Posts Categorized: Devotional

Claiming Our Portion

Posted June 2, 2014 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Lamentations 3:24 (New International Version)

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Consider

What does it mean to say, The Lord is my portion? Other Bible translations offer different phrasings: The Lord is all I have (GNT); My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance (TLB); and, The Lord is everything I will ever need (NIRV).

Better than an inheritance of money or land, the portion God promises to us as his legitimate heirs is himself! He calls us into a deep, personal, and eternal relationship he calls friendship.

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The Weight of Two Witnesses

Posted May 26, 2014 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

2 Corinthians 13:1 (New Living Translation)

As the Scriptures say, “The facts of every case must be established by two or three witnesses.”

Consider

“If I give up my anger, how will anyone know I’ve been hurt?”

Crimes that are committed in secret can be especially difficult to forgive. Incest, rape, emotional abuse, ridiculing, successful swindling—these injuries might only be confirmed by the two people involved, you and the perpetrator. With no one else to vouch for you, the person who wounded you may downplay the harm done to you or dismiss your suffering as insignificant.

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Humility Challenge

Posted May 19, 2014 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Philippians 2:3 (New Revised Standard Version)

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.

Consider

What does it mean to regard others as better than ourselves? Don’t we all have equal value before God?

This passage doesn’t comment on our innate worth—that we are each infinitely precious and lavishly loved by God is not in question. Rather, the passage exposes the prideful state of our hearts that can hurt our relationships.

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Whom Shall I Fear?

Posted May 12, 2014 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Psalm 27:1,3 (New International Version)

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?…Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

Consider

Fear occupies the space in our hearts that God designed for peace. Peace and fear are as incompatible as light and darkness; when we are filled with one, the other disappears.

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Am I Sweet?

Posted May 5, 2014 | Judith Ingram

Scripture

Psalm 34:8 (New International Version)

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Consider

What tastes better than a basket of sweet summer strawberries or cherries picked right off the tree? The fragrance of a sun-warmed peach can make our mouths water; the sweetness of a plump, juicy grape invites us to sample another, and another.

It seems no coincidence that God chose fruit as a metaphor for the work of the Holy Spirit in us. When I bring love and goodness and kindness and gentleness into my relationships, others taste the sweetness of God.

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