Devotions by Meredith

Show a Little Kindness   Proverbs 19:17 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay Him for His deed.  I John 3:18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.   A Kenyan village chief walked the distance to our Children’s Home with a little boy not more that seven years old. The little man seemed so small walking quickly, almost two stepping...

God Will Prosper Us   Nehemiah 2:18, 20 18 And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me. So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work. 20 So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we, His servants will arise and build.   The people s...

A Mansion Over the Hilltop   John 14:1-4 1 Let not your heart be trouble; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way yo...

Leave All Your Cares and Anxieties   Psalm 55:22, 23 TPT 22 So here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you. 23 He will watch over His lovers, never letting them slip or be overthrown.   The King James Translation reads for verse 22 “Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you. He will never...

As Unto the Lord   Colossians 3:22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not men.   It amazes me when I see someone breeze into our church fellowship, not really known by any of our regular attenders, and professes some big testimo...

Hearer or Doer?   James 1:22- 25 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forget...

Show Mercy   Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?   How often do we really see and sense others around us and what they may be going through? Most of the time, everyone is so busily on their way with whatever is on their mind, that, not because of cruelty in the heart, but because o...

His Thoughts, My Thoughts   Isaiah 55:6, 8-9 6 Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.   Here is an open invitation for us to come find the Lord. He is inviting us...

No Anxiety   Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression. But a good word makes it glad.    The other morning I woke up and immediately began to feel a sense of anxiousness creeping into my mind. One little trickle of a concern began to rehearse in the depths of my mind, and then another. It seemed like these two thoughts were playing “tag, you’re it,” in my head. I went into anot...

Once a Wanderer   Psalm 107:4-7 TPT 4 Some of us once wandered in the wilderness like desert nomads, with no true direction or dwelling place. 5 Starving, thirsting, staggering, we became desperate and filled with despair. 6 Then we cried out, “Lord, help us! Rescue us!” And He did! 7 He led us right into a place of safety and abundance, a suitable city to dwell in.   When you first read these ver...

Everything Matters   Matthew 25:23 TPT 23 Commending his servant, the master replied, ‘You have done well, and proven yourself to be my loyal and trustworthy servant. Because you were faithful to manage a small sum, now I will put you in charge of much, much more. You will experience the delight of your master, who will say to you, “Come celebrate with me!’”   Often in life, one can feel like what...

When the Lord Stirs You Up   Haggai 1:14a So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel.    What does it mean to be “stirred up?” It means to rouse, awaken, excite, raise up; to incite; to arouse to action; to open one’s eyes. This saying is used of an eagle stirring up its nest. Deuteronomy 32:11 says, “As an eagle stirs up its nest… Psalm 108:2 speaks of a musical instrument being awakened or...

No More Tears   Revelation 21:3, 4, 5 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have pa...

Hate the Sin   Hebrews 10:14-15, 17 By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this… "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."    Ephesians 1:6 tells us that our badness is never to be an issue for us who are in Christ. Jesus takes every sin away when we come to Him and we are accepted “in the One He loves.” W...

Some Trust in Chariots   Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the Name of the Lord, our God.   What have you ever put your trust in? Maybe in your IQ, or your profession, or your income, or people around you, or many even people who are near and dear to your heart. We can get our eyes and our trust on our government or symbols of power, whatever they may be. Other...

Nothing Is Too Hard for God   Jeremiah 32:17, 26, 27 17 Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm, There is nothing too hard for You. 26 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”   Going through trying, hard things comes along with being alive....

Direction From God   Psalm 3:5, 6 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.    Two significant words are in these verses: “ways” and “acknowledge.” The word “ways” is defined as “a road, a course, or a mode of action.”  It implies that there are choices, opportunities that will occur in one’s...

Be Slow   James 1:19, 20 19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.   The day that we live in, we have more access and hear more in a day than our past generations would hear in a lifetime. I’ve hear that over six trillion emails are sent in a year. Probably by the writing of this...

He Will Not Harm You   Isaiah 42:3 NASB 3 A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.   This passage of Scripture is a front row view of the tenderness of the heart of God. The descriptive words here are beautiful and very moving penned by Isaiah, the prophet. In Isaiah 42, it is speaking of Jesus, the coming Messiah, wh...

Call Out to Me   Psalm 91:15, 16 15 When they call on Me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.    Do you ever feel like God is too busy to truly hear you? Or do you feel like your prayers and concerns hit the ceiling? You may feel lonely, lost and maybe even a bit frightened by how the world is...

Dwell in the Land   Psalm 37:3, 4 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good: dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.    There are times throughout the day when we may not be able to see what we are doing such as when we shower and water floods over our eyes, or when backing up our vehicle, the needed cautiousness...

Mercy Over Judgment   James 2:13 Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.    The book of James is a letter from the Apostle James to the Church on how to live a real and practical Christian life. James writes how we are to respond to God and also how to keep and maintain a Christlike relationship with others, which is not alway...

Ruler Over Much   Matthew 25:21 Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.  Luke 16:10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.    When I was a little girl growing up on the farm, it became my responsibility to feed the baby calves each morning before school and then again...

Spirit Guided   Acts 16:6-7 NLT Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.    To know that our heavenly Father can keep u...

In the School of Obedience   Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. John 14:15 15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.   Obedience can be a funny thing. As our children grow, we try to teach them gradually that they need to obey what we tell them to do. Whe...