Susan Lafferty

Devotional Making Disciples

Distracted

Keep your eyes on the prize. Focus. Don’t get distracted.

“Just one thing: as citizens of heaven, live your life worthy
of the gospel of Christ.”
Philippians 1:27

Traffic is heavy. Moving at 45 mph down a main road in the city. I glance over at the SUV in the lane next to us.

The driver is holding his cell phone. In both hands. Texting.

Distracted.

He looks up once. Touches the wheel. Maintains speed. Then passes us. Still texting.

Distracted. Photo by Alexander Popov, Unsplash photos.

How quickly we buy in to the world’s version of what we should be doing. What we need now. What our message ought to be. Our eyes wander. Even in COVID-19 lockdowns, attention is scattered. Veers off course.

And one day we’re “multi-tasking” down the road at 45 mph.

Along the journey in His Word, I note those who get distracted. Identify with their struggle. Learn from their failure.

Tags 2 Timothy 4:9-10, Colossians 4:14, Colossians 4:17, Demas, deserted, distracted, distraction, drift, encounter with Christ, focus, Hebrews 12:1-2, Matthew 6:21, neglect, Philemon 24, Philippians 1:27, pioneer and perfecter, struggle, the world, wholehearted

Devotional Memoir

Coming through the night

Motionless. I sit. In sunlight. Stilled by loss and grief spilling across screens and down streets. Through personal stories of friends and strangers. Hard and sad.

Bitter wounds. Raw pain rooted deep. Laid bare.

Motionless. I wait. Stilled by the scale of it. What are we to do? Hands rest, palms up.
Eyes lifted to open sky between tall trees.
Wordless cry to the One I trust.

Eyes lifted to open sky.

Tags death, desert, destruction, dignity, division, dust, Ephesians 2:13-22, gospel, grief, Hebrews 1:2-3, illuminate, John 17, loss, love, oppressed, pain, Psalm 18, racism, radiance, rescue, riptide, Savior, strength, The Lord, Trust, unity, wind

Devotional Making Disciples

Come and see

“Come and see,” the psalmist says in Psalm 66. I hear the invitation. To see the works of God. Remember His awesome acts.

And in one brief sentence, the writer speaks volumes.

“He turned the sea into dry land;
They passed through the river on foot.”
Psalm 66:6

Succinctly said. But the people know. These are two indelible markers on their journey with God.

The sea and the river. Deliverance and entering the promised land.

Come and see. Photo by Matt Hardy, Unsplash photos.

Tags captivity, deliverance, eternal hope, exodus, God makes a way, His story, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, John 3:16, journey with God, my story, promised land, Psalm 66, Romans 6:23, salvation, slavery, stones of remembrance, works of God

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