Patchwork Devotional: 365 Snippets of Inspiration, Joy, and Hope

Patchwork Devotional: 365 Snippets of Inspiration, Joy, and Hope

by Various Authors
Patchwork Devotional: 365 Snippets of Inspiration, Joy, and Hope

Patchwork Devotional: 365 Snippets of Inspiration, Joy, and Hope

by Various Authors

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Overview

INVITE GOD INTO EVERY MOMENT.

Life is a fabric woven together with small moments. Each day we drive to work, run errands, cook meals, make phone calls, and everything else in between. In the midst of it all, God stays beside us as a partner, protector, and father. In the Patchwork Devotional, 365 days of encouragement, hope, inspiration, and humor will tune our souls to God’s presence—even in the small things.

Writers include some of today’s most dynamic authors and speakers: Patsy Clairmont, Natalie Grant, Nicole Johnson, Carol Kent, Marilyn Meberg, Sandi Patty, Jan Silvious, Luci Swindoll, Sheila Walsh, and Lisa Whelchel.

If we take the time, day-by-day we can come to know the privilege of experiencing God’s love for us in all things. We can learn to see everything—big and small—through his eyes.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781400203116
Publisher: Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date: 10/11/2010
Sold by: HarperCollins Publishing
Format: eBook
Pages: 384
File size: 915 KB

Read an Excerpt

PATCHWORK devotional

365 Snippets of Inspiration, Joy, and Hope
By Sheila Walsh Marilyn Meberg Luci Swindoll Patsy Clairmont Sandy Patti

Thomas Nelson

Copyright © 2010 Thomas Nelson, Inc.
All right reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4002-0287-4


Chapter One

January 1

A FORMULA FOR LAUGHTER

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, your consolations delight my soul.

-Psalm 94:19 NASB

I don't usually respond to formulas for this and that; they feel a bit too tidy. But I have developed one for cheerful thinking I'd like to toss your way for your consideration. To begin with, I love to laugh. I believe a giggle is always loitering about even in the most devastating of circumstances.

This isn't denial. I need to feel and express my pain. But I also need to find the light side-and there is always a light side! I've noticed that when I laugh about some minor part of a problem or controversy or worry, the whole situation suddenly seems much less negative to me. After a good laugh, I can then rethink my circumstances. As a result, that which was threatening may now seem less threatening.

Paradoxically, after I've found the giggle, I am more ready to get serious (it's a more balanced seriousness) and consider the degree and the extent of my negative thinking. This is when negative thoughts have to be deleted and replaced with those that are realistically positive.

A transformed and renewed mind enables us to manifest an attitude of good cheer. Believe it, think it, and go for it! Don't let life get in your way.

-MARILYN MEBERG (I'd Rather Be Laughing)

January 2

THE COUNSEL WITHIN

Knowing what is right is like deep water in the heart; a wise person draws from the well within.

-Proverbs 20:5 MSG

God has put the counsel we need to hear and know within our own hearts. When he made us, he enabled us to store that wise counsel in a very deep, private place he created. It's like a deep river, running through our hearts in a place that's completely quiet and unique to each individual. When we get in touch with that, we find his counsel with a still heart and a waiting, open soul ... without passion, desire, judgment, or opinions. It's pure and clean and from God. But how do we get in touch with that?

I believe that's where the listening heart comes into play. When a person listens, God-given counsel is drawn out of the heart of the one speaking. A person with a listening heart may ask a few pertinent questions, but for the most part he just waits and listens. He doesn't argue; he listens. He doesn't judge; he listens. He doesn't run ahead; he simply listens.

Therefore, if you want to be wise, listen with your heart-to others, to sounds, to words, to life itself. And in so doing, your heart will grow bigger, enabling you to be of more help to others in their needs.

-LUCI SWINDOLL (Life! Celebrate It)

January 3

OUR BIG GOD

I will meditate about your glory, splendor, majesty, and miracles.

-Psalm 145:5 TLB

Some of us are slowly unfolding miracles, yet miracles nonetheless. In God's timing and for his purposes, he has accomplished his work in me. And I'm grateful he continues the work. He knew I'd falter and question.

Someone once said, "Courage is fear that has said its prayer." That resonates within me. I do many things today not because I feel brave, but because I have prayed and God has answered and met me with his strength in my utter weakness.

I don't know what sends shudders down your spine, what threatens your security, what gnaws at your work, but my prayer is that my encouragement will bring you hope, even if it's just the size of a breadcrumb-enough for you to take the next liberating step. I've learned that life is exceedingly difficult and that God is amazingly big. He will reign over our greatest losses, rectify our worst failures, and remedy our deepest insecurities.

I don't understand all the ways of the Lord, but then I'm not supposed to. Faith carries us through life's unknowns and God's mysteries. But one day, one absolutely glorious day, I will "get it," and more importantly I'll see Jesus face to face. That irrepressible hope keeps me breathing deeply, walking faithfully, and singing triumphantly.

-PATSY CLAIRMONT (I Grew Up Little)

January 4

FALLING FORWARD

The Lord upholds all who are falling.

-Psalm 145:14 NRSV

When I was a little girl, my father was just about the best daddy any daughter could have. He gave me a great picture of the heart of God by always coming the moment I called (or at least that's how I remember it). Therefore, I had a deep trust that my daddy always had my best interest at heart. One day, however, he tested this trust. I was up on a low roof and my dad was on the ground when he asked me to jump into his arms. I stood with my toes at the edge of the roof and could feel myself swaying. I was terrified. Then Daddy said, "Sandi, you're gonna fall either way. If you fall backwards, I can't help you. But if you fall forward, I'm going to be able to catch you."

That is exactly the picture I want you to hold in your mind if you are struggling in any area of your life. If you are wounded by circumstance or the betrayal of others, if you are in despair about your marriage or your children or your future, if you are being swayed by temptation, you probably feel like you are falling. Go ahead and fall, but fall into the arms of the one who can save you.

-SANDI PATTY (Falling Forward)

January 5

YIELDING TO THE WIND

Jesus answered, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

-John 3:8 NIV

Our ability to control often serves us well-in the ordering of our days, in our multitasking, in our dinner parties. On those occasions, we're not sailing. We just step into a motorboat and get it done. We openly take charge of things and happily run our little worlds. But when you are trusting God, you are sailing. Your hair is blown about but not your confidence. Your course is set, not by your own agenda, but by the wind of the Spirit. You have thrown the paddle of control overboard and in faith you have raised the sail to let God take you wherever he wants you to go.

Faith makes us certain of realities that we cannot see. I can't see the sun right now, but I can see the light. I can't see the wind, but I can feel it's there. I take one look up at the sail and there is no doubt. The storms will still come, the fear will still try to overtake me, but faith will sustain me. Faith-at first a gracious gift from God, it then becomes the muscle by which we can keep on trusting. No matter what happens, it is going to be okay.

-NICOLE JOHNSON (Raising the Sail)

January 6

BECOMING MATURE

Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

-Hebrews 5:13-14 NIV

Why do so many of us stop short of the fullness God intends for each of us? I believe we get comfortable in our immaturity.

I watch birds out my office window all day while I work. I've noticed that when the weather gets rough and strong winds begin to blow, birds seek refuge. They don't protect themselves based on how they feel, whether they want to, or on what all the other birds are doing. Their "get out of danger" instinct tells them what to do, and they do it. But when the storm passes by, it doesn't take long for them to come out again-unscathed, undaunted, and grateful to be out foraging for food once more.

We humans, on the other hand, often foolishly decide to party in the middle of storms. We refuse to take shelter because we think we are smarter than those who say, "There is a storm coming." This lack of wisdom is the mark of immaturity. Remember, what the birds know to do by instinct, we know to do by wisdom. But wisdom by its very nature resides only in the hearts of the mature; that is, those who are in the process of finding their full potential.

-JAN SILVIOUS (Big Girls Don't Whine)

January 7

CROOKED ARROWS

If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

-2 Timothy 2:13

"Life is tough but God is faithful" has become my motto. The Bible is full of stories of men and women who in the midst of personal failure and disappointment, even sin, discovered the faithfulness of God.

The psalmist David loved God, but he committed adultery and was responsible for sending a man to certain death. The apostle Peter was privileged to walk side by side with Jesus day after day. He saw the miracles, but when confronted, he claimed he'd never met Jesus.

Human history is an ongoing story of stumbling men and women and the constant grace and mercy of God. God hits straight shots with crooked arrows. It's all about him, never about us, never about the quality of the arrow. But we forget this.

These men left a light on for you and me. David's brokenness lit a candle in the dark. Peter's bruises gave me courage to walk on. This is the purpose of our lives. To learn to love God and to love one another. To let the light of Christ shine through the dark moments as well as in the glory days when everything is wonderful. He is faithful, even when we are not.

-SHEILA WALSH (Life Is Tough But God Is Faithful)

January 8

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

-Luke 6:38 NIV

When my son lost two teeth at once, he stuck them in a Ziploc bag under his pillow with a sticky note attached that read, "Mom-More Money!"

As grown-ups, we may be too big to believe in the tooth fairy, but we still act like children occasionally when it comes to money. We want more. Martin Luther even struggled with greed: "Many things I have tried to grasp and have lost. That which I have placed in God's hands I still have." That quote reminds me of an illustration I used in Creative Correction. I instruct moms to give their children each a quarter and have them close their hands around it. Then, take a jar of change and empty it over the children's clenched fists. How much money do they have now? Still a quarter. Next, I instruct moms to ask their children to hold the coin in their hands but keep their hands open, palm up, while a jar of change is poured over them. Now how much do they have? A lot more!

God loves to give good gifts to his children. The irony is that we must live open-handedly if we are to experience God's abundance. If we're always thinking about what we can get, how to keep it, and how to acquire even more, we limit God's ability to bless us more lavishly than we could ever imagine.

-LISA WHELCHEL (Speaking Mom-ese)

January 9

ALL GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME

Water wears away stones.

-Job 14:19 NIV

Where would you like to be in six months or a year? And how will you get there? Just as the ant picks up one grain of sand and moves it, then the next one, then the next one-and because of its long obedience in the same direction builds a city-one year from now, we will all be different. We don't get to stay the same, but we do get a choice in how we will have changed, whether it's for the better or not.

In your spiritual lives, too, as you "play the movie forward," where do you want to be in a year's time? If you want to be growing in your faith, closer to God and bold in your prayers, then day by day follow the example of the little ant and set your face in that direction by spending time in God's Word and in worship and prayer every day.

Everything that has value is worth intentional, daily commitment and obedience. I know that it's not easy, but just take the first step, then the next and the next, and before you know it you'll be much farther down the road. Understand it can take time. All good things do. But that's okay, because the journey is worth it.

-SHEILA WALSH (Get Off Your Knees and Pray)

January 10

A SEATBELT FOR MOM

A happy heart is like good medicine, but a broken spirit drains your strength.

-Proverbs 17:22 NCV

The ability to laugh over experiences that threaten to get the best of us enables us to change our perspective. Even in our pain, the ability to enjoy some humor can give relief and restore our balance.

For two years I watched the body of my mother painfully gnarl up on her left side. Believe me, I did more crying than laughing during that time. When she died, I was devastated. Mom had asked that her body be cremated. On the day I picked up my mother's ashes, my husband waited for me in the car. As I opened the door and placed the box on the seat, there was an awkward moment of silence. I broke that silence with a quiet, "Mom, would you like a seat belt?" My husband looked startled and I laughed. It felt good. My mom would have understood-in fact, she would have joined me. It was a painful moment relieved by a quiet laugh.

You may feel there are times in life that simply will not yield even an ounce of humor. I suggest that during those interminable times of pain you search out that spirit-lifting smile or laugh that helps you regain control.

-MARILYN MEBERG (Choosing the Amusing)

January 11

IT IS ENOUGH

Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

-Isaiah 40:31

Eventually, we all have to live in circumstances that are different than we expected. That is the time we must understand that we have choices-the kind of choices we all need to make when our carefully developed life plan takes a U-turn or comes to a sudden halt. We must discover fresh hope and renewed courage when we would rather give up. We must willfully choose to make the future better. We must choose not to waste the sorrow. We must give hope to others in the middle of our brokenness and tears.

Because it is all we have to give, it is enough.

Perhaps you're feeling like folding up your cards. Making hope-filled choices may be the furthest thing from your mind right now. But I challenge you, as I have been challenged, to consider your life from some different angles. Are you willing to take the chance that your "new normal" might offer benefits you never expected? Perhaps even joy?

I can't promise easy answers. In fact, you might wind up with more questions than before. There will be frustration, hurt, and more bumps in the road. But your movement can be purposeful-in the direction of hope.

Take the risk. It is all we have. And it is enough.

-CAROL KENT (A New Kind of Normal)

January 12

WE WERE BORN FOR THIS!

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.... How priceless is your unfailing love!

-Psalm 36:5, 7 NIV

Since the beginning of time, humankind has puzzled over and considered the questions, Why was I born? Why am I here? What is the purpose of life? It's not unusual to hear those who are in the middle of emotional depression, personal heartache, financial calamity, or social disaster pondering whether their lives are meaningless and futile. Hardship can make us question whether our lives are actually serving a purpose.

The Scriptures tell us that God loved us before he flung the stars into place. He loved us even before he created us. In fact, he chose to create us so that he might make us the recipients of his never-ending, unfathomable love. We are it! God's best and his most loved! We don't even have to go to the playoffs. We've already won. We were born for this!

God did not create us to help around the earth. He did not create us to do what he can already do. He created us so that he might love us and have a relationship with us. Then, based on his love, we return that love, thus establishing a reciprocal relationship. We don't have to do anything to earn this relationship. God ordained it "even before he made the world."

-MARILYN MEBERG (Love Me Never Leave Me)

January 13

SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS

The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

-Psalm 119:130

Several years ago, a dear friend gave me a thin, colorful little book called The Atlas of Experience by Louise van Swaaji and Jean Klare. It's based on the theory that human beings have always been haunted by fundamental questions and searching for answers. This book opens before the reader a sea of possibilities on which we all travel. By means of its evocative maps and routes, one can follow many passageways that lead to shorelines where our imagination, ideas, feelings, experience, and faith are enlarged.

That's the way life works. It's uncertain and has myriad ups and downs. If we cannot or do not learn from these uncertainties, we'll repeat patterns that keep us treading water. And if we get stuck there, how will we find our sea legs? How will we become adults?

As long as we are in the human condition, we'll have questions. You can count on it! A few of our questions will have easy answers. Others will be difficult, taking time to work out. Some will demand processing with counselors, friends, and God before an answer will come. And some will never be solved this side of heaven. We are not meant to know what to do. We simply have to trust the one who is the keeper of our hearts.

-LUCI SWINDOLL (Life! Celebrate It)

(Continues...)



Excerpted from PATCHWORK devotional by Sheila Walsh Marilyn Meberg Luci Swindoll Patsy Clairmont Sandy Patti Copyright © 2010 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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