation which You have made was very good in the beginning! We praise You for the way in which You created this world and we ask, Lord, that we would be mindful always that we are created beings. That it’s our responsibility to care for this beautiful creation which You have made. That it is our pleasure to receive what the land yields and to shepherd over this world which You have made. We’re sorry, Father, for the many ways that we have not respected the land. We’re sorry, Lord, for failing to care for this creation including the animals and other people. We are seeing anew, Lord, that there is an Image of Yours in every human being– there’s not a man, a woman, a child, or a fetus who has not been endowed with Your Image. This fact is irrespective of our race, gender, upbringing, or other demographic. It is irrespective the level of sin that we have because Your Image is still there, however broken in humanity it may be on account of our sin. We know that it wasn’t always this way in the beginning. There was a time in which humanity had Your perfect Image. This world, too, was absolutely perfect before we disrespected Your boundaries, violated Your commands, transgressed against Your kindness, love, and mercy. We thank You Lord for Your forgiveness—a forgiveness that was bought on the Cross by Jesus Christ Your Son. We thank You Lord that Your mercies are new every morning and You give us opportunities to live as we ought. Grant that we would live as self-aware created beings worshipping You, our Creator, who alone deserves to be worshiped. We praise You and thank You for this vision of You as our Divine Creator. Keep us humble and help us bring glory to You for all the good You have done to us. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2020 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals remain popular, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.