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+---- Thread: Devotions (/showthread.php?tid=10)
RE: Devotions - Pip - 10-19-2026
https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2025/05/15/how-to-hold-on-to-hope-in-the-darkness?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--c533YeSGBfTBuuQ9GY9VC8o5UZ91RFjWvnV0jF0e5neMP6XInz-HQoQrSFsnoXXc2pJs7AeZhuS-cXsnonbXe8md1yQ&_hsmi=358643297&utm_content=358643297&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread
How To Hold On to Hope in the Darkness
May 15, 2025
by Alicia Bruxvoort
Quote:“On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” Psalm 63:6 (NIV)
A swirling summer storm once left me stranded in the darkness with dozens of bewildered children. My fellow camp counselors and I had decided to surprise our campers with a pajama party in the lodge on the final night of camp. But the real surprise wasn’t the disco ball strung from the rafters or the karaoke contest. It was the raging wind and rain that severed tree limbs and snapped power lines, leaving us huddled in a blackout. Most kids eventually surrendered to sleep but not the fretful one beside me. “I hate this place,” she murmured with a muffled sob. “I’m never coming back.”
This girl loved everything about camp: the goofy games and pillow fights, sunrise swims and moonlit hikes. But now the darkness was hindering her sight in the present, and it was dimming her vision of the future too. So I invited her to roam with me through memories of the past week. “Remember how we laughed when we tipped our canoe?” I asked.
“And how we cheered when we won the talent show,” she chimed.
We recalled the fun we’d had and the friends we’d made, the songs we’d sung, the pranks we’d played. And though the darkness didn’t instantly lift, my camper’s perspective began to shift. Decades later, I still haven’t forgotten our little game. Because it’s not just power outages that leave us disoriented in the darkness. The storms of life can do that too. When I’m peering through a haze of heartache or a fog of fear, I need help to see hope in my future. When my vision is distorted by the gloom of disappointment or the shadows of uncertainty, I need a spiritual practice to sustain my confidence and protect my peace. Thankfully, in Psalm 63, King David revealed a habit that sustained him in the night. After being forced to abdicate his throne and flee for his life, he wrote these words about God while hiding in the Judean wilderness: “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night” (Psalm 63:6).
Like my sleepless camper, David practiced the discipline of remembering. As he peered backward at God’s goodness (Psalm 63:2), he was able to hope forward in God’s faithfulness (Psalm 63:8-11), even before his situation changed. Friends, we can choose to do the same. When our circumstances today threaten to dim our hope for tomorrow, let’s roam through our memories and gather glimpses of God’s goodness, recollections of His grace. As we do, we’ll discover that remembering is more than a playful distraction for children in the dark of night. It’s an essential practice for all of us who long to walk by faith and not by sight.
RE: Devotions - Pip - 10-21-2026
https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2025/05/20/were-not-made-to-walk-alone?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_XVRi8zWOxdVHVRqNriY7pt69El2NlR7j-zVerfkJ2Cz_CxFzt-3yEDFWf5Ba-opKneEl0OixImoIj6tpv0Z3kcUScpw&_hsmi=358643053&utm_content=358643053&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread
We’re Not Made To Walk Alone
May 20, 2025
by Kristen Miller
“Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” Titus 2:3-5 (ESV)
Growing up, I was at church every time the doors were open. My mom prioritized taking us to church, and at home, she modeled her relationship with God by creating opportunities for us to spend time with Him in our day-to-day lives. Her faithfulness and consistency left an impression on me. Even now, between caring for her elderly parents, babysitting her grandchildren, and managing her household, she continues to practice the same spiritual disciplines. As a young woman, I’m thankful to witness her dedication. Along with other female mentors in my life, she fashions her lifestyle in authentic faith and obedience to God. It’s not flashy, and if I’m not careful, I may miss the lessons and examples from these women because of my busyness or apathy. However, when I pause, there’s wisdom I can glean from those older and wiser than me who’ve chosen to live their lives not perfectly but faithfully. Our lives are beautifully interwoven with those who come before us, those who come after us, and those who we surround ourselves with regularly. It’s impossible to go through life without being impacted by our “inner circle” or community. Paul recognized this in his letter to Titus. The people of Crete, where Titus was sent as a pastor, were known for a lifestyle opposite to the character and teachings of Christ. And the Christians in Crete were patterning their lives after their culture rather than Jesus’ teachings. It was in that climate that Paul advised women to live reverent lives devoted to God: “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled” (Titus 2:3-5).
In our own society that values independence, we can still choose to learn from godly women who walk ahead of us. We need each other.
Mothers, we don’t have to walk out motherhood in isolation.
Wives, we don’t have to learn how to respect our husbands on our own.
Young women, we don’t have to figure out God’s plan without help.
Widows, we don’t have to pick up the pieces by ourselves.
Older women, we don’t have to weather life’s transitions solo.
We don’t have to do it on our own because with God, we’re never alone. And He’s also given us biblical community to lean on, look to and learn from. He’s equipped us to find mentors, share our struggles and grow into biblical womanhood. May we live loved.
RE: Devotions - Pip - 11-02-2026
https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2025/05/28/getting-gut-level-honest-with-god?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--d7zsqEholqOZkKVnpwMKBCgB1X7_HOlSRaUdsXGAghCtJMZfkj4JXEsWG3TYXB-VCO2syTX9R7eumD-apGtTTIEVKjg&_hsmi=359930927&utm_content=359930927&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread
Getting Gut-Level Honest With God
May 28, 2025
by Lisa Harper
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Psalm 42:11 (NIV)
We got a new dog last summer because I just couldn’t resist, especially after my daughter Missy declared, “Mom, I already love him, and he already loves me!”
Bucky is the sweetest in our canine crew, but he was "Sir Poops-a-Lot" when he was a puppy! Since he’s Missy’s dog, we agreed that house training would fall on her shoulders. She was enthusiastic … until she started consistently getting up with him at 6 a.m. every morning. One morning, she refused to get up. This led to an unwanted deposit on a brand new rug, which led to an animated mother-daughter discussion, which led to my normally kind and respectful kid pitching a fit and mumbling, “Sometimes I wish you weren’t my mom.”
Goodness gracious, I went through heck and back for years to adopt her from Haiti. I’ve given her my whole heart. After Jesus, she’s my first priority every minute of every day. So her petulant comment stung a smidge, but I knew she didn’t mean it. Which is exactly what she whispered through repentant tears during our long hug mere minutes after the meltdown. By the pure grace of our Creator and Redeemer, Missy is gut-level honest. She doesn’t curate her emotions because she’s learned she doesn’t need to present the shiniest version of herself to me. Her position in our little family is more secure than two pairs of Spanx. The same is true for us and God. We don’t have to present our shiniest selves to Him. No matter what we’re feeling, we can be honest, just like the psalmist who wrote Psalm 42:11: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
Psalm 42 concludes with a restorative proclamation “I will yet praise him” but what I appreciate the most about psalms of lament like this is that God allowed them to be included in the Bible in the first place! Instead of disowning disillusioned people, God allowed Scripture's 59 “sad psalms” to be His engraved invitation for us to be real with Him to be honest when our hearts are heavy and not wear fake happy faces. The biblical narrative proves over and over that His love for us is immutable it doesn’t change. This means we can share everything with Him our joy, tears, hopes, dreams, insecurities, anger and fears all in absolute confidence that He will never leave us, forsake us or stop loving us.
RE: Devotions - Pip - 11-02-2026
https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2025/05/29/do-you-need-to-feel-seen-by-jesus?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9AvP_FVbh0bMURlyCsQGcYoyj4ZN2TSVPLTOZhJEDEU2S2WaB3grndOY31cmSdoU5-G4JKNNaVOlZr0q5fOB_dXLCcNg&_hsmi=359932847&utm_content=359932847&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread
Do You Need To Feel Seen by Jesus?
May 29, 2025
by Beth Knight
“neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39 (NIV)
Jesus unexpectedly showed up at my cash register that day. Although my heart was hurled into the depths of despair before my shift, I had a job to do. So I wiped away my tears, buried my emotions beneath a pasted-on smile, and strolled through the door with my head held high. I worked at a local Christian bookstore, so books about Jesus surrounded me, and songs about Jesus serenaded me. But the grief inside me made me feel separated from Him. I was a champion at hiding my pain from God and others, and my trophy was gut-wrenching loneliness. By God’s provision, one customer saw past my pretenses. As I rang up her items, she stopped me and said, “I sense the Holy Spirit leading me to hug you. May I come around the counter?”
I agreed to her proposition and watched her slowly walk around the counter to embrace me. My tense shoulders softened within the warmth of being seen. This happened 20 years ago. I don’t remember the woman's name or what she looked like, but I will never forget what God taught me through her obedience:
1. Our deepest sorrows do not signify a separation from God’s love. In today’s key verse, Romans 8:39, “separate” comes from the Greek word chorizo, which means “to divide, depart or go away from." Scripture makes it clear that “neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate [chorisai] us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Praise God! Not even the depths of despair can cause God’s love to depart from us.
2. Feeling separated from God often stems from a longing to feel seen. While we may be surrounded by people at church, at the grocery store or in our own home, our inner turmoil can seem invisible to others. Yet God sees us so clearly He knows every single hair on our heads (Luke 12:7). And sometimes He’ll send a willing vessel to remind us He sees us. At other times, we can be that willing vessel to those who are grieving.
Unforgettable, holy moments can happen in unexpected places when someone is sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading. Because of one woman’s obedience, I carry a vivid reminder that God is near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18). Are we willing to live out the same obedience?
Precious friend, if you are alone and hurting today, I pray the Lord will miraculously show up through His Word and His people. He sees He is near and as John 10:28 says, nothing will ever snatch you out of His hands.
RE: Devotions - Pip - 11-03-2026
https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2025/05/30/carry-yourself-with-great-expectation?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_JdqPoD1aejgDTiFwkQH6lVCws2AZUW8hXjkH_CTfmF1N_GWFEjTQF-uUT7j1VDdERCwBCjeK7IQWIj47lZQY68SugAw&_hsmi=359933353&utm_content=359933353&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread
Carry Yourself With Great Expectation
May 30, 2025
by Shala Wilson
“But Peter said, ‘I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!’” Acts 3:6 (CSB)
My life has had its share of grief and heartache. The pain of dreams deferred has sometimes made me push hope down, keeping my expectations low. However, God recently challenged this posture I tend to settle into by reminding me of His healing in Acts 3. After the Holy Spirit filled them in Acts 2, the apostles were preaching and performing miracles. One afternoon, as Peter and John were going to the temple to pray, they encountered a man who was physically disabled from birth. Every day, he was placed at the temple gate, where he asked for support from passersby. “When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked for money. Peter, along with John, looked straight at him and said, ‘Look at us.’ So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them. But Peter said, ‘I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!’ Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up ...” (Acts 3:3-7, CSB).
Before God healed him, not only was this man's posture limited, but his expectations were as well. Perhaps he didn’t even know who Peter and John were or how the Holy Spirit was at work in them. Thus, he postured himself to receive only what his limited faith could request. At times, I feel like this too. The blows of life can leave me feeling so broken and jaded that my posture of faith before the Lord is limited. But just as Peter said to this man, “Look at us” (Acts 3:4), I believe the Lord speaks to us.
We might imagine Him saying, Daughter, fix your posture. I’m the Creator of the universe. My Spirit hovered over the formless waters, and look at all I created in just six days. I can do exceedingly and abundantly more than all you could ever ask or imagine so I’m asking you to carry yourself with a posture of great expectation. God calls me to increase my faith and believe the promises the Holy Spirit has spoken through His Word to my heart and He’s calling you too. It’s not for our logic to figure out or our will to control. We simply need to trust the Lord, taking Jesus’ hand when He reaches out to raise us up miraculously.
RE: Devotions - Pip - 11-03-2026
https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2025/06/02/a-friend-as-wonderful-as-you?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8vtkg0bOr_Rhl5jL__42xZhXa6m8msSZx5vQO-qM3HrfmhaI_VeELPf4DJscvqanwPs4QATDNRA29KoA7G1J4LdUflhw&_hsmi=360973262&utm_content=360973262&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread
A Friend as Wonderful as You
June 2, 2025
by Emily Wilson Hussem
Quote:“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV)
I’ve often wondered how friendship seems to come so much easier for other women than it does for me. I’ve attended weddings where the bride had 12 bridesmaids, and I thought, How did she manage to cultivate such strong friendships with all those women?
Countless photos fly across my screens, showing tight-knit friend groups that have remained close since high school. How have they done it?
Sometimes it feels like I’ve made a mess of female friendships. I’ve also experienced betrayal, exclusion, and plenty of hurt. Throughout different life seasons, I’ve struggled to fight back against the lie the enemy whispers: You’ll never find friends who love you for who you are and want to share deep bonds in life. Throughout my 14 years of walking with women in ministry, I’ve discovered I’m not alone in feeling this way. Through deep reflection and prayer, I’ve realized how intensely the enemy wants to amplify the lies in my heart, saying that true, deep connection just isn’t possible for me that I will always be this lonely and that if other women knew me, they wouldn’t even like me, much less love me as a friend. The enemy wants to harden women’s hearts toward community and friendship with one another by getting us to believe that we are unlikable, unlovable, or guaranteed to get hurt no matter how hard we try. Satan has always wanted women to despair over these lies so that instead of going out to seek community, we simply throw up our hands in defeat, stay home, and wallow in this sorrow forever. It took me years of prayer, vulnerability, and investment, but when I decided to fight back against the lies and make those efforts allowing the Lord to soften my heart to believe that true, lasting friendship is possible for me beautiful friendships rooted in the Lord began to grow in my life. As I replaced lies with truth, God gave me a new heart toward friendships. Ezekiel 36:26 speaks of the new heart God gives us through grace: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
God wants to set you free from the lies. He wants you to know and believe that community and true friendship are for you. In this newfound freedom and belief I experienced, I realized friendship would not just show up at my door. The first step in finding rooted friendships is often reaching out to others and letting God’s faithfulness lead the way. You have no idea who may be looking for a friend as wonderful as you.