Devotional Thoughts Archives - Page 18 of 29

Remember the Resurrection

Luke 24:6-8 "He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.' They remembered His words. (italics and bold emphasis mine) Sometimes, we forget so much of what He has told us. What do YOU need to remember being told by the very One who conquered sin and death on our behalf? This week, we will celebrate the Resurrection. And this week, I specifically pray that you will [...]

By Joline Atkins|2015-05-14T15:44:21-04:00April 8, 2012|

Christ on the Cross

I'm stumped. The crucifixion paralyzes my thoughts and freezes my fingers. My mouth just kind of drops. Yep. Joline is speechless. It hurts to much to write. And nothing I write can do the event justice. Here is where I choose not to push or pry a devotion out of emptiness. So, if you don't mind, and don't find it too "lazy" of me, I'd like to pass this writing of this post to my good friend J.C. Ryle. He's a favorite in our house. "Let us set fully before our eyes the doctrine of Christ dying in our place – His substituted death, [...]

By Joline Atkins|2015-05-14T15:44:21-04:00April 2, 2012|

Lenten Fog

Lent. Oh, how I've struggled with it. I've tried devotionals. Prayer books. Giving up the discipline of giving up . . . I can honestly say that I've never found a Lenten practice which has stuck. And you know what? That's OK. We have a saying in our family. Relentless Forward Progress. Lent tends to stop me in my tracks - because even though I have been consistently meeting with God everyday, Lent shows up and I get this pressure like I'm supposed to "Quick! do something different!" Only, I can honestly say that I find myself immersed in a reLENTless [...]

By Joline Atkins|2015-05-14T15:44:21-04:00March 28, 2012|

“Act” of Community

One of my husband's favorite verses is Acts 2:42. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Teaching Fellowship Breaking of bread Prayer Unfortunately, at times, our community looks a little something like this: Too much talking, not enough listening Gossiping Mindlessly taking communion Saying we will pray Oh my, I sound cynical don't I? I don't mean to, really. I guess I just wonder if we use our "bible" words to convince ourselves that we are indeed building community. I think the best way to assess whether community is [...]

By Joline Atkins|2015-05-14T15:44:21-04:00March 19, 2012|

Study One Word

When I learned we would be serving you up a week's worth of meals on the topic of "study", I fully intended to pull out my old standby devotionals encouraging us to not "diet" on the word, but to open our mouths, chew, savor, and digest the most nutritionally dense feast for living - God's word. Only, then God said, "Really, Joline? Have I not taught you anything new lately?" He has. Our church has been going through Rick Warren's series, "40 Days in the Word." I will admit, up front, that I only got through about 7 days of the [...]

By Joline Atkins|2015-05-14T15:44:21-04:00March 12, 2012|