Category: God

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, God, humble

April 19 2025

Maundy Thursday

Psalm 94 Verse 7

 7 They say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob takes no notice.”

This is the beginning of the end…. the day when Jesus eats with his disciples and tells them goodbye. The day when the disciples begin to realize that Jesus is not the person they thought he was. This kind of end is not what they expected. God is not becoming an earthly king… a person of earthly power. God, in heaven, seems not to care.

Yet… Jesus knows that something more important is about to happen. God’s plan is grander than anyone can imagine.

It still is.

Prayer: O Holy God, your plan is beyond our understanding. Your wisdom is infinite. Help us to trust your love for us and out world. AMEN

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, God, questioning

April 3 2025

Psalm 78 Verses
18 They willfully put God to the test
    by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God;
    they said, “Can God really
    spread a table in the wilderness?

“They willfully put God to the test”. They prayed to God but really doubted that God would answer. Sometimes it is hard to believe in anything. Life is so erratic. Chaos rules. There doesn’t seem to be an logic to anything. But it is God’s world and we will never understand until we see God face to face. When I do I have questions. Do you?

Prayer: Lord you have the answers and I have the questions. Please help me to live into the questions until I am ab le to understand the answers. AMEN

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in choices, God, waste

March 28 2025

Psalm 49 Verses 10,13,15-17,20

10 For all can see that the wise die,
    that the foolish and the senseless also perish,
    leaving their wealth to others.
13 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
    and of their followers, who approve their sayings.[d]
15 But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;
    he will surely take me to himself.
16 Do not be overawed when others grow rich,
    when the splendor of their houses increases;
17 for they will take nothing with them when they die,
    their splendor will not descend with them.

20 People who have wealth but lack understanding
    are like the beasts that perish.

We all die. It is inevitable. A s the Psalm says “the wise die,
 that the foolish and the senseless also perish,” No one is exempt. Yet look at how much we spend on trying to live forever. We have face lifts and tummy tucks, hair pieces, expensive herbal treatments….anything that might work. We will die but death does not win. It is our connection and experience with God that will live on. If we spent as much time and money on our connection with God we would be deeply spiritual people. We would be spending billions on charities and doing God’s work on earth. What an idea!

Prayer: God of creation, you made us in your image. Help us to understand that aging is a part of that image. Teach us to spend time with you and follow your spirit instead of wasting time and money on efforts to look young.

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in feelings, God, habits, remember

March 250 2025

Psalm 34 Verses 1-4

1 I will extol the Lord at all times;
    his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the Lord;
    let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
    let us exalt his name together.

Blessing God is not something that we remember to do that often. We do bless and praise him in church…the Gloria is a song of praise to God. I wonder if we remember that when we are saying or singing the Gloria. Most of us are uncomfortable if someone lifts up their hands in the service and yet this is also lifting praise to God. There is something about involving our bodies that engages our minds on a different level. We should all try it.

Prayer: Gracious Lord, you are worthy to be praised with glad voices. We bless and praise your name. We are grateful for your love and compassion.. Be with us each day of our lives. AMEN

Homework: Since most of us are worried about what people think… when you are praying alone life up your arms to God. See how it feels.

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in God, joy, sorrow

March 18 2025

Psalm 30 Verses 4 – 5

4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
    praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning

Nothing lasts forever. Not bad things…not good things. Change is ever with us. Even when we are overcome with grief we can rest in God’s promise that joy will return. It may not be the same feeling as before. It may may be different.. Sometimes more profound. After all how do we know the full impact of joy if we have never experienced sorrow.

Prayer: Lead us gently through our sorrow, loving God, so that we may know the joy you have in store for us. AMEN

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in calm, God, safety

March 16 2025

Psalm 23 Verse 4

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

Most o us have had to walk through that dark valley. It reminds me of the dark wood in the old movie The Wizard of Oz. It is scary in that wood but Dorothy is not alone. She has friends with her. We need friends with us too. It is not easy to walk in that valley by ourselves.

We don’t have to do it alone for God is always with us. Fear no evil…we are not alone!\

Prayer: God of comfort, thank you for being with me in the valley. Even i the dark, let me feel the calm of your presence. AMEN

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in balance, calm, common sense, God, silence

March 16 2025

Psalm 23 Verses 1-3

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.

It has always been interesting to me that this psalm says “He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside quiet waters.“

We are the overworked Americans. We don’t know how to slow down. Most of us are on a computer, smart watch or phone…anywhere on social media. There are so many time saving devices to help us have time for ourselves but we fill that time with more electronics. Instead of a time out we are even more busy and stressed. It is even more evident in our teen population.

We have no idea how to lie down in green pasture or sit beside quiet waters. I don’t think we even know what quiet is.

We need to rethink our lives. Repeating what is causing the problems is called “insane.” It is time we we learned how to help ourselves.

Prayer: Help us to learn to really take time out. We need to create some time in our lives to just sit and think. Help us find ways to restore our souls. Let us be still and know that you are God. AMEN

Homework: Take a least ten minutes today to just be….sit quietly somewhere restful and do nothing.

Devotional

by worrylessjourney, posted in answers, communication, compassion, God

March 16 2025

Psalm 63 verses 1-5

1 You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.

2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

Blaise Pascal, a mathematician and physicist, is credited with saying “There is a God-shaped hole in the heart of every man”.  We spend much of our lives trying to fill that hole. We try buying things, getting more money, having face lifts, and anything else we can think of. The problem is nothing works. It should be obvious to us if we look at the lives of some famous people. Many of them have taken drugs to help fill the hole when money and fame didn’t help. So many have died either from drugs or suicide. Obviously we are on the wrong path.

David tells us what fills that hole and how we will feel when that happens. “I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.“

Prayer: Caring God how disappointed you must be that we can’t see the path to you. Help us to truly understand that seeking you in our hearts and minds is what is needed. We must spend time with you and listen to your voice. We need your love and compassion on the way. AMEN

Devotionals for Lent

by worrylessjourney, posted in compassion, faith, forgiveness, God

I will be posting a daily devotional during Lent based on the Psalms

Ash Wednesday March 5 2025.

Psalm 51 : 1

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions.

We begin Lent with this Psalm. In the Ash Wednesday liturgy it is called Miserere Mei, Deus. I have always looked at that as misery, ignoring the Latin and just looking at the words. The Psalm is so bleak…begging God for mercy and forgiveness but this is how we begin Lent….in a posture of penitence. We tend to feel that all of Lent is like this and we need to spend the whole time on our knees. It wouldn’t hurt us if we did but Lent is more than that. It is a time for reflection and taking time to review of our being. It is also a time to know that God is a God of compassion and forgiveness.

Prayer: Loving God, forgive us when we see you just as a God of judgement and not as a God of compassion. Help us to rest in your loving-kindness and love. AMEN

Hope is never gone

by worrylessjourney, posted in acceptance, dogs, faith, God, hope

I know my life has not provided pleasant reading for quite a while. Unfortunately it has not yet changed for the better. I was terribly sick Christmas Eve I think due to medicine changes but fine on Christmas. Have been basically fine since except for the pain from the fractured vertebrae.

 Now one of my dogs is ill and I am worried. I am praying for a good prognosis. A new year is coming and I still hope for better things to come. With trust in God and faith there will be continued hope.