By Yodit Kifle Smith
​“I believe, help my unbelief..." (Mark 9:24)
These are words spoken by a man thousands of years ago--a man fearful that the condition of his son would never be better. Who knows how far he traveled to bring his son to the disciples of Jesus, but he was discouraged by the fact that they weren't able to heal his son. He thought, surely these men who walk with Jesus would have been able to do it but they couldn't.  So He came to Jesus with the hope that things could be different. So, he said to Jesus, "But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
 
Jesus responded, "if you can? All things are possible to him who believes."
 
And this man, with the humility and ability to engage his cynicism responds, "I do believe; help my unbelief."
 
What a powerful example we see here. Cynicism sits at the edge of our hearts everyday begging us to take hold of it so we won't take hold of God. It makes us believe reality will never change so why engage the ONE who says "all things are possible to him who believes?'
 
Cynicism would rather not engage hopelessness. It would rather critique and observe what all is wrong with the world but never engage with it. It wants us to believe that this is the way things are and will always be. And in that, we make ourselves believe that what we see is all there is.  It dulls our ability to see with the eyes of faith.  
 
We would rather not even tell God. We would rather give God the silent treatment. The enemy would rather have us be hardened by it and walk the other way, content with isolation.
 
This man shows us that though we live in the tension of seeing reality and the brokenness of humanity, we are still able to choose to cling to hope, to believe that change is possible. We don't have to be numb by what we see or what we have experienced. 
 
This man is an example that there is a doubt that wants God’s promises but is weak in faith at the moment. And that weakness for the moment doesn’t drive him to a place where unbelief in God takes up residence.  And if we aren’t careful, our doubts, unchecked, will turn to unbelief that is more than weak faith but complete opposition to faith.
 
He shows us how to engage cynicism: confess it. Ask God, who is able to change our hearts, to help us through it. In this story, Jesus shows us that He welcomes our doubts when we are willing to be humbled by it. God will humble us by reminding us who we are approaching.  And don't we need that reminder?
 
Here is what we must remember: Cynicism doesn't like the word of God. It doesn't like to engage God in prayer and if it can get us to that place, it wins.  It keeps us from looking at any glimpse of hope. But cynicism brought to God in prayer with the simple words, "help" moves His heart. And our good good Father helps us. He may not even change the circumstance in that moment but He changes what is needed most---our hearts. 
 
Don't let evil win with your cynicism. Let us take hold of the means of grace He's given us to follow Him out of it--prayer & His Word. Let's cry out. Let's lament. These are all acts of faith, not indications of lack of faith.
 
Let's come to God knowing that ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH HIM and He will lead our hearts out of cynicism and into childlike faith. 
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The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. 

Passages to read/memorize/meditate:
Mark 9:21-24
Hebrews 3:13
Hebrews 4:16
Proverbs 3:5-6
Psalm 121:1-2


Questions to Reflect on:

1. Are there areas where you see your heart bent towards cynicism?
2. How does this man’s faith in how he responds encourage you to bring your doubts to God?
3. What do you learn about Jesus’ respond to this man that helps you know Him better?

By Mariah Strong (WITHIN Devotional Contributor) 
 
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” - Isaiah 26:3
Looking around the world right now, there are many unknowns. Will schools and universities even be able to return to face-to-face instruction? Will children with special needs be able to adequately access education through a hybrid model? Will we be able to fellowship as before? Will a cure be found? Is prevention still possible? So many unknowns. 
In a world where we are facing challenges that couldn’t have been predicted, we are navigating through this chaos and commotion while attempting to not to let fear, doubt, anxiety, and depression invade our lives. It is important to identify the losses and disappointments we have experienced through failed plans and missed events. Yet, we still have the opportunity to access something that can ground us and keep up steady in the midst of any storm.
Scripture tells us that we will face trouble and difficult times in this world, but God has provided us with something the world is unable to define or provide - PEACE. He has given us access to peace - the ability to completely rely on and trust that God is in control, no matter what the situation looks like. There are three areas that we can begin to focus on when it is related to peace. 
Peace with and from God: 
This peace surpasses what our temporal and logical mind desires to understand. This peace is knowing that beyond this life we have an eternal promise. 
This peace gives us an opportunity to fully rely on and trust in the sovereignty of our Heavenly Father to know what is best for us and to provide at the right time. 
Learning to trust God can be challenging, yet it is possible. God fortifies our trust in Him proving himself to be faithful time and time again. Without receiving peace from God, we wouldn’t be able to pursue the next two areas. 
Peace with Man:
As believers, we are called to the ministry of reconciliation. Reconciliation is restoring relationships or making one person's view or believe work alongside another. We are called to lead others into a restored relationship with our Heavenly Father, allowing them too access to peace. 
We should also pursue walking in peace with our fellow man. Because if there is nothing else we can agree on, I would hope as believers we can agree upon the good news of the Gospel. 
Peace with Self: 
It is important for us to have an honest sense of our well-being and to be able to identify and communicate when we need help. Having peace within allows us to have an unshakeable trust and knowledge that God is in control. This in turn allows us to find sweet rest in the midst of the storm. 
New age would present peace to you as a state of “mindfulness”. However, the Father of Ages has instructed us that if we meditate on His word, keep our minds focused on Him as we learn to trust, he will keep us in perfect peace. 
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The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. 

Passages to read/memorize/meditate:
Proverbs 16:7
John 14:27
John 16:33
Philippians 4:6-7
Leviticus 26:6
Numbers 6:26
Psalms 37:11
Psalm 85:10
Proverbs 119:165
Proverbs 3:2
Hebrews 12:14


Questions to Reflect on:
1.What are possible hindrances to trusting God in my life?2.How has God proven Himself to be faithful in difficult situations in the past?

3.How is God inviting me to trust Him so that I may rest in the peace made available to me in this present situation? 

4.How can I pursue living in peace with everyone?

5.How can I choose peace even in challenging situations?

By Diana Rose (WITHIN Devotional Contributor) 
​No one expected this. A global pandemic, political tensions and social unrest. Death, division and displacement. As a church we are weeping with those who weep.

During this time marked with great suffering and deep grief God’s people have responded with compassionate prayer, yet centuries before the events of this year came to pass the church was commanded to pray and to pray “with thanksgiving.” These commands may seem simplistic at first glance, but I discovered three specific struggles that often hinder me from praying with thanksgiving.

Technology and Social Media
How often do we reach for our phones, clicking the familiar colorful icons we pressed the day (or moments) before? Instagram, email, news updates, Pinterest, click, swipe, scroll. Like Alice in Wonderland we find ourselves following the white rabbit of distraction down a hole that can lead our hearts to thoughts of anxiety, depression, envy, self-loathing, fear, judgement and anger. I am quick to look to the internet for distraction and slow to look to Jesus in gratitude.

Thought Battles
 Have you ever been in your prayer closet whispering, “thank you God for this day,” expecting to bring all your heart to the Lord in prayer, and suddenly the thought battle begins? The grocery lists, calendar conflicts, and current events swirl around in your mind till you’re dizzy, rerouting your focus. Or darker thoughts, comparisons, inadequacies, and fantasies that pull you under hijacking your attention. I am easily sidetracked by random or habitual thoughts when I am trying to commune with Jesus.

Unanswered Prayers
How many times have you prayed for that lost loved one, for deliverance from a prolonged trial, for healing for a broken body? Asking for physical needs to be met, seeking for wisdom with work, knocking for justice (like the widow in Luke 18) for weeks, months and sometimes years. Even with the knowledge that God is sovereign over all, and that His timing is perfect, I am often discouraged by seemingly unanswered prayer.

 It is in these struggles that I need God’s Word. “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NASB and “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” -Philippians 4:6 NASB

Notice how prayer is coupled with giving thanks. They always go hand in hand, and we have much to be thankful for starting with our great God. The Lord knows our weakness and He cares for His chosen ones. He sent His Son Jesus because of His steadfast love for us. These three truths are the perfect foundation from which to launch into thanksgiving.

God knows us. Give thanks!
God cares for us. Give thanks!
He sent His Son out of love for us. Give thanks!

 When we thank God for who He is and what He has done our focus shifts from our desires and demands to His goodness and glory. When the feed on my device starts to take my heart captive I can go to God in prayer and give Him thanks for who He is. When my thoughts start to run away from me during prayer I can course correct with gratitude for God’s faithfulness and steadfast love. When I am discouraged and weary in prayer, I can persevere giving thanks to God for His care trusting His will for this life is best. I can give thanks always for Jesus who laid down His life for mine.

Jesus lived a sinless life, and He lived an exemplary life of faithful prayer, even teaching His disciples (and us) how to pray. Right now, He is in glory interceding for His saints. I can give thanks for His example, and His faithfulness!

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;” -Psalm 103:2

The benefits of prayer are many. As an exercise I made a list of some reasons we ought to pray with thanksgiving:
● We are both spiritually and physically needy.
● We are weak and broken, living in a broken world.
● We are not in control of our lives or other people, and we do not know the future.
● To worship and praise God.
 ● To confess and repent of our sins.
● To commune with our heavenly Father.
● To ask for help in times of trouble.
 ● To align ourselves with the will of God.

This list is short and by no means exhaustive, but it’s a good place to begin when we struggle to pray with thanksgiving.

Prayer: Lord I cry out to you because I am weak and needy. Life is unpredictable and so much of it is out of my control. Forgive me for giving my attention to vain things and help me to turn my thoughts back to you with a thankful heart. Thank you for Jesus who knows my struggle, who taught us how to pray, and who is interceding for His saints even now. In Jesus name, amen!
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The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. 

Passages to read/memorize/meditate:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
 Philippians 4:6
 Romans 12:10-13
 Matthew 6:5-13
 Luke 18:1-8
 Psalm 103
Questions to Reflect on:
1. What gets in the way of you praying with thanksgiving?
2. List 3 things you can give thanks for in prayer.
3. List 3 benefits of prayer.

By Yodit Kifle Smith
​For whomever the Son sets free is free indeed. (John 8:36)

Some of the most freeing truths about being in Christ is that we don’t have to be ashamed of admitting that we are sinners. We don’t have to pretend that we have it all together. And we don’t have to hide from others when we sin. Yet, so many of us are consumed by shame. We feel like we have to put on a façade with others about how our relationship with the Lord is really going. And we are quick to run and hide because of our sin instead of being open with them. Why? Because Satan’s tactic is for us to diminish the power of Christ’s finished work and saving work in us. His goal is to keep us from living out the freedom we have because of the gospel.

Christ’s finished work on the cross means that for us who repent and profess His name, we are justified by faith (Romans 5:1). This is the good news: we deserved death for our rebelliousness towards a Holy God but because of His love and grace, He chose to reconcile us into sweet fellowship with Him through Christ’s death and resurrection. Christ bore the penalty that we should have. That’s not a decision that God can rescind. It has been done once and for all. In this, we are given an invitation to rest in that finished work because the power of death no longer has a hold on us.

I used to think that professing Christ meant that I no longer would sin. I thought that all the “bad” I did would cease. I quickly realized the foolishness of those thoughts. The salvation we receive in Christ isn’t a magic wand that automatically takes away our sinful desires and actions. No, it’s the promise that we are rescued from the dominion of darkness into His marvelous Light (1 Peter 2:9), given the Holy Spirit to live in Christ and anchored in the hope that we will be with God after death. However, the finished work of Christ begins in us a journey towards becoming like Christ-a journey of sanctification.

Many of us may believe that this journey means that we are to be perfect like Christ. That deception keeps us from experiencing the freedom of a journey that is not about perfection but about authenticity.

We aren’t called to be perfect. Christ is the only Perfect One. We are called to trust in the promise that in Christ, we are being transformed daily to reflect His likeness. To pretend that we have it all together is to say that we don’t need God’s grace. It’s to deny the witness for ourselves and others to see the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us (Galatians 2:21). In essence, we are, in pride, saying to God, “thank you, but I can take it from here.”

We are called to be authentic. Authenticity lives in humility. Authenticity is convinced that we are sinners in desperate need of His grace, strength and wisdom and all that He offers to walk this faith out. It is to let go of the idea of finding any trace of good within ourselves outside of Christ. It is to invite others gladly into our messy lives so we can sharpen one another regardless of how painful and uncomfortable it may be. It is to rejoice that though we stumble, we are not consumed. Though we are tempted, we are not condemned (Romans 8:1). To be authentic is not to be weak. It's to be carried by His strength. Nonetheless, to be authentic is not to take advantage of God’s grace by staying in sin or being comfortable by sin (Romans 6). It’s to rejoice that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are given a growing desire to not choose sin but to choose righteousness, over and over again (Philippians 3:9).

Imagine if unbelievers saw us Christians admitting our sins against each other rather than trying to hiding behind self-righteousness. Unfortunately, unbelievers don’t see that often enough. Rather, they see us as hypocrites because we don’t confess or admit we are sinners in need of grace. But they see us sin and are confused. Paul spoke of this in Romans 2 when he chastised the Jews for putting on a façade in front of the Gentiles as if they didn’t sin but they were steeped in it. Paul said something very convicting. He told the Jews, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Romans 2:24).

Ladies, we don’t want to misrepresent the gospel to the unbelieving world nor to the believing family we are a part of in the local church. We have the privilege of pointing people to Christ when we live out the gospel that frees us to be authentic and vulnerable in our walk. Shame no longer has dominion over us so we can confess our sins to one another and carry each other's burdens. We don’t have to run and hide. If we are going to run, let it be with our brothers and sisters towards the foot of the cross where we find forgiveness for our sins. If we are going to hide, let it be in His overwhelming grace and truth that He helps us in our weakness.

Decide to no longer live in the bondage of perfection but in the freedom of authenticity. 

For whomever the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36).

We are free ladies.
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The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. 

Passages to read/memorize/meditate:
John 8:36
Romans 2:24
Romans 3:23
Romans 5 & 6 (read the whole chapters during the week)
Romans 8:1
Galatians 2:21
Philippians 3:9
Colossians 1:3
1 Peter 2:9
Questions to Reflect on:

1. What are ways that you have let shame keep you from being authentic in your walk with God?
2. How do you understand how the gospel frees you to be authentic in your faith walk?
3. What are ways you can cultivate authenticity in your walk with God and relationship with others?

By Yodit Kifle Smith

​If we are to ever understand why God gives us the instructions that He does in His Word, I truly believe that it begins with trusting that as our Creator, He knows us better than we know ourselves. So, when He instructs us to not find any other satisfaction and security in anything other than Him, He knows how He created our hearts to rest. But of course, with the condition of sin that plagues us, we tend to learn the hard way.

For example, how many times have we said “if only [fill in the blank]” and then we received that [fill in the blank] only to find our hearts restless by what we thought would satisfy, so we add another “if only” to the latter? I can admit for myself that I've been here too many times to count.

I’ve learned it to be a vicious cycle that reveals how quickly discontent (and deceptive) the heart is and can be. Having been held hostage to this vicious cycle, overtime, God has helped me see a couple of things with the disposition of my heart that perpetuated this cycle:

1. I’ve convinced myself that somehow God is more good “there” in the “if only” than He is “here” in the “even if.”
Discontentment doesn’t like the present moment. It deceives us into thinking that any other moment is better and so we respond by thinking God is “more good” in the asks of our “if only” more than the reality of our present reality.

2. I am measuring God’s goodness to me not based on solely His identity but in my circumstances, which then makes me look at God like He is unstable (which He is not!), which then makes me unstable.
God is not man that He should lie and so when He tells us that He is good and His love is steadfast and everlasting, we must believe Him. But if we only believe Him when it benefits us because of the good we’ve deemed, then we make him out to be a liar. God is good, always. Our journey of sanctification with Him is to constantly repent and surrender our definition of good for His.

3. I am interjecting myself in God’s sovereignty because of my finite ability to even see what tomorrow holds let alone my “if only” request. Never good to assume.

We, of course, know that we are not God, but sometimes our actions like to assume that role. When we are constantly living in discontentment, we are inadvertently thinking that the “if only” we seek will be the answer to the way we desire to see our lives.

4. I deceive myself when I think that the “if only” will make me “truly” content. Unless my heart is content in the Lord and His fullness, no new anything will satisfy.

He created us to find our worth and our deepest thirst in Him. Seeking anything else is to live below the way He intended and to constantly be thirsty (John 4:13-14).

5. The ability to say “even if” is the work of the Holy Spirit in me. And He is the One who can help me be a good steward of my current place and see God’s goodness & purposes in it.
Our present moment may genuinely not be the best. However, the genuine answer isn’t found solely in another circumstance but first and foremost, in the disposition of a heart rooted in the love of God and the faith He gives to believe that He is with us. As our heart surrenders to His love, His sovereignty, and His goodness, we will seek Him instead of seeking another thing to satisfy us. That’s the good work He does in us.

Beloved, NOTHING else has the ability or power to satisfy us the way our Creator intended for us to be satisfied no matter how hard we want it to. We may learn it the hard way, but when we do, there is truly MUCH rest for the soul.
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The weekly devotionals seek to encourage you to dig deeper into Scripture as you take the time to daily read, meditate, and internalize the verses in the devotional, along with the passages provided below to give greater context. Take the time to read them throughout the week (repetition is important) and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grasp what God is showing you about Himself, about you, and how to live in light of these truths. 

Passages to read/memorize/meditate:
Philippians 4:11-13
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
John 4:13-14
Proverbs 14:30
Proverbs 30:7
Psalm 34:10
Psalm 90:14


Questions to Reflect on:

1. Have you become discontent in life? If so, why?
2. How has this devotional helped you see the way discontentment can rob us from the goodness of God?