Devotional...Stay Close to the Vine

                                                  “I am the vine; you are the branches. 

The one who abides in Me while I abide in him
produces much fruit…”

 (John 15:5)

Did you know that God wants you to live in Him? He wants to be your source of life. He wants you to abide in Him and rely on Him for everything. He wants to be your source for strength, provision, hope and joy. Like the air you breathe, He wants you to rely on Him for your very existence.

Abiding in God begins by meditating on Him, His Word and His goodness. You stop and think about Him when you go to sleep at night. You think about Him when you first wake up. You think about His promises all throughout the day and continually fellowship with Him in prayer. You make Him your number one priority and stay connected with other believers at church. 

Notice what this verse says will happen when you abide in Him - you will produce much fruit! When you are connected to God, everything you set your hand to will be fruitful and blessed. Just like a branch thrives when it is connected to the vine, you’re going to thrive and be prosperous when you are connected to Almighty God.

Depend on Him today and make Him your number one priority. 

Abide in Him and let Him pour out His abundant favor and blessing on you all the days of your life.

Written by

Angie Madison

Devotional...God Gives Us So Much That Blesses Us Every Day

Silly butterflies, you dance and play outside my window in circles. The sun shines so brightly through the trees with perfect patterns on its long arms as they gracefully sweep the ground. The kitty meows and jumps up high when the branch tickles its tail as it sweeps by. The birds sing so we have music to play by on the sunny days, and sometimes they sit and watch us from above. They wiggle their feathers and tails holding onto Mr. Willow tree in the back yard. God is everywhere. He loves us all. He loves the butterflies, the kitty, the birds, and you. He loves to see us enjoy all that is beautiful. That makes you feel silly and smiley inside and out. He touches us when the sun shines on our faces and feels warm and when the sand feels good between our toes. He loves us when the water feels so refreshing when we jump in to cool off from the sun's warmth. 

Let’s thank God today for being everywhere. He loves us all so much. He even your pets… your kitties, your dogs, and all the animals that you love so much. Jesus has provided us with so much to make us smile. Let’s thank him and be grateful for it all.

Written by
Angie Madison

Little Cowboy's Explanation of God

This was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista, CA. He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to "explain God." I wonder if any of us could have done as well?

EXPLANATION OF GOD:

"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers."

"God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off."

"God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have."

"Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church."

"Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K."

"His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important."

"You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time." 

"You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God! 

Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway."

"If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids."

"But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases. 

And...that's why I believe in God."

written by
Danny Dutton

Shared by 

Nancy Spence