Author: Andrea
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After One Year
Private Devotions has been in the blogsphere for one year. I’ve written all the articles, corrected some of the web design problems, and muddled my way through my first year of the website design process. It has been a year of learning. Which is good for me, because I am a lifelong learner. A nerd,…
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Confident in the Lord
What is it like to be confident in the Lord? It is to think about your life with Him the way you imagine your life with a perfect mate: wrapped securely in His Love, provided for, preferred. Look to Jesus. After His crucifixion, He rose and started walking about, asking questions as if nothing unusual…
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Message from the Messiah
Jesus comes into the midst of our ordinary every day and changes our lives forever. Consider the woman at the well (John 4:1-29, 39). He was a stranger in her hometown. She was having an ordinary day. Before she even knows it, everything changes. He asks her for a drink. She replies: How is it…
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Faith in Action
February is a reflective time for me. I get to celebrate my birthday, my salvation, my heritage, and Valentine’s Day. I try to read books and watch movies that allow me to reflect on how far I (and we) have come, how far I (and we) have to go, and the love that we share.…
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Sadness
When I experience sadness, it is usually for something long-lasting or permanent, like a broken relationship or the loss of a loved one—things I cannot go back and erase. It has happened, and now I must work through the pain and overcome it. If I could give every Christian one gift (including myself), it would…
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Anger
We all know anger. We get angry when someone cuts us off in traffic. We get angry when our boss passes us over for a promotion. And sometimes we get angry with God, for what we feel He has allowed to happen to us. We are His creation, made in His image and His likeness…
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Truth
It’s hard to sit still and have private time with God. We have our responsibilities, desires, and other things that compete for our attention. Sometimes it’s hard because we want God to answer us quickly; not tomorrow or, God help us, later. We want Him to deliver our instant spiritual meal, hot and ready, so…
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Back to Basics
In 2025, I want to get back to basics, addressing those raw emotions that many of us share, like anger, sadness, and joy, as well as those basic constructs that are fundamental to our lives as Christians, like truth, forgiveness, and faith. Whatever happens, whatever we need, I know God will provide (Philippians 4:19). If…
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Relax and Take in the Day
It was one bright, crisp autumn day long ago when on the way home from work I had a revelation from God. For seven days prior to that I suffered through chest pain, shortness of breath and a battery of tests to rule out a heart attack. That morning, I had the final test, a…
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Prayer
Prayer is foundational to our lives as Christians. However, we tend to treat prayer like a lifeline when we are in trouble or an IOU when we want something. Nothing more. As parents, we don’t want our children to come to us only when they are in crisis, and we certainly don’t want them to…