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When I was a girl, I watched a lot of cartoons. It was a great way to relax on a hot summer day. One of my favorite cartoons was The Road Runner. That crazy little bird would run around and Wile E. Cayote would do all sorts of antics to try and trap him. He would put up a brick wall in the road to try and stop the Road Runner. This brick wall just comes out of nowhere and tries to stop him dead in his tracks. Just hold that image in your brain for a minute.  On January 6 of this year Jake (son#3) and I took off for a day at the coast. It was such a beautiful day. We drove over and listened to music and we both enjoyed the drive and our time together. We visited some of our favorite places and then stopped at the beach. He stayed in the car and I went to take in the ocean. I stayed off the beach as I don’t really like dealing with the sand and it was cold! As I looked at the waves tumbling forward, I felt that God was pressing on my heart, “Notice that the waves are very powerful but they have to stop and recede. The waves are showing power and restraint.” I took some photos and a video and then left to go and get some lunch. It was such a wonderful day. I walked away from that trip filled up and relaxed.  The following day, on January 7 of this year, I was in a car accident. I was heading to work at 5:45 am and a large white truck all of the sudden was right in front of me perpendicular. It had come from a gas station on my right. I slammed on my brakes and one to two seconds after that I slammed into the truck. I remember thinking, “Oh, I hit him.” Then I saw my air bag deflate and I thought, “Is this how I die?” Then everything suddenly stopped. I just sat there in my car stunned. I mentally scanned my body and didn’t feel that anything was wrong. Then I heard someone talking to me on my phone. My phone had called 911. The voice on the other end asked if I was ok. I talked back but I didn’t even know where my phone was. The female voice said that she couldn’t hear me and asked me to pick up the phone. I then saw that it was on the floor of the passenger side and I wasn’t sure if I could even bend over to reach it, but I did. After I said a few words to the 911 lady a man appeared at my door. The door was open and he said, “Are you ok? I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see you.” I told him that I thought I was ok and for some strange reason I asked him to touch my hand. I was really trying to just center myself and stay calm. Then I asked him to hold my hand. I just didn’t want to feel alone at that moment in my life and needed human connection. The hood of my car was bent up like a mountain in front of my window and steam was rising from underneath it. My fear was that the engine would catch on fire. (I am a child of the 70’s and every tv show that I watched with my dad that had a car accident the car would always catch on fire and explode.) I felt that it was very important to get out of the car. I was concerned about walking away because I didn’t want to get weak and faint in the road. I did feel a bit comforted that there were two guys outside in the road and thought that if I collapsed at least, it wouldn't just be me lying in the road. I got out and looked for oncoming traffic. The truck that I hit was blocking both lanes of oncoming traffic. I made it to the other side and sat down on the curb of a planter that was in front of a Carl’s Jr. I walked away from the accident unscathed.  Soon after I sat down a paramedic squatted down next to me and asked a bunch of questions. Once he was done all I could think was that I was supposed to be at work soon. The two guys that I would be working with that morning were the only two people who would know that I wasn’t where I was supposed to be. I called one of my co-workers to let him know that I wouldn’t be coming into work and that I had just been in a car accident. After that I was offered to be taken to the hospital to be checked out and that seemed to me to be the smartest thing to do. I went into the ambulance and was being taken care of by such a wonderfully calm young man. Of course, this was just a job to him, and he didn’t just have his body jacked up on adrenaline. The police officer came into the ambulance and sat down and asked me questions. He asked if I was wearing my seat belt. I said yes. He said that I was in a serious car accident and that the seat belt probably saved my life. His words affirmed what I knew. I hit the truck really hard and I could have died. The weird thing is that I knew in my mind that I hit the truck really hard, but I didn’t feel the force of the impact. I was the Road Runner that hit the brick wall that was in front of me, and I walked away unscathed. At the hospital I was taken care of by a host of different people. There were x-rays, a CAT Scan, blood drawn and who knows what else done as test to see if something was injured inside of me. I felt like I was living in an episode from the popular 1990’s tv drama ER. Everything checked out ok. I walk out of the hospital holding the arm of my son, the same arms that held me as I sobbed a few minutes before. The events of the day changed me. I felt the impact. Later that day I called the place that my car was towed. I asked if they had pictures and the woman I was talking to shared two photos with me that were taken while my car was still in the road. The front end was smashed. The damage didn’t go past the front end. It looked like the power of the impact was restrained and wasn’t allowed to reach me. I couldn’t help but remember the day before how God pressed upon me the idea of the waves having power but restraint. He showed me this again. I keep thinking about this idea that where there is great power there can also be powerful restraint. Sometimes you see this in a person that you know. A person can exhibit subtle characteristics that may look like they are low voltage. Kindness is something that is very quiet and under the radar and at first glance can look unpowerful. On the contrary, kindness comes from great strength. To be kind to someone is to lay yourself down and think of the other person. This act is one of great power. It is our natural inclination to put ourselves first. The power to restrain that inclination shows that the one who is kind is very strong. It is a beautiful, powerful, strong character trait to be kind consistently. Kindness is transformative. I can’t walk away from kindness unchanged. Kindness has an impact.  God is the ultimate embodiment of power and restraint. He is the creator of all things; now that is power! He is holy. Holiness is great power. Not only is He holy he is love. Love is powerful. Love gives. Love gives not because the recipient deserves love but because the source of love is compelled to bestow love. True love gives unconditionally. God loved people so much that he gave Jesus (His Son) to pay the penalty for sin. (John 3:16) The modern world may have a hard time understanding what sin is. Sin brings death and separates. Love brings life and joins. Sin goes against God’s holiness and separates us from God. Holiness and sin can’t co-exist. Light (God) and sin (darkness) cannot co-exist. In that lies the problem. God loves us and wants us to be with him, but our sin separates us from God.
Sin can’t go unpaid for. God’s justice demands payment. Think of how in a court of law a crime must be paid for. Our sin is disobedience to God’s law, like a crime against God, and it must be paid for. The price is death. Jesus died to pay the price for our sin. He rose from death and now lives forever! In God’s power he is willing to restrain his penalty toward sin through believing that Jesus paid the price for you. God in His love shows kindness toward you. Believing this has a powerful impact in this life and the next. This is the bridge made from love that joins you to Him. God uses places, events, and people to teach me and change me. His love is powerful, and I can’t be restrained in sharing it.
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 Dear Sister,
Today I went to Barns and Noble bookstore to pick up a book for the book club I am blessed to be in. As I was looking for the book, I was also browsing around. One book caught my attention, “The Phonebook at the End of the World.” I read the synopsis and was intrigued. Oh, how I wish I could read so much more than I get to. I love learning from books. I find that in all books you get to have a look into the mind of another person, and they share things that cause me to think and grown in my understanding of the world I live in and my inner world. Over the past few years, I have come to the realization that in books I find my truest friends. I get to have a meeting of the mind, and I find rich friendship and kinship there. Writers are thinkers and expressors and I need these types of people in my life. My thoughts after I read about the above said book, and as I looked over the spines of many others, was how beautiful it is to get to know another person (real or fiction) through words. Just like you can have a beautiful friendship over letters (I’m thinking of pen and paper mailed in real life), you can also have a beautiful connection with someone over their writing. Maybe it is only one way, but internally I think there is a meeting of the soul with the author, in that you relate to them by their words to you. Then my thoughts went to the Bible. We have a relationship with God through the written word of the Bible. I sometimes get frustrated with only hearing from God through written text. I do have him guide me and push me and pull me back through his Holy Spirit. I am very careful to say that God spoke this or that to me. I think I’m careful with this because I have rich inner dialogue that never stops, and I don’t want to mistake my thoughts with His words. Today, I needed to hear from God. I was having a rich internal dialogue about something that was upsetting me, and I really needed his help. The previous post I wrote here on this blog was what I read today and spoke to my soul right into the issue that was on my mind. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12. This is truth is so powerful and penetrates my soul. At the bookstore, the idea of getting into the mind of an author through their words were married with the idea that we come to know the mind of God through his word. This is the bible verse that comes to mind: I Corinthians 2:16 “For who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him? But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” Due to the Holy Spirit in us and the Word of God in us we know the mind of Christ, the living Word of God. May God’s peace flood you and me knowing that he is always there for us. (I always need this reminder. What I write is mostly speaking to myself.) ~Smile~ Sincerely, Deanne  Dear Sister,
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| gods_devotion_day_3.docx |
Dear Sister,
To "have devotions" each day is an exercise of the spirit and guides us to think about things focused on God. The question I want to ask you is, to whom are you devoted? When having your Bible devotions, humbling yourself in devotion to God is most important. Our time of devotion should focus on God's word and prayer.
My goal with this blog, Dark Chocolate Devotions, is to share devotions with you that are bite size like a piece of dark chocolate. I want them to be deep enough to bring true nourishment to your soul, and yet brief enough to be read as a jump-start to your day with your morning routine, meal, or coffee!
I have been thinking about devotion and how it can be misplaced. When I was a girl one of my favorite movies was Grease. I was too young to understand a lot of the adult themes, but I could enjoy the romance and the music. I was given the soundtrack album as a gift, and I played it over and over again. One of my favorite songs to sing along to was, "Hopelessly Devoted to You." Somehow those lyrics seeped into my formative young mind and took root as the ideal way to romantically love someone. Years after my Grease music-obsessed days I grew into a teenage girl who found a boy to practice the song's philosophy of being hopelessly devoted. My object of devotion was a person with whom I had a fleeting relationship, and my devotion was very much misplaced!
The point of telling that story is that I still need to check in with myself and see where my devotion lies. As a follower of Jesus, we must have our devotion placed firmly on God. His love for us is not fleeting and changing and we can be secure in putting our devotion on him because he is devoted to us.
Read the following Bible verses with the idea of God wanting our devotion to being in Him.
Exodus 20:2
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me."
Matthew 22:36-37
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? He (Jesus) said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."
Being devoted to God is the foundation for having a time of devotion. It is time that you set yourself apart in your day to focus on God and His word. We learn from Him through the Bible what it means to be devoted to Him. Our relationship with Him, through Jesus, is not passive but active. An act of devotion to God is to know His will and way, and you will find it in His word, the Holy Bible.
Let us sing in our hearts, "Hopelessly Devoted to You, God." (Skip the Grease version!)
I encourage you to pray and seek God to show you where your devotion lies. You can ask for Him to give you a heart that is truly devoted to Him.
To "have devotions" each day is an exercise of the spirit and guides us to think about things focused on God. The question I want to ask you is, to whom are you devoted? When having your Bible devotions, humbling yourself in devotion to God is most important. Our time of devotion should focus on God's word and prayer.
My goal with this blog, Dark Chocolate Devotions, is to share devotions with you that are bite size like a piece of dark chocolate. I want them to be deep enough to bring true nourishment to your soul, and yet brief enough to be read as a jump-start to your day with your morning routine, meal, or coffee!
I have been thinking about devotion and how it can be misplaced. When I was a girl one of my favorite movies was Grease. I was too young to understand a lot of the adult themes, but I could enjoy the romance and the music. I was given the soundtrack album as a gift, and I played it over and over again. One of my favorite songs to sing along to was, "Hopelessly Devoted to You." Somehow those lyrics seeped into my formative young mind and took root as the ideal way to romantically love someone. Years after my Grease music-obsessed days I grew into a teenage girl who found a boy to practice the song's philosophy of being hopelessly devoted. My object of devotion was a person with whom I had a fleeting relationship, and my devotion was very much misplaced!
The point of telling that story is that I still need to check in with myself and see where my devotion lies. As a follower of Jesus, we must have our devotion placed firmly on God. His love for us is not fleeting and changing and we can be secure in putting our devotion on him because he is devoted to us.
Read the following Bible verses with the idea of God wanting our devotion to being in Him.
Exodus 20:2
"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me."
Matthew 22:36-37
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? He (Jesus) said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."
Being devoted to God is the foundation for having a time of devotion. It is time that you set yourself apart in your day to focus on God and His word. We learn from Him through the Bible what it means to be devoted to Him. Our relationship with Him, through Jesus, is not passive but active. An act of devotion to God is to know His will and way, and you will find it in His word, the Holy Bible.
Let us sing in our hearts, "Hopelessly Devoted to You, God." (Skip the Grease version!)
I encourage you to pray and seek God to show you where your devotion lies. You can ask for Him to give you a heart that is truly devoted to Him.
| hopelessly_devoted_day_2.docx |
Dear Sister,
I would not be who I am today without knowing Jesus. Any good quality that I possess comes from my relationship with him. I can see the parts of me that are still in need of his shaping and forming. The following scripture has been shaping and forming my mind and hopefully my heart as well.
"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18: 1-8
I have been thinking about the attributes of a little child to help me understand what Jesus could mean by this. What comes to the forefront of my mind is that a child is humble. A child has no status and is dependent on their parents for all things. There isn't a way for a child to go out in the world and live on his own and provide. The child must stay close to his/her parents, trust them, be obedient to them, and be nurtured by them.
Why would Christ Jesus want us to take the lowly position of a child? It is human nature to want to elevate ourselves. We want to be noticed by others and well thought of. If not well thought of, we at least we want the respect and admiration of others. But that is placing our value of ourselves in what other people see and think of us. Our real value is what God sees. In James 4:6 we are told that "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."
It is not our place to exhault ourself and if we do we are opposed by God. He is the one to be exalted not ourselves. Like a child, when we humble ourselves before God, when trust and rely on him. This very trust and reliance is what we need to please him. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews11:6. We come to God through faith in Jesus Christ.
When we trust in Jesus to forgive us of our sin we become the children of God. Just like children, we are to live in obedience to our Father who is God. God's ways are not burdensome (I John 5:3). Obedience to God is the way we show our love for him. (I John 5:3).
A child stays close to his parents for protection and nurture. A good and loving parent watches for danger and keeps his child from it. The good parent also feeds and clothes his child. God does this also for us through his Word. We stay close to God by reading the Bible. There we are warned of dangers and thus receive God's protection. We are also nourished by what we receive as spiritual food in the Word of God. We are dependent on God for all things, just as a child is dependent on his/her parents for all things.
Our trust must be wholly on the Holy One. We cannot enter the kingdom of heaven without trusting in Christ. A child is one who puts his trust in his/her parents, and they are in their trust. There is a relationship there that is mutual. We as well are to have a mutual relationship with Jesus, by trusting in his way to the Father and eternal life. He is the way! And we are to be like children to enter in.
There is now other way to start life but as a child. You enter the physical world as a child and much the same you must be born into the spiritual world as a child.
This is exactly how I want to begin this blog of devotions. I want it to be birthed from the foundational point of begining a life with Christ and how it all starts. Jesus paid the price for your sin. Sin is paid by death. (Romans 6:23) His death paid the price for your sins. Putting your faith in Jesus and his payment frees you to live and not have to pay your sin debit. This is what it means to be born again into eternal life. Enter in as a child, a child of the living God.
I would not be who I am today without knowing Jesus. Any good quality that I possess comes from my relationship with him. I can see the parts of me that are still in need of his shaping and forming. The following scripture has been shaping and forming my mind and hopefully my heart as well.
"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18: 1-8
I have been thinking about the attributes of a little child to help me understand what Jesus could mean by this. What comes to the forefront of my mind is that a child is humble. A child has no status and is dependent on their parents for all things. There isn't a way for a child to go out in the world and live on his own and provide. The child must stay close to his/her parents, trust them, be obedient to them, and be nurtured by them.
Why would Christ Jesus want us to take the lowly position of a child? It is human nature to want to elevate ourselves. We want to be noticed by others and well thought of. If not well thought of, we at least we want the respect and admiration of others. But that is placing our value of ourselves in what other people see and think of us. Our real value is what God sees. In James 4:6 we are told that "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."
It is not our place to exhault ourself and if we do we are opposed by God. He is the one to be exalted not ourselves. Like a child, when we humble ourselves before God, when trust and rely on him. This very trust and reliance is what we need to please him. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews11:6. We come to God through faith in Jesus Christ.
When we trust in Jesus to forgive us of our sin we become the children of God. Just like children, we are to live in obedience to our Father who is God. God's ways are not burdensome (I John 5:3). Obedience to God is the way we show our love for him. (I John 5:3).
A child stays close to his parents for protection and nurture. A good and loving parent watches for danger and keeps his child from it. The good parent also feeds and clothes his child. God does this also for us through his Word. We stay close to God by reading the Bible. There we are warned of dangers and thus receive God's protection. We are also nourished by what we receive as spiritual food in the Word of God. We are dependent on God for all things, just as a child is dependent on his/her parents for all things.
Our trust must be wholly on the Holy One. We cannot enter the kingdom of heaven without trusting in Christ. A child is one who puts his trust in his/her parents, and they are in their trust. There is a relationship there that is mutual. We as well are to have a mutual relationship with Jesus, by trusting in his way to the Father and eternal life. He is the way! And we are to be like children to enter in.
There is now other way to start life but as a child. You enter the physical world as a child and much the same you must be born into the spiritual world as a child.
This is exactly how I want to begin this blog of devotions. I want it to be birthed from the foundational point of begining a life with Christ and how it all starts. Jesus paid the price for your sin. Sin is paid by death. (Romans 6:23) His death paid the price for your sins. Putting your faith in Jesus and his payment frees you to live and not have to pay your sin debit. This is what it means to be born again into eternal life. Enter in as a child, a child of the living God.
| be_childish.pdf |
Author
I'm a woman who has the spirit of the teenage girl I once was and that is why I love life, people, and being silly and laughing. I can be mature and grown-up, but it isn't my default setting, more like life's program. The color of my spirit is Hot Pink, and the color of my soul is Teal. Dark chocolate is a health food and I believe there is food for the body and then there is food for the soul. Eat responsibly and enjoy the treats. These devotions are from the heart and meant to help me think and share. I hope that these devotions will be a health food to your soul as well.
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