Devotionals
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Take My Will
“Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine.” I’ve sung those words dozens of times, but every so often, the Lord will allow or send a situation into my life that makes me take a step back and say, “Do I really mean that?” Surrendering our will to God can be a difficult thing. We may hold back out of fear that His will is different than ours; that giving up to Him may involve us in suffering or adversity. Yet, I believe that yielding our will to Him is the bedrock of all surrender. Our will is part of us, and it involves the…
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Follow After Him
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14). Do you ever wonder what God’s will for your life is? Do you ever struggle with feeling purposeless? Sometimes in the busyness and distraction of our life, it can be easy to…
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The Glorious Gospel: Quotes on Christ’s Work
Hello, my friends! As we approach Easter or Resurrection Sunday, it’s the perfect time to meditate on the glorious truths of the Gospel. 1 Corinthians 15:3 defines the Gospel as the “death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” We know that it is only His work that can save us, not anything we’ve done. Today, I’d like to share some Scripture and favorite quotes about Christ’s saving work. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him;…
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And Yet, He Hears
Hello to all my readers! It’s been a while since we had a guest writer, so I’d like to introduce my wonderful mother as today’s guest writer! How to describe my mom? Well, she’s my best friend, my role model, and my biggest cheerleader. She is a virtuous woman who has truly modeled for me how to walk with God daily. Enjoy this guest post! In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears (Psalm 18:6). One of the senses we often take for granted is our hearing. …
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Things God Has Taught Me Through Health Struggles
I don’t often start a post off by saying why I’m writing it, but because this is a bit different than anything else I’ve ever written, I think I will this time. First off, I’m not writing this post for sympathy. Everyone has different struggles and trials they deal with and I know that there are many who have much more difficult things in their life than I do. I am writing this post in hopes of encouraging other young women who deal with frustrating health issues on a regular basis. (So, if you know anyone who might be encouraged by this, then please feel free to pass the link…
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Blessed to Be a Blessing
This year I decided to read through the Old Testament while I finish studying Philippians. I haven’t spent much time in the Old Testament recently, so it’s been great to read the familiar Bible stories and get new looks into the truths they contain. Right now, I’m in the story of Abraham. What a unique life he had! And what a lot of faith there is in his story. Truly, he got to see God do great things with and through him. However, what God did for Abraham wasn’t only for Abraham, or even the nation of Israel. God blessed Abraham so that Abraham could be a blessing. “And I…
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Give God the Pen
A new year. A new planner. A new journal, its blank pages just waiting to be filled with the future. An unknown future that spreads out before us. Some of us face it with anticipation, others with apprehension. Whether happy or difficult, more chapters in the book of our life will be written in 2022. I wonder, though, how we are approaching these blank pages? Are we tightly gripping the pen of control, straining to write our story with our limited knowledge of the future? Or do we willingly relinquish control of our lives into the hands of the only One Who knows what is ahead? Remember the former things…
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Christmas Meditations
Hello to all of my readers! Today I am so excited to be able to introduce a guest writer–the very first on Upheld by His Grace. This guest writer is a wife, mama, one of my very best friends, and…my older sister! She wrote these thoughts several years ago while expecting her first little one. Thank you so much for sharing, Emily! This year at Christmas, as I wait for the birth of my first child, only a few weeks away, the familiar story of Jesus’ birth takes on new meaning to me. I feel a new understanding and appreciation for Mary, the woman God chose to be the vessel…
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When God Says No
You’ve prayed for something, over and over again. You’ve sought to follow the Lord and be submitted to His will. Maybe it looks as if the desired gift is almost within your grasp. Hard as it may be, you’ve tried not to desire this blessing more than you desire the Lord, and to keep your focus on Him and your longings on the altar. And then, finally, you receive the answer to your prayers, and you step back in grief and disappointment. God says “No.” My guess is that you’ve been here at some point (or maybe several!) in your life. A time when, instead of the “yes” answer you…
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Bloom in the Snow
Temperatures here in New York have been dipping into the 30’s at night and struggling into the upper 40’s during the day–sometimes! Everything is either brown or brown with a scattered coating of white. So I could hardly believe my eyes the other day when my mom called my attention to the concrete planter on our front step. For Mother’s day, my older sister had given my mom gerbera daisies, which bloomed all summer long and then died (or so we thought) when the frost hit. But there, hiding beneath the broad leaves that were still in the planter, its petals drooping and its head hung low, was a yellow…
