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Encouragement
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. (James 1:2-6) |
A Harvest DevotionalPosted 02/08/2010
The Place We Long For
For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
— Hebrews 11:14 I am navigationally challenged, so I like having a GPS to help keep me from getting lost. But I read about a Wisconsin motorist who actually ended up on a snowmobile trail because her GPS led her in the wrong direction. She ended up stuck in the snow and had to call 911. A deputy who responded to the call said, "People shouldn't believe everything those things tell you." A GPS can fail us. But that isn't the case with the sophisticated homing instinct God has given to certain birds. Their built-in navigational systems are probably better than our latest technology. The Manx Shearwater, for example, nests off of the coast of Wales and has an amazing homing instinct. Scientists tagged and released a number of these birds at different points around the globe to see whether they could find their way back home. In just 12 days, all the birds made their way back. One bird in particular made it all the way from Boston, traveling 250 miles a day from a place it had never been to get back home. Now that is what you call a homing instinct. God has placed a homing instinct within you and I as well, and I believe it is a homesickness for heaven. We long for a place we have never been before. We are prewired that way. The Bible tells us that God has put eternity in our hearts (see Ecclesiastes 3:11). Heaven is the real thing that we long for. Heaven is not an imitation of Earth, but it is really the other way around. Earth is the copy, the temporary dwelling place. Heaven is the real deal, the eternal dwelling place of every follower of Jesus Christ. It is the place we long for, because it is our future home. A College EncouragementPosted 09/18/2009
Hey Sojourners!
I was reading the Word today, and I came upon this passage:
Psalm 127:1-2 [Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.] It's not the whole chapter, but I just thought to share a snippet with you all since some of us are in school and some of us are getting ready for school to start soon. :]
It's such a good reminder of how much we need to be trusting in God with school, friends, ministry, and pretty much all of our lives and our hearts. All is vanity without Christ. We can do all that we want out of our fleshly abilities, but in the end, it won't get us any closer to Christ.
Let's be encouraged and start of with a right mindset, as well as carrying things out to the end with that same mindset of trusting in God, and realizing more and more of His grace through the things of the Spirit. :D yay! I hope you're weeks went well! Well, according to Adam, it did. hahaha...ha..ha.. :]
God is good, and God is awesome. I can't believe that everything works for our good! hahah
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Sojourners is the college ministry of Community Christian Alliance Church in the San Fernando Valley. Read more about us. |