Mary’s Devotions/Blog
A Tower Garden of Faith
Today’s Truth Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me...
It’s All Going To Be Okay
It’s All Going to Be Okay I am an avid reader. In fact, reading is one of my favorite ways to escape the sometimes chaotic pace of daily life. I also enjoy browsing through bookstores, especially the ones that provide cushy chairs where customers can sit quietly and...
Are You Ready for the Sandpaper People
Luke 6:27-28 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” I sometimes think that the holiday season should somehow come with a warning label that reads, “The Sandpaper...
The Love of God
“Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever” (Psalm 136:2, NIV). The story is told of a young boy who carved a small sailboat from a block of wood. When the boat was finished, the boy raced to a nearby stream, knelt on the shore, gently slid the boat...
Do You Really Care?
Go to the lost, confused people … touch the untouchables. You have been treated generously, so live generously (Matthew 10:5, The Message). The heat was brutal. My back was killing me. I was exhausted from a nearly sleepless night, and I had a pounding headache. Every...
How to Avoid Emotional Bankruptcy
Proverbs 25:28 “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control” (NIV). It is not enough to acknowledge the presence of negative emotions or even understand why they exist. We must take action. If we don’t, negative emotions will take...
Lord of all … or Not Lord at all!
Colossians 3: 23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." A woman was at work when the babysitter...
Storm Survival
As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters;...
Believing God in the Hard Times
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to...
But I’m Afraid to Be Real
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV) “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from...
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mary@marysoutherland.com