A Daily Devotion for Monday, August 25
- ontrakk
- Aug 25
- 1 min read
Philippians 2:13
…for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
The writer in today’s devotion shared a time when she was going through a serious medical event. She realized afterwards she had become even closer to God, and now thinks of trials as “construction zones”. God needs us to change and grow to fulfil his purpose for us. There will be trials. Sometimes the changes are difficult and feel like negatives. But God knows what he is doing. He is working in us, through us and also working on us as we go through life. As verse 14 reminds us, “…do everything without grumbling.”
Holy Lord, sometimes the trials are so painful, it is difficult to know or to see any positive can come of them. But we know you are with us, and you have promised to help us endure and improve and grow.
Be with our beloved Bev, be with those doing her exams today, and help her to be calm and feel your peace. Keep her safe, I pray. Amen
Becky, transforming
Philippians 2:12-18
Paul wanted the people of Philippi to be able to function properly without him. I thought of the saying, "when the cat's away, the mice play." He knew how easy it would be for them to step back into the old ways. "If you follow my instructions while I am with you, follow them as closely when I am gone." This section in my Bible is titled, Shine Brightly for Christ.
Prayer: Gracious God, may I always remember you are by my side helping me shine brightly for you. AMEN
Philippians 2:13
I often wonder if I am really doing God’s will on a daily basis, I pray that I am genuinely making that effort. Years ago I went to a Presbyterian youth retreat as a youth leader for the senior high kids at our church. The theme that year was “Helping Hands”. They worked daily in small groups, had evening devotionals, worshiped in the beautiful sanctuary on campus and prayed daily…all focused on doing God’s work and helping others. At one of the devotionals they gave out hand print stickers about the size of a nickel. I kept mine and when I returned from the retreat, I stuck it on my vanity mirror. It remains there some 20 years…
Philippians 2:13 It is sometimes difficult to fathom that God works in and through me. There are times when this seems obvious, but many other times when my actions seem so insignificant and ineffectual that I wonder what purpose could God have for me. The Bishop consecrated our new District Superintendent, Rev. Dr. David Palmer yesterday in Plymouth. There were lots of pretty words about the future of our United Methodist Church, but upon leaving the building, each of us present must think long and hard about how we are to fulfill God’s good purpose and bring that vision of the future to pass.. It won’t be in ways that were commonly utilized 30, 20, 10 or even 5 years ago.…