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12/19/2025 0 Comments Preparing Our Hearts for JoyThe whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening
fades, you call forth songs of joy. – Psalm 65:8 The Bible tells us in Galatians 5:22 that joy is one of the fruits of the spirit. It is a gift that comes from the Father as we allow his spirit to mold, soften and prepare our hearts. But what happens when we find ourselves lacking in joy? I believe one of the key pieces to preparing our hearts to receive the Lord’s joy is in the stewardship of wonder and thanksgiving. Psalm 65:8 is just one verse that seems to connect the experience of awe to joy. And not just awe and wonder at obvious miracles, blessings, or signs, but of the morning dawn and the setting sun. Ecclesiastes 8:15 connects joy to eating, drinking, and being glad. Acts 14:17 connects the fullness of joy to the rain from heaven and the provision of food. For most of us, these examples of the Lord’s presence and goodness are abundant in our lives, but how many of us walk through each day completely missing these moments where we could stop and wonder at the Lord’s goodness? How many of us miss noticing what the Lord is doing and stopping to give thanks? Worse yet, how many of us have replaced thanksgiving for ordinary things with habits of anxiety, complaining, or self-pity? When we miss these moments to marvel at the goodness of our God and give thanks, I believe we miss crucial moments to prepare our hearts to receive his joy. The art of noticing is one that can take time. It can take time to retrain our brains to look for moments of joy, wonder, or beauty, but this Advent season, I invite you to start the process. “Lord, I ask you to open the eyes of my heart to see the beauty and wonder of your presence and works all around me. Prepare my heart to receive your joy as I celebrate the birth of your son. I welcome your conviction where I have given authority to envious, anxious, and complaining thoughts and repent of these habits in my life. Help me to notice what you are doing in my daily life and to practice thanksgiving this Christmas season.” - Sarah Youngs
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12/17/2025 0 Comments JOy - Week ThreeThe battle for Joy is not passive! With unknown futures for many, solutions still unsolved, and needs waiting to be met; anxiety looms at many of our doors. And anxiety steals joy. I do not think it is an accident that the season of Advent contains themes such as Hope and Peace before Joy. Because these are gifts, fruits growing out of cultivating and deepening our relationship with the Father, and hope and peace make their home internally in us, creating a vital atmosphere for joy to exist.
Unfortunately for many, we cannot serve our way to joy, because joy is not dependent on our circumstances; that would be happiness, because the battlefield for joy does not take place primarily in our actions. We cannot plan or organize our way to joy, because these actions are external, self-created, self-maintained and without our heavenly Father. This is often exhausting and lonely! Deep joy only comes from our relationship with the Father and from our investment in knowing Him. From experiencing the faithfulness and trustworthiness of His character that comes from giving Him control of our lives and partnering with His plans. Yes, here is the battlefield. But here also is the victory! As we learn we can trust God, we begin to relax, and here... here dear ones, the fruit of relationship with Him creates an incredibly beautiful space for joy to rise within us! It is a fruit born out of vulnerability, humility and dependance, on God that we cannot create ourselves; it rises within us, born out of a deepening knowledge and experience of who our heavenly Father is. And with that joy can come such gratitude for the gift of Jesus’ life and sacrifice allowing us this intimate experience of the Father’s love. Father, I give You today, my thoughts and my heart. I give You my decisions and the unknown. Thank you that You go before me today. Thank you for Your gentleness and love for me as I learn to be vulnerable and dependant on You. 12/9/2025 0 Comments Day 11I caught myself recently thanking God for His provision, because then I would not need to worry about it There is nothing like studying something is God’s word to highlight areas where we need to grow!
When did I decide that worrying was a need? And to take this even further, when did I equate worrying with being responsible? I can actually feel guilty if I do not worry about something significant. Looking back on when I was little, I do not remember worrying over utility bills, mortgages, food, or other basic needs. I trusted my parents to provide these things. Even if we grew up in a home that was much less stable, for the most part, I don’t believe most of us were born worrying. But at some point in time, the unknown became frightening, and I decided I needed to worry about it to be responsible. God’s solutions to this... to partner with Him! To obey what He says, to allow Him to guide our steps and our days and to not worry. It is one of the biggest lies I fell into, that worrying was helpful or responsible. Carrying deeply about something should drive us to the Father for help, but falling into worrying paralyzes us. We need to stay mobile and engaged with God, actively bringing Him our daily needs, and obeying Him. Worrying, instead of being a responsible action, gums up the process, slowing us down, making it harder to hear the Father as we rehearse our problems to ourselves, over...and ...over. So, let's practice carrying deeply and actively engaging with the Father, but reject the place of worry as a form of responsibility! Father, it is engaging with You that brings me peace, not worrying. As the Creator of the Universe, you know so much more than I do. It is more responsible to seek Your wisdom and direction than to worry! Forgive me for believing that worry was helpful, I choose to trust You and partner with Your plans. Thank you for the peace this brings! 12/9/2025 0 Comments Day tenPeace is a battlefield. Day and night we have the choice to entertain thoughts of worry and fear, or to not. It is simply not easy to keep worrisome thoughts at bay in our minds; like swatting at a hundred noisy insects buzzing for our attention. Battling the habit of dwelling on fear filled thoughts, after our part of planning has been accomplished, can be exhausting.
Especially when there is little else in our minds to dwell on. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 Paul gives us very sound advice in Philippians. What we choose to fill our minds with is as important, more important even, than protecting our thoughts from worry. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8-9 Again, we see that what we choose to fill our minds with is crucial to the quality of our lives. How to combat fear? Focus of God’s word, who He says He is, and who He says we are. Then we do not need to be dismayed, because we will know in our minds and hearts who God is and be able to follow what He says. In place of fear will come peace, a battle won and fortified by the truth of who our heavenly Father is. Try picking a verse to memorize this week, to fill your mind with it. There are some good choices from week one of this devotional. You can write out the verse, journal the verse, paint the verse, or whatever you wish, knowing that each time you do you are filling your mind with what is good, true and lovely...winning the battle for peace. Father, I choose to fill my mind with Your word today. I give you my mind and pick up the responsibility of focusing on the truth in my mind today. That You that Your truth sets me free. 12/7/2025 0 Comments Day Nine“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Mattherw 6:34 These are Jesus’s own words, do not worry about tomorrow. He does not say do not plan for tomorrow, only to not worry about it. Why? Because today is enough to deal with. This is so much easier said than done, and we should not condemn ourselves if we struggle to not worry, sliding so easily from planning to worry. But it is worthwhile continuing to put the effort in. It does get easier when we share our troubles with our heavenly Father and know we are heard. God gives us enough resources for today, He never intended us to worry about the future, plan yes, trust Him, yes, but not worry. So, try today to give Him your worries and fears concerning tomorrow. If you need to plan, do so, then give the rest to Him...and close the door to worry. Thank Him for carrying your burden for you and then practice not worrying. You may only be able to do this for a few minutes, but each time it will get a little bit easier. Don't give up, because in practicing your emotional, mental and spiritual muscles you will get stronger and it will get easier! Father, I give You tomorrow. Please guide me if there is anything You want me to do in preparation for tomorrow. Now help me to leave the rest in Your capable hands. Thank you for Your peace, as I learn to trust You and say no to worry. 12/6/2025 0 Comments Day eightIt can seem foreign, even artificial, to express gratitude in the midst of need. How can one honestly express gratitude when struggling? It is not a natural attitude many people adopt these days when things are going well, even less when we are in hard times.
And yet there is something about it. Intentional gratitude is a key towards receiving God’s peace. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 Stepping towards gratitude in difficult times can require intentionality. Start with being thankful for the simple things, a meal, a warm blanket, a kind smile and clothing to wear. Thankfulness then moves simply to seeing anything good as gifts from God our Father. It then picks up momentum as it grows into thankfulness for being in relationship with God, receiving His forgiveness and the gift of Jesus coming as a baby to live with us, and eventually offer himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Thankfulness does not ignore difficulties, but it broadens our focus, reminds us of the bigger picture, of God’s faithfulness and invites our heavenly Father’s presence into our situation. It is incredibly hard to maintain anxiety while also being thankful. And we focus on being thankful to God, while also expressing our needs, we position ourselves to receive HIs peace. In the midst of our circumstances. A peace we do not have to fake or live in unreality to maintain. One that comes from focusing on being grateful for the goodness and presence of God. Father, thank you for the blessings that come from Your hand. Thank you for sending Your Son to die for me. I choose to give you my problems and thank you for Your love and presence in my life. 12/5/2025 0 Comments Day SevenAnyone who has gardened, and many who have not, have heard this warning “ Don’t dig up your seed to see if it is growing!”. Yet how many little ( or bigger ) hands have done just this? I know I have! I will plant my garlic every fall and then wait ... and wait for the garlic to poke its bright, green, grass-like blades out of the ground, promising me that something is happening below the surface. I have been known to dig up a sacrificial bulb to check.
If only I trusted the process more. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you to you” Mat 6:33 This verse refers to our needs, what we will wear, what we will eat, and where we will sleep. And in case we think God is only interested in providing for our needs, Jesus tells us that that our heavenly Father will also give good gifts to His children. Even better than the gifts we could give to our own children. Gifts are not needs! If only we trusted the process more. And that trust comes from spending time with the Father, learning how much better His ways are than our own and being willing to lay down our own agenda. To listen to the master gardener, our Lord and Father, and not pull up the plant to see if it is growing. So hard to do! To wait after expressing our need and not grab control, and to submit to His process, acting when He tells us to act, and tending the soil around the planted seed when He tells us to wait. To not take over, out of impatience or fear, and allow God to move in His time... His way. When we do this repeatedly, our trust grows, waiting actively by listening to the Father, engaging when and how He says, moving with our Father and following His lead. This is the speed and rhythm where true peace can grow, out of a growing trust in our Father who knows more than we do, who gives good gifts because He is a good Father. Walking behind Him in His footsteps we learn we can follow His lead, learning He is faithful and worthy of following. That is the beginning of peace. Father, thank you for being faithful and gracious to me, giving me gifts that I have not earned. Help me to trust You in the waiting, resting in peace that Your plans and timing are best. 12/4/2025 0 Comments Day sixLately I have been struck by the deeper need of humility required to transfer hope in myself to hope in the Lord.
When I believe I can handle things on my own, my position of dependence and hope in the Lord is one that I go to more out of obedience than need. At these times I believe I can handle things on my own, not really believing that God the Father’s best plans for my life are better than my own crafted goals and plans. Sadly, this is pride, to place my own abilities near the same level of the Creator of the universe. It’s not pretty but my confidence in my own plans, to achieve a stress-free, successful life that is full of love and meaning, can be pretty high. Until my plans fail. My job disappears, I or someone I love gets sick, my marriage bottoms out, a family crisis or need becomes all-consuming and my stress mounts, friends move away, a pet or someone I love dies…. the list goes on. Maybe I fail spectacularly at something, or my success gets overlooked, either way, at some point in life I eventually face the hard reality that I am simply not in control of nearly as much as I thought. This place of facing our own inability to achieve a dependable source of love, safety and peace can be incredibly painful! And let’s face it, many of us would spiral down in hopelessness if all we were relying on was our own plans. Except for our heavenly Father, that spiral is very likely. Except for our God. The place of recognizing our own inability is not the end for us, but the beginning! The beginning of hope in our Lord who knows more than we do and has plans to walk with us through everything. It is the beginning of walking in a greater level of humility partnered with hope; a transferring of hope in ourselves to hope in a heavenly Father who does not condemn us but loves us in our weaknesses. Who heals our shame, forgives our failings and tells us that we were never designed to this life alone. That we are designed to be dependant, not independent. And that in Him we can bear so much more fruit than we could on our own. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 Father, thank You for being patient as You watch me build my own plans without You. Thank You for always loving me when my plans, that I have built without You, disappoint me. Forgive me for trying to do this life without You. You know more than I do, help me to lean on You and follow You closely more closely. 12/3/2025 0 Comments Day fiveWhat does God say about us? These are things to place our hope in!
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 Now many of us may hear this and immediately stop and object. “But so many of my plans did not work out, things did not happen as I hoped” Yes, our lives can and almost always do contain trouble, to deny that would be living in unreality. But God didn't say our lives would be trouble free, He said He has plans for your life, to bring you a hope and a future, and plans for your welfare. And in case you are feeling cynical, He also says those plans are not for evil! But let’s notice something here, God is saying these are His plans. He is offering His plans, plans He created before we were even born, plans to give us a hope and a future! It is always good to stop and ask our heavenly Father if we are following our own plans, hoping He will come alongside us and support us in our own goals. Or are we following our Father’s plans for our lives? It is so easy to get off track of where God is taking us, and to lose sight of His plans for our lives. Our own plans, formed without God, leave us striving and without rest, often complaining to God why He won’t help us. While all the while He is saying, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Psalm 32:8 Does this mean when we follow God there will be no disappointment or trouble? Not at all! What it does mean, is that His plans have the promise of a hope and future with Him that does not disappoint. A bigger picture and promise that He has given us when we follow Him. We can hope in His plans for us! Father I give You my life again today, I surrender my plans and ideas for Your perfect plans. I give up my good ideas for your better plans. Thank you for loving me so much that You created plans for me to prosper that I can have hope in. Teach me what Your plans are and what this means. I love you Father. 12/2/2025 0 Comments Day fourWhat emotions or thoughts does the word hope evoke within you? Do you settle into a place of peace, joy, or expectancy? Or does the idea of hope bring up feelings of anger? Of disappointment? Of bitterness?
The concept of hope can stir up intense emotions within us or even the opposite reaction of ambivalence, responding with an “I don’t care, it doesn’t matter to me...whatever.” At some point in time in our lives however, even those lives less impacted by trauma or crisis, we have all experienced disappointment of some type. How did we respond to these disappointments? And what do we do with hope now? As we prepare for Christmas and celebrate the hope of a Messiah finally realized in Jesus, take time to tell the Father what you honestly feel when you hear the word hope. Christmas is a season of hope. What does your heart believe concerning hope? It’s okay to share with Him the truth about the condition of your heart, about how you are actually feeling. He already knows, but He wants to hear it from you. But don’t stop there! Preparing our hearts for Christmas involves letting our Father God into our hearts, and hearing His loving words speak to our innermost being, doing the transformative work we cannot do ourselves. So, take some time in a quiet place and share with your heavenly Father your honest thoughts and feelings about hope. Dig into the Bible looking up verse on hope, some are listed below. Then hear what your Heavenly Father would say to you about hope, from His heart to yours, as He meets you where you are at. This is a place where He offers safety and respect for the value of your heart. The Father’s character is always something we can hope in and look forward to meet with. But they who wait for 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 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 Father thank you for being a safe place for me to share my feelings and heart with You and always meeting me with love. I chose to renew my mind with Your word and the truth of what You say hope is. Help me to hear Your loving voice as I share with you. |
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