Daily Bread Devotional April 15

Change is a relentless tide, and it can often leave our faith bobbing in uncertain waters. In this candid conversation, I open up about my personal wrestles with shifting life patterns and the challenge of detaching from the material to pursue what's spiritually paramount. We're all navigating these shifts, and this episode serves as a communal space to share stories, offer encouragement, and remind one another that we're not adrift alone. By leaning into the hope of heaven, we find the strength to persevere through life's upheavals. So tune in, grab your journal, and let's support each other as we seek greater purpose amidst the ebbs and flows of life's constant changes.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:20

Good morning, ginger Adventures. So on this episode I'm actually going to be reviewing a Christian devotional website that is very easy to access and is a really great place for beginner Christians to start if they're looking to get into studying the Bible, get into studying the Bible. Bible study groups are also absolutely fantastic. However, if you've not gotten to that point yet, this is an amazing place to start. Their website is odborg, and when you go onto that website they will have a very simple devotional that has a story and scripture for every single day of the year and you could go to the day that you go to their websites devotional or you could go back to any devotionals before that point. They're really short, they don't take a whole lot of time and they give you a chance to really see what you can possibly do inside of a devotional, which I really, really like. Now when I do my devotions, I have a set-aside journal for that and I will write in the scripture that's given for that day. I will write in a quote if the author of the devotionals has a particular quote tied to the devotional, and then I will answer the questions that the devotional gives inside of that journal. And it's really amazing to me to be able to go back later and look at what I wrote, what my answers were and how my opinions or thoughts have changed from the time that I wrote that. Now, today's devotional scripture is John 14, 1 through 7. And the verse that they place at the top is specifically John 14, 3. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me.

Speaker 1: 2:17

This devotional is talking about being at home in Jesus, and I have to admit I really liked the point of this devotional because, even as a well-seasoned Christian, I tend to forget that earth is a temporary home, fit in here on earth and fill gaps in my heart with things here from earth and fill a reluctance to go to a different home, because earth is what I know and heaven sounds amazing, the way the Bible describes heaven. It absolutely is going to be the most amazing place that I will have ever been to. However, since I've not been there, there is a certain anxiety of the unknown, and I know that not everyone will feel that way. It's just something that I struggle with, that earth is a known concept and heaven is not, and that's where faith and trust really come in Trust that when Jesus is telling us he's going to prepare a place for us, he means that and anything he prepares for us is going to be way better than what we could possibly have down here, and just having that faith in God that he absolutely is working to do what's best for us, and I did like some of the things that they inserted into this devotional.

Speaker 1: 3:54

They start by talking about the story the Wizard of Oz and of course, in the story the Wizard of Oz the main character, dorothy, is simply trying to get back home. She misses Kansas, she misses her family, she feels very lost in this strange new place that she's in, and in the end of the story it is ruby red slippers that she clicks together three times. That allows her to go home, and and they say that the point of this is that there's only the one pair of slippers. Not everybody's going to have a pair of ruby slippers, not everybody's going to be able to get home, not everybody's going to be able to feel like they're accepted, and I believe that's very, very true. As a teacher, I can see the different groups of kids in school. I can see certain kids trying really hard to do certain things and behave certain ways to be accepted by different groups in school, and I can see the negative impact that it has on the kids when they don't feel accepted, and that's very true of adults too. When we don't feel accepted, it has a negative impact on us. It makes us struggle to approach life in a positive manner, and I really like that. They tied together Dorothy to her ruby red slippers with this quote from CS Lewis. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. That's a very good point, because we're trying so hard to be accepted and be at home here on earth. But this is not the world that we were made for. Our permanent, forever home is in heaven with God, and Jesus is up there right now preparing a place for us there. But we get so caught up in earth and all that's happening on earth and the known structure of earth that we live our lives in a way that says that we're going to be here on earth forever. And I really liked the questions that it asked. It really made me stop and think, so I'm going to go share those questions right now.

Speaker 1: 6:27

What makes you feel at home and why? How does knowing Jesus will take you to be with him forever help you live here on earth? So what makes me feel at home here on earth is being at my actual house. My favorite place to be is my kitchen. I love cooking and baking and I feel very at home in my kitchen. I also love being up in my room. I feel very at home when I'm up in my room. I have my puppies that cuddle with me and I have my comfortable bed and blankets and surroundings and it's very comfy and that makes me feel at home. Another thing and that makes me feel at home. Another thing that really makes me feel at home is whenever I'm with my best friend, no matter where we're at. He makes me feel safe, he makes me feel accepted, he makes me feel like I'm not being judged at all, and that makes me feel at home.

Speaker 1: 7:20

But earth still is not my permanent home and I need to be living here on earth as if it is temporary and I've not really been doing that lately. So I feel like I need to change my approach and think, hey, I know that Jesus wants to take me up to heaven to be with him forever. So how should that affect how I live here on earth? Well, it definitely should be encouraging me to witness and lead others to Christ, because of course, I want them to be able to go to heaven with me and be in that forever place. It should be encouraging me to let go of things here on earth.

Speaker 1: 8:05

I am the kind of person that does struggle to let go of certain routines, that struggles with change, and, if I know the earth is not my permanent home, it should be easier to let go of things. It should be easier to change to different routines. It should be easier to let go of worldly things and really focus on getting to go to heaven someday. So if any of you are having that same struggle, I am right there with you and I would welcome anyone that would love to send comments, send questions, just chat about how you're feeling about different struggles. I really appreciate the chance to have this podcast and share these different devotions, these different book reviews, these different thoughts, because I think it's a really great way to connect to people and just to help people feel like they're not alone in different things that they have going on. That's all the time I have for today, friends. Absolutely fantastic episode. I really enjoyed sharing this with you. I will see you on the wild side.