Showing results by author "Janice Alonso" in All Categories

Yes, we’re thrilled to be together again, so why aren’t we acting like it? A wise person once said, “When someone is the most difficult to love, that’s when he/she needs your love the most.” Based on a personal experience and James 1:19: “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quiet to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.”

We all have to address our fears at some point. At the beginning of the pandemic, I feared Covid. Through scriptures about individuals who faced situations worse than what I was in, I turned from fear of evil while finding courage to fight its ongoing devastation. Based on a personal experience and 1 Samuel 17:45-46: David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down ...

We live in a fallen world – evil surrounds us at every turn. But, we do not have to face these difficult situations alone. God will be with us if we only invite Him in. Based on a personal experience and John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

While it’s good to pray for things like an end to Covid, victims of racism, or rising violence, it becomes more heartfelt when a real person is at the center of a real prayer. Based on a personal experience and 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “pray continually,”

God uses us in many ways. Sometimes, we are aware of His plan; just as often we are not. This story shows how I was included in God’s plan and didn’t see it revealed until the last moment. Based on a personal experience and 1 John 4:21: “And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

Any time you spend with God is precious. He doesn’t care where you are or what time of day or night you call His name. Based on a personal experience and Deuteronomy 5:27: “Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you. We will listen and obey.”

We receive differently from God because He has created each of His children uniquely to serve to a specific purpose. What He expects of me is not the same as what He expects of others. Based on a personal experience and John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Life gives and life takes. Some of these events we know are coming; other events take us by surprise. Learning how to pause and rest during the in between times will restore us for life’s cycles. Leaning into the Holy Spirit fortifies us from within. Based on a personal experience and Ecclesiastes 3:1: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”

The human body – physically, mentally, and emotionally – can only take so much. God has blessed us with the Sabbath – how do you interpret that? Based on a personal experience and Genesis 2:2-3: “By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.”

Whether it is in writing stories or living my day-to-day routine, the path I have set out often wanders from the original plan. As long as I trust God, the journey will run more smoothly. Based on a personal experience and Isaiah 26:4: “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”

There are many reasons why we can’t forgive another. Often it isn’t because of the wrong doing – sometimes it may be a case of pride preventing our lips from forming the words, “I’m sorry.” Based on a personal experience and Matthew 18:21-22: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.’”

We are all gifted with special talents. Some of us haven’t uncovered what these talents are. Some of us are content to use them for narrow purposes. Open your heart and mind to see what wonderful things God has planned for you! Based on a personal experience and 1 Peter 4:10: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

This devotional is the result of a God-wink. A God-wink is “an event or personal experience, often identified as a coincidence, so astonishing that it is seen as a sign of divine intervention, especially when perceived as the answer to a prayer. Based on a personal experience and Luke 11:9: “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; know and the door will be opened to you.”

Grandmother was a professional seamstress. Granddaddy was a builder. She worked from designs, fabrics, thread, and a variety of accessories. He used empty spools that had contained her thread and anything else he could find. He had no blueprint – the end product was a result of his imagination and unused items scattered around their house. In Granddaddy’s world, everything was precious and had a purpose . . . and so it is in God’s. Based on a personal experience and 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old one has gone, the new is ...

Many people do their jobs without praise or recognition for their efforts and contributions to ensure our daily lives run smoothly. Based on a personal experience and Ephesians 6:7: “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people.”

How often do we miss an opportunity to serve or love our neighbor because we are blinded by outward appearances? Based on a personal experience and Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.”

Too often we separate what we love to do from what we feel we should do to honor God. Yes, there are times when we need to think more about the needs of others than about what our desires are. Through deeper communication with God, we find we can combine the two and become a joyful, obedient servant. Based on the personal experience of a friend and 1 Corinthians 10:31: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Prayer is perhaps our ultimate connection with God. We pray with a thankful heart for our blessings. We pray with a giving heart for ways to help others. There are those prayers of petition for our wants and needs. Later, we grumble believing God hasn’t answered these requests. Upon closer inspection, we may find the fault lies within us: we have not seized the opportunities God has placed before us for that desire to be fulfilled. Based on a personal experience and Isaiah 64:8: “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

Are there people who annoy you just by their presence, people who “rile” you up before you even encounter them? Or shamefully, when you hear a bit of bad gossip about that person, does your heart take a little leap? Perhaps a closer look at yourself will reveal a solution. A devotional based on a personal experience and Proverbs 14:30: “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones,” and Matthew 5:44-45: “But I tell you, love your neighbors and your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun...

Freedom is a precious gift, and it must be respected as well as protected at every turn. Based on a personal experience and Romans 8:1: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life sets me free from the law of sin and death.”