Good Morning Seeking, Responding, Following and Growing Students! Just begin by pronouncing that over you and us. I am/we are...Seeking, Responding, Following and Growing Students! Then meditate on the devotionals below and look for the thread through them as God speaks to your heart and wants to direct your steps as you surrender, humble yourself, seek, learn, grow then go, just as you are. Then begin to become the one you are created to be and doing what you are created for for such a time as this. I'm praying for you. God is awaiting the open door of your heart to move in and lead you to His best. PTL! Seek first His Kingdom and all you need will be added. Don't depend on your own foolish thinking, acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will lead you to His perfect plans for . Be still and know. Receive and go in his strength into the day ahead. This is the day the Lord has made and He has great things in store. Rejoice! May His love, wisdom and shalom overflow you ! Shalom shalom! Perfect peace to you as you seek, adjust and go. Ask Him about some teammates too! And don't forget the part! Be all in! He's all in for you! Rejoice!
Don't forget...I am/you are Seeking, Responding, Following and Growing Students united in Christ! Amen
ODB
Unforgettable Lessons
My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart. Proverbs 3:1
Corey Brooks—“The Rooftop Pastor”—spent 343 days living on the rooftop of his church on Chicago’s south side to inspire community transformation. Online, Brooks posted a “shout-out” to his elementary school teacher Joe Stokes, who taught him four unforgettable lessons: the power of perseverance, the importance of integrity, the value of community engagement, and the impact of education.
By embracing Solomon’s wisdom in Proverbs 3, we likewise can strive to live in ways that have community impact. Solomon taught four lessons that are just right for those who trust in God and are called to be a positive force: “Trust in the Lord” (v. 5); “fear the Lord and shun evil” (v. 7); “honor the Lord with your wealth” (v. 9); “do not despise the Lord’s discipline” (v. 11). Such wisdom compels us to be God-focused, but there are people-touching dimensions to our faith too.
In Matthew 5:3-12, Jesus, the ultimate embodiment of wisdom, eloquently described the internal disposition of believers in Jesus. Furthermore, He reminded them that they were high-impact people. “You are the salt of the earth” (v. 13). “You are the light of the world” (v. 14). As such, we are honored to “Let [our] light shine . . . that they may see [our] good deeds and glorify [our] Father in heaven” (v. 16).
By Arthur Jackson
REFLECT & PRAY
Who compels you to honor God in ways that also touch people? How can you reengage with lessons from the Bible you may have forgotten?
Heavenly Father, please forgive me for my failure to honor You fully. Renew my heart through Your words .
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The “proverbs of Solomon” were written “for gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight” (Proverbs 1:1-2). Solomon says the beginning of such wisdom is “the fear of the Lord” (v. 7). In chapter 3, he warns his son not to be “wise in [his] own eyes” (v. 7). Only by wholly trusting in, honoring, and obeying God could he gain wisdom (vv. 5-6). That’s true for us . When God, the source of all wisdom (2:6), is central in our hearts and minds, Scripture, prayer, and the Spirit guide and direct our lives and choices, including our interactions with others. Wisdom helps to keep us from making foolish decisions (vv. 12, 16) and helps us to treat others with love, patience, and kindness (Galatians 5:22-23; James 3:13) and thereby influence our community for good.
Alyson Kieda
Upper Room: Help My Unbelief
The father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” - Mark 9:24 (NRSVUE)
We were told by the doctor that our two-year-old daughter had severe anemia and that we needed to take her to the hospital for further tests. I was frightened! Were we going to lose her? I tried to pray, but the whole time doubt and unbelief conquered my thoughts. The only prayer I was able to say was from Mark 9:24, “Help my unbelief!”
I opened my Bible and read the whole story about the father and his child who was having seizures, and something occurred to me: the focus of this story was not the sick child but the despairing father! And Jesus met him with love and understanding. The child was healed in spite of his father’s unbelief. This story made me feel at ease, and I put my child in God’s loving hands. God took care of her, and she is 52 years old and a mother to six wonderful children.
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's Prayer
Dear Lord, your love has no limits. Thank you for your forgiving and healing grace. We pray in the name of Jesus who taught us to pray, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matt. 6:9-13, KJV).
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