Devotional Thoughts Archives - Page 8 of 29

Joline’s Journey Into the Woods

"Into the woods, it's time to go, I hate to leave, I have to though, Into the woods, it's time and so, I must begin my journey." Such has been my life: a journey with the King. I've been blessed beyond measure to have met so many interesting people from all different walks of life on this journey. All with their own story. All with their own pain. See, what I've learned on the journey is that everyone on the journey carries "stuff". They may try to hide it, lie about it, minimize it, or deny it, but everyone harbors [...]

By Joline Atkins|2015-05-14T15:40:29-04:00January 21, 2013|

2013: Give More

I have been blessed. I am not rich. My husband and I make a modest salary between the two of us. We've been crawling out of credit card debt since 2009. Next month, I am happy to say, WE ARE DONE. The credit card debt we've carried since moving from IL to PA, after losing a ton from the sale of our house, will be NO MORE. What does this mean? Well, while we've been tithing my husbands salary, I have not exactly been tithing mine consistently. This year, 2013, God has spoken very clearly. I will: TITHE my weekly [...]

By Joline Atkins|2015-05-14T15:40:34-04:00January 14, 2013|

Happy ReNEW Year!

My memory verse for the week. Or rather, the year. Isaiah 43:18-19 tells us, "Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and the streams in the wasteland." That's good stuff. On January 15 of last year, I shared the following blog-votional with you about taking on challenges. Why share it with you again? Because 2012 was a great year for me. Only, this morning, while reading the verse in Isaiah, I realized that [...]

By Joline Atkins|2015-05-14T15:40:39-04:00January 7, 2013|

Herod’s Head

Reminder. I just finished directing Let It Be Christmas, a rock-opera of the Nativity set to an all Beatles score. Yes. It worked. Herod's scenes were intense. He sang "Across the Universe" which offers the lingering theme of "Nothing's gonna change my world . . ." while shaking up a martini and relaxing on his throne. Following this, as our narrator shared a scripture revealing that another KING, THE KING, had been born, the scene changed. The once relaxed-in-his-environment King, went, well . . . a bit nuts. The lights changed. The electric guitar starting screaming out "Helter Skelter" and we [...]

By Joline Atkins|2015-05-14T15:40:57-04:00December 31, 2012|

What Can We Possibly Learn From Herod?

We're talking about the villain of the Nativity story this week. Why in the world would we do that???? Because Jesus told us to pray for those who persecute us. Because ignoring that there is an enemy is called denial. Because evil exists in our world today just as it did long ago. So, in the interest of mixing things up a bit, let's see what we can learn by getting into Herod's head this week. Personally, I think he was missing a few marbles up there . . . Joline Atkins is your server today! Find out more about [...]

By Joline Atkins|2015-05-14T15:41:04-04:00December 30, 2012|