enLIVEn Devotionals

Abiding in Jesus - Overflowing His Spirit

The God Who Sees Me

As the economy continues to drag and employment is limited at best, my heart sinks for everyone touched by this struggle. The news forecast seems bleak and hope seems far from us all. Speaking with a dear friend who spoke very honestly about her fears, she said she worried that God had forgotten about her and her family. I simply didn’t know what to say to her, but I sat and listened to her fears. For her it seemed like her prayers were not being answered and she was being overlooked during one of her darkest hours. Yet, in those times we may be tempted to take matters into our own hands, ... Read the Post

Remind Me, Lord

Do you sometimes stop and wonder why you are doing the things you do? I do and that is why I write things down and make a list. Recently, I have decided to challenge myself with many things that could help me to deepen my relationship with God and though my intention was good, I soon got caught up in the nitty gritty of my Christian acts and forgot why I was doing them in the first place. Instead of opening my ears to listen to God, I was more interested in the number of pages I read in the Bible. Instead of deepening my relationships with my fellow Christians, I was more interested in ... Read the Post

Experience

"Mommy, I'm bleeding!" Seth shrieked. I cringed. Seth was going through a fear-of-bleeding-to-death-from-every-little-cut phase; and active, little boys get lots of little cuts. "Let me see," I said. Timidly, he held out his finger to show a tiny cut. It wasn't really bleeding; the cut was just deep enough to bring the blood to the surface, but none was spilling out. I ruled out a trip to the emergency room. "Is it okay?" Seth anxiously asked. "It's fine," I said. "It's a little cut, and it's going to heal right up." "But it's bleeding!" Seth declared. "It's not bleeding," I ... Read the Post

Remaining Under God's Cloud Cover

It’s been a long, hot summer and I’m starting to look for that nice cloud cover followed by a few cool drops of rain. The other day, after noticing the blanket of white covering the sun, my husband asked if I’d like to go for a run. Having spent most of the summer on the treadmill, I readily agreed. And initially, our excursion was very pleasant. The clouds protected us from the sun’s intense rays and a gentle breeze circulated the cool air. But about twenty minutes into it, the cloud cover blew away and the sun hit us full force. The temperature instantly climbed ten degrees. The heat ... Read the Post

Thank You Prayer

I have a bedtime routine with my younger daughter to lie down and pray with her each night then I sing to her. While she pretty much prays the same prayer each night, she made up the rule that I had to change my prayer each night. Rather than discuss the fairness of her rule, I embraced the challenge. However, I had been praying “please let everyone sleep,” “help everyone stay asleep,” “don’t let anyone get out of bed,” “please help mommy sleep.” With two girls someone is bound to wake up and I’m not the type who runs well on little sleep. Well, a few weeks ago, for some reason (unknown ... Read the Post