Category: Building a Faith-filled Life

Newness in the Clay

Jeremiah 18

In Isaiah 40 we talked about how God provides comfort in our seasons of trouble, but we can also see God’s comfort here in Jeremiah 18. Here in this chapter, God tells Jeremiah to go and watch a potter in his house, and what he sees is this.

Jeremiah 18:1-4

“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal my words to you.” So, I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel. But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.”

God then says to Israel, “Can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?… Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so you are in my hand.”

            The comfort comes from the hope that God is our potter. He can make something new out of any situation we may be in.  

In some seasons of life, we may feel like we are broken and there is no coming back from that brokenness. But there is newness in the clay. That brokenness we feel is fixable, and God will make something new out of that brokenness.

            Now when God is telling Israel this in Jeremiah 18, he means it in a different way. In this time Israel was disobedient of God.

 God says in Jeremiah 18:7-8

“At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.  However, if that nation about which I have made the announcement turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.”

This passage was as much a lesson for individuals as it was to Israel. Listen to God but know that he will make new beautiful things out of broken things.

-Hannah Eldred

Reflection Questions

  1. What does it mean to you that you are the clay and the Lord God is the potter?
  2. Have you seen a time in your life (or the life of someone else) when God turned a marred pot into a work of art and function? What was the best part of this transformation? Was it easy or still a bit difficult to be the molded clay?
  3. What can be learned at the potter’s house about God’s discipline?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

God’s Comfort for Us

Isaiah 40

Wednesday, October 25, 2022

There are many times in life when we feel alone, and without comfort. Times like grieving over death, or a spot in life that just isn’t going our way. In this chapter however, God’s comfort and hope are clear towards God’s people, just as it is today.

Throughout all of Isaiah, there were themes. Isaiah 1-35 deal with condemnation, Isaiah 36-39 are the historic chapters, the chapters with confiscation, and Isaiah 40-66 consolation. Consolation is the comfort people feel after a loss or disappointment.

Every story in the Bible has its sad parts, its broken pieces, but in the end, God provides comfort and peace.

            Isaiah 40:1-2

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and announce to her that her time of forced labor is over, her iniquity has been pardoned, and she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”

The Lord is saying to Isaiah. Tell my people the battle is over; they don’t need to worry. Isaiah knew all about warning and instructing God’s people, but God also wanted His people to receive His comfort.

In any group of people waiting to hear from God, there are always a number of hurting hearts. It is important for us to hear words of comfort for God is comfort. Our purpose is to bring God’s comfort to other’s pain, just as others bring us the same comfort. God’s purpose for us is to love him and love others in our pain.

Our battle may not always be over, it was the same way for God’s people. The battle wasn’t over for Jerusalem when this was written, but God told them it would be over. That is where the comfort comes from.  Knowing the battle may not be over yet, but also knowing we have a mighty God who will bring us through it.

Our purpose is bringing others the Lord’s comfort in their battles too. Share in God’s hope and love.

-Hannah Eldred

Reflection Questions

  1. What characteristics of God do you find in Isaiah 40? Which one do you sometimes forget about? Which one means the most to you today?
  2. Who do you know who you can bring God’s comfort to this week? How will you do so?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Life and Love for All

Isaiah 11

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Have you ever been on a walk outside and been stung by a bee. I have, and it wasn’t the most pleasant experience ever. Animals such as bees use mechanisms like their stinger or teeth to protect themselves from threats, but what if they didn’t have to?

            In Isaiah 11, it alludes to the humble coming of Christ. Jesus comes to us from nothing. He comes from the dead stump of Jesse, and springs forth full of life and hope, bearing fruit. Jesus is full of wisdom and understanding for us, counsel and strength, and a spirit of knowledge and of fear.

            When Jesus commands all the animals will dwell together as it says in Isaiah 11:6-9.

“The wolf will dwell with the lamb and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion and the fattened calf will be together, and a child will lead them. The cow and bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like cattle. An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den. They will not destroy each other on my entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is filled with water.”

            There will be no fighting among animals anymore. No more disagreements among us people either. Wouldn’t it be incredible for it to be like that today?

What if we all put our different opinions aside and loved each other with no questioning. The world would be an entirely different place.

That is the challenge for today. Think of a person who you may have had a disagreement with, and just reach out to that person. Let them know you care. Let go of the disagreements. Show each other compassion.

-Hannah Eldred

Reflection Questions

  1. What will the earth look like when it is “filled with the knowledge of the Lord”? How is it different from today?
  2. Reading through Isaiah 11, describe the reign of Jesus the Messiah. What are you most looking forward to and why?
  3. How can we live today to prepare ourselves – and others (even the ones we have disagreements with) for the reign of Jesus?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Our Hope in Christ

Isaiah 9

Monday, October 24, 2022

In yesterday’s devotion, we talked about our vineyard, and how God provides us with freewill to produce the good fruit for our relationship with him and spreading his word.

            Today we will talk about the Hope Jesus was to bring to Israel and Still brings to us today when we work hard with him as a team.

            Isaiah 9: 3-4

“You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before you as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils. For you have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as you did on the day of Midian.”

            This passage reminds us of the Hope and glory that come to us from Christ in his coming. It reminds us of the hard work, and hard times we will endure before he finally returns.

            The passage Isaiah 9:3 speaks of the people rejoicing as they did at Harvest time, or while dividing spoils. This is alluding to how the people planted in that time, but it also speaks to the work we do now. We should rejoice in our daily jobs and be joyful while we work.

            A man will reap what he sows, when we sow love for others and trust in following the Lord and his plan, we will celebrate in the harvest of bringing others to Christ. Sowing good works today could look like, volunteering your time for a charity, or participating in service at church by doing slides. The small things matter, just like paying for the person behind you in the drive through window, which just might start a chain reaction as others do it, too. The point is, we will see the incredible rejoicing at what is sown through Christ if we love others and serve him.

            This passage also alludes to how God shatters the enemy as he did in Midian. The battle of Midian is found in the book of Numbers 31, The Lord commanded Moses to recruit a thousand Israelites from every tribe, to go and wage war against Midian. Trusting God to bring them through, they won the battle. Just as one day we will win the battle and rejoice.

It won’t be easy, but there will be hope through till the end.

-Hannah Eldred

Reflection Questions

  1. Consider Jesus’ first coming – what does it mean to you? What hope does it give? What rejoicing does it bring?
  2. Consider Jesus’ second coming – what does it mean to you? What hope does it give? What rejoicing does it bring?
  3. What are you sowing now? What do you expect at harvest time? Is there anything else you want to/should be sowing?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Freewill in the Vineyard

Isaiah 5

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Editor: For the next three weeks we will be spending some time looking at the books of prophecy from the Old Testament – with at least one devotion for every book. Then, mid-November we will be ready to start Revelation, one chapter a day. And we will finish off the year with the last gospel we have not yet read this year: Luke. Keep Seeking God in His Word! SeekGrow(good fruit)Love!

We have all desired to be the plant lady/man at some point in our lives. We go to the store and get a cute little house plant, and then we put it on our windowsill and water it once or twice a week, depending on the type of plant.

            But, if you are anything like me, you do not have the greenest thumb, and most of the time your plant ends up looking… well, dead.

            My point is, that even though we may water that plant, and provide it with the best soil. If the plant were to cover itself up under a blanket and hide, it will never grow, and will eventually die.

            That is what Isaiah 5 talks about in the song of the vineyard.

            Isaiah 5:1-2

“I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one’s vineyard: the one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones, and planted it with the finest of vines. He built a tower in the middle of it and even dug out a winepress there. He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes.”

            In this passage we are depicted as the vineyard, and God is the tender of us. He provides us with everything we need, and pursues a relationship with us, for us to live for him, and spread his word.

            It is because he gives us freewill that we can choose him and grow healthy fruit that can be shared. It is we who decide what kind of fruit we are going to grow in the vineyard with our actions, and what we focus on.

Jerusalem at this time was not following God’s commands. They were pursuing drunkenness, compound sinfulness (denying your sin), and amalgamation of land (combining of land together with small properties). Today we aren’t necessarily combining land, but we may be pursuing other things that are not what God wants us to pursue.

God wants us to consider this, just as he wanted Jerusalem to consider it.  Who was to blame for the worthless grapes? What caused the worthless grapes? And how can we produce healthy grapes?  We have the free will to choose what we want to produce.  Be the change.

-Hannah Eldred

Reflection Questions

  1. In what way/ways have you noticed your garden producing worthless fruit?
  2. How can you trust and grow closer to God, while letting him work your vineyard?
  3. How can you produce positive fruit and influence change?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Fight for the Faith

Jude

Saturday, October 22, 2022

We are in a battle right now.  However, that is not a unique characteristic of today.  In the New Testament, Jude recognized it and wrote in Jude 3, “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”  He wanted to warn people so that they could be prepared.

It is no different today.  We live in an age that touts religious freedom and tolerance, yet people are still dying for their faith and the faith of many continues to fall further and further from the truth.  We still have a job to do.   

Though we may be seeing a change in culture in our own country, we are still fairly blessed when it comes to the freedoms that we have in our faith.  In looking at the whole world, there are many countries in which admitting to being a Christian is liable to get you killed.  In that way, the fight for the faith is considerably different. They are literally fighting for their physical lives as they fight for the faith. 

We have a different, less physical fight in the U.S.   A decline in church attendance, a falling away from the faith, a bending of the faith to fit what culture says.  Are we willing to stand up, to contend, for our faith?

Jude 3 tells us that the faith was entrusted to all of God’s holy people.  I believe that by accepting Jesus into our lives, we become one of those holy people.  That means we are entrusted with the faith.  We should be fighting for what is true, to hold on to that faith, so that at Christ’s return, we, and as many others as possible can be found faithful.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. After urging his readers to contend for the faith, what warnings does he give through the rest of his short book? What situations, sins, and characteristics of people is Jude warning against?
  2. What does Jude want to see from God’s people?
  3. Where do you see a battle for the faith taking place today? How do you think God wants you to participate?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Work Together for the Truth

3 John

Friday, October 21, 2022

In the third and final letter from John, truth is once again evidenced in his thoughts.  

John is writing, in part, to commend a man named Gaius.  John said of Gaius that he was walking in the truth and that he was being faithful in providing support for strangers who were traveling around sharing the gospel (perhaps like modern day missionaries?).  

While there are many who are called to travel around sharing the gospel – to be missionaries – most of us are not.  That doesn’t excuse us from the responsibility of the Great Commission (Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”).  We can all come alongside those who are called to do such work by providing prayer, encouragement, and financial support.  This makes us the “fellow workers” that John talks about in verse 8.

John then goes on to contrast the faithful and loving behavior of Gaius with the selfish and subversive behavior of Diotrephes.  In verse 11 he tells Gaius, and us, “do not imitate evil but imitate good”.   It’s not enough to just not imitate evil, but it is commanded that we imitate good.  The one who does good is from God.  

-Todd & Amy Blanchard

Questions:

  1. Do you know who the missionaries we, as a church, support?  You can learn about them and our organization for supporting them, Lord’s Harvest International here:  http://lhicog.com/
  2. Who do you know that you could imitate?  How?
  3. Are the choices you make (attitudes, actions, words, etc.) worthy of imitation?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Abiding in Truth

2 John

Thursday, October 20, 2022

For such a short letter, John really packs a lot into it.  The greeting, which, if I am being honest, often gets skimmed, offers some insight into what the letter contains.  He mentions truth or the truth four times in the greeting alone.  I think his point is that truth matters.  So, what is the truth that he is talking about?  Verse 9 talks about abiding in the teaching of Christ.  This is the truth that is empathized in his greeting.  Verse 7 says that a deceiver is one who does not confess (believe) that Jesus Christ came in the flesh – that he was a real man who lived on this earth.  No one likes to find out they were deceived, tricked, or made to look foolish because they believed a lie.  The truth is that Jesus is the Son of God, he did live on the earth, he did preach a message of the coming kingdom, he did die for our sins, he was raised up, and he will come back.  We are to abide in that teaching, in that truth.  

I looked up abide and was surprised at the many definitions it has.  Here are a few:

  • to accept or act in accordance with
  • to remain in a stable or fixed state
  • to continue in a particular condition, attitude, or relationship
  • to be able to live with or put up with

Not only are we to abide in this truth, but to NOT abide in it is to NOT have God.  That is a scary thought!

John provides a warning to us in verse 8 to “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward”.  He warns us because there will be “many deceivers” – many people who won’t be abiding in the truth about Jesus.  The only way to know if you are being told the truth or if you are being deceived is to “test everything” (I Thessalonians 5:21).  In order to do that, we need to know the truth ourselves.  We need to “test” what we are being taught against what is in God’s word, the Bible. 

  • Todd & Amy Blanchard

Questions:

  1.  Have you ever been deceived by someone?  How did you learn about the truth and what steps have you taken so you aren’t deceived in that way again?  
  2. How can you apply that to being watchful with regard to your faith walk (walking in the truth)?
  3. Being aware that knowledge of the truth prevents deception, how can you share your knowledge to help keep others from being deceived?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

Sharing the Victory

1 John 5

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

One more song this week – 1 John 5:4-5 “for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Those two verses are the song, but verse 4 picks up in the middle of a sentence & thought, so backing up a couple verses:

This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

When we have faith, we can overcome this world.  Our faith that Jesus is the son of God gives us victory and makes God’s commands not burdensome thereby helping us to keep His commands.  And by keeping His commands, we can love one another – the children of God.

Verse five is also a reminder that the victory is exclusionary.  Who overcomes the world?  Only those that believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  We have to strike a balance in our love for others.  Because if we love based on the world’s terms, we accept anything.  But to do that would not be love.  Because only those who believe that Jesus is God’s son overcome this world.  So if we in our “love” just leave our friends alone because we don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable, or we don’t want to feel uncomfortable, we put them in a position of not having that victory.  That isn’t real love.

We give a lot of reasons not to share the love of God with other people and I think fear forms the basis of a lot of it – fear of rejection, fear of being ostracized, fear of losing money/power, etc…

But when we read verses like this, we should be reminded that we have to push through that fear.  To show our love in actions (chapter 3), we need to share with others that while we have been separated from God, God provided an atoning sacrifice for our sins (chapter 4), and with this sacrifice, if we believe, we can overcome and have the victory (chapter 5).

And what is that victory?  As he wraps up his letter, John tells his audience – 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 

We need to believe in Jesus as the Son of God to be a part of that eternal life, and if we are loving others, we should be telling them so they can have that victory too.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

1.”Who is it that overcomes the world?” (1 John 5:5a – see 5b for the correct answer). Who thinks they are overcoming the world? What are they missing? Do you fall into the overcoming category?

2. Who do you know who does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God? How can you truly love them?

3. What is the victory that you have to share? How would you explain it? How will you share it?

2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload

This is Love

1 John 4

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Kid play songs of the day are from 1 John 4: 9 & 10 “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sin.” (Aaron Winner has a great song with these verses too).

Having grown up in the Christian church, I think this wonderful news is something that I can often gloss over.  God loved us, so he sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins that we might be saved.  Yeah, I know. 

But when you stop and read it, it is really amazing, especially from our human perspective.  It is pretty easy to do something nice for other people when they love you, when they are nice to you.  But God did this for a people who had turned away from Him, and for future people that would continue to turn from Him.

Thankfully, God’s love does not have a prerequisite.  Based on literally nothing we or anyone else has done, He loves us.  And loved us enough to put His son through excruciating pain to the point of death so that we might be reconciled to him.

How do we show our love?  Do we have requirements for who we show our love to?

The concept of loving someone no matter what they have or have not done goes against our human nature.  It is something we probably need to ask for God’s help for.  It’s ok if we can’t do it on our own.  Because of God’s great love for us, we can be reconciled to Him, and we can ask Him for help in loving others.

I don’t know about you, but I forget to ask for help sometimes.  It is not even always conscious, but my pride gets in the way.  I think I should be able to do what I’m supposed to do on my own.  But as humans, we are flawed.  And I do believe that it is ok to ask God for help in loving people the way we are supposed to.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Take time to consider Stephanie’s questions: “How do we show our love?  Do we have requirements for who we show our love to?”
  2. How is God’s love different?
  3. How can we show our thanks for God’s great love?
2022 SeekGrowLove Bible Reading PlanDownload