By Brittney Smith (WITHIN Devotional Writer)

Lately, I’ve been thinking the best version of my relationship with God is behind me. Today I believe, I’m just looking at a different version of my faith. I know I’m not the only one who gets caught up in how things looked in the past. The Israelites who survived Babylonian captivity were charged with rebuilding the temple of Solomon. Some of the Israelites didn't know the former temple in its glory. Yet, others would never forget its greatness.
In 2014, a Brazilian billionaire spent $300 million dollars building a replica of Solomon's temple. In biblical days, David spent years of his life acquiring the materials for his son Solomon to build the original structure. The temple was inlaid with gold and fine wood. It also housed precious treasures like the ark of the covenant which signified the presence of God. For the exiles, this was a lot to live up to. How could they possibly honor God as before?
Ezra 3:12-13 tells us, once the foundation of the temple was laid, there was a mixed reaction from the crowd. Some people cried and some shouted for joy. Everyone was looking at the same thing. However, some people looked with a longing for what used to be. While others looked with joy at what they were seeing currently.
God responded,
Haggai 2: 3, 9  vs3"Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing?  vs9 ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
            What has become “in your eyes as nothing”? Try to find out how God sees it, and remember, outward appearances don’t move God. No matter how it looks, God knows what it will be. He has the blueprint for your life and knows the purpose of everything in it. Though what you have or where you are may seem small. We cannot judge with human eyes the value of it all in God’s kingdom.
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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:
Haggai 2:3-9
Ezra 3:10-13
Zechariah 4:9-10


Questions to Reflect on:

1. What situation looks disappointing to you right now in your life? Ask God to show you how He sees that situation.
2. Can you see God’s blueprint even in the middle of your disappointment?

By Anna Prempeh (WITHIN Devotional Writer)



“ And Moses said to the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet” Exodus 14:13-14


When our comforts are stripped away or we are face to face with difficult circumstances, we get two choices: do we fret and worry or do we trust in God? Do we recount his faithfulness in the past or do we, like the Israelites at the Red Sea, forget our deliverance. Over the last few months the Lord has been confronting me in my struggle with fear and anxiety. Living in the midst of a pandemic has been a wake up call to how much I desire comfort and how the mounting unknowns tempt me to anxiety and fear which is rooted in a lack of trust in God. 
Despite witnessing God’s mighty power up close and personal through their deliverance from the Egyptians, Israel longed for the familiar and feared the Egyptians upon sighting them at the Red Sea. Is this not a microcosm for God’s continued work in delivering us day to day in our struggle with sin; and of what God is doing and will achieve? It is a struggle to live life with an open hand and heart of trust as we wrestle in this life and await eternity with our Lord. However, I find immense comfort and rest in looking for God’s declarations of His power and control over all in His Word.
We must savor the definitive statements here and throughout Scripture of God’s sovereign control. Here in Exodus we see Moses remind the Israelites that God “will” accomplish salvation; they “will never see the [Egyptians] again” who were standing there before them; the Lord “will fight for you.” Sisters we have this confidence: “he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). This is a balm for the weary and fearful heart. Seeing and recounting God’s deliverance should move us to have trusting faith in God and lives of obedience to Him. How do we recount our deliverance? This is found when we look at and remember the cross. The appeal Moses makes to the Israelites and the appeal to fear over and over again in Scripture is to shift our gaze onto the only one who can save and the only one worthy of our trust. 
God has saved his people for His glory (Exodus 14:18;31) ! When fear wells up in our hearts, we must pray to be reminded that He is keeping us!  He wants all of us and all of our trust. However, we are not powerless in the fight. He will fight for us, he has overcome, and He will prevail. We will find rest and comfort in his presence. Sisters, we ultimately cling to the unwavering hope we have by recounting and rehearsing the truth of God’s Word. 
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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:


Isaiah 41:10
2 Chronicles 20:15
1 Samuel 12:22
Proverbs 3:5-7
Psalm 56:3
Phil 4: 4-8
Ps 46: 10
Matthew 6


Questions to Reflect on:

1. Are there specific areas where you are not trusting God fully ? 
   
2. How do you respond, in your heart,  to fear and/ or anxiety ?
   
3. What are some ways that you can personally recount God’s faithfulness ? 
   

​By Britnee Bradshaw (WITHIN Devotional Writer)

In the last two years, I’ve personally come to know Abba Father as God of judgement on a deeper level than any time of my life.

I’ve been gifted the opportunity to walk through much injustice as well as the hidden agendas of others in the areas of marriage and family. Despite the grief, I can say that it’s been a gift because this journey has given me the eyes to see the LORD’s heart for exposing wrongs done to His people.

It’s also provided me the capacity to love as Abba loves, and to see the healing and deliverance that I needed for my own life!

Exposure can be messy, but we serve a God who intimately understands the messiness of humanity! He’s a pro at turning rubble into beauty and I believe He is raising up soldiers in His kingdom who understand the delicate balance of justice and restoration, so that we may walk in it!

Here are a few truths that journeying through exposure has taught me:

1. God exposes and reveals never to exploit. He does it to heal and restore. He is a God who sees and is concerned with the heart and health of his people. This is the end goal of the exposing process and it’s up to people to partner with Him to see these things manifest. 
 
2. Healing cannot go forth until there is confession/exposure. What’s in the darkness has to be brought into the light of God’s light of truth and grace.

3. Compassion is a tie that binds exposure to healing. It’s one thing to seek after exposure for truth’s sake. It’s quite another to desire healing and reconciliation after the hidden things are revealed. Compassion is bred in softened hearts, which exposure doesn’t require, but healing does!

God does not bring exposure to shame or condemn. He brings it to bring health and stability to the hearts of man. To bind the bands of wickedness in the lives of His people and to set the captives free.

I pray whatever injustices you’ve faced, and whatever hidden motives and actions others have had or done towards you, that you would see the heart of the Father for both yourself and them in the situation.
​
The road to healing can be difficult, but in the Kingdom of God, it is always worth it. It is indeed the better way!
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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:

Ephesians 5:8-14 NKJV  
Daniel 2:22 AMP 
Psalm 32

Questions to Reflect on:

1. Exposure helps free those who’ve been in darkness, but it also does something for you and others watching. It reveals to us the true condition of our hearts. We should have on us a heart of compassion and love for the offenders. What is the posture of your heart in the process of exposure? Are you only for the hammer of justice? Or is there balance in your pursuit of truth with the healing balm of God to cover the sins committed?

By Diana Rose (WITHIN Devotional Writer)
“This I command you, that you love one another.” -John 15:17 NASB

Love one another
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What is love? Biblically defined love is an active and ongoing choice to obey God by seeking the good of another out of love for Him. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 gives specific attitudes and behaviors of love:

Love is patient,
love is kind and is not jealous;
love does not brag and is not arrogant,
[love] does not act unbecomingly;
 it does not seek its own [way],
[love] is not provoked,
[love] does not take into account a wrong suffered,
 [love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
[love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
 Love never fails

Notice the Bible does not describe love as a feeling or sentiment. The Bible clearly outlines how love is lived out through a host of sacrificial actions and responses expressed in humility toward others. Do I actively love others as laid out in the Bible or do I love others according to my fickle feelings?

Love one another

Who is “one another?” Are they simply my immediate family and closest friends? Are they the like-minded people I naturally gravitate towards? Are they the families in my community that are in the same life stage as I am? Or are they the people I see every Sunday but don’t talk to because they’re not in my circle of influence? Are they the people in my life I have little in common with and rarely interact with? Are they acquaintances whose opposing views and opinions make them hard to love?

As believers we are called to love God and love all people. “All people” includes our brothers and sisters in Christ, our neighbors, the lost, and even our enemies and those who persecute us! In short, we are to live lives that display Christ-like love to everyone around us, even the occasional stranger who randomly crosses our path. When we pray for our city, country or world we are biblically loving people we may never meet!

Love one another

How do I apply this kind of love in my daily life? Do I regularly show patience and kindness to family and friends? Do I routinely check up on members of my Bible study with an attitude of love? Do I faithfully pray for the families in my community group? What about new visitors at church, do I take time to love them with a greeting? What about the elderly who can’t go out, do I visit them and sacrificially love them with my time? What about the families that are worshipping from home? Am I checking in with people on the periphery of my life to encourage them in love?

There are so many opportunities to love one another through prayer, a meal, a kindness or a greeting, yet the demands of life can deplete our limited resources of time and energy. Prayerfully consider specific people you can show love to and ask God for grace and stamina to reach out to them, even with a simple text or phone call. Ask God to help you develop a habit of daily seeking to intentionally love people from all areas of your life.
 
Love one another

No one loves like Jesus! The reality is that left to ourselves none of us can love one another biblically. If we are honest, we are simply way too busy loving ourselves. The heart is naturally self-absorbed, and tends to be more concerned with the needs of self rather than those of others. This is why we need Jesus, to rescue us from ourselves!

Praise God for the transformative power of the cross! Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us! His sacrificial love is our example of how we can love one another. If you have placed your faith in Christ you are a new creation. Galatians 2:20 affirms that, because of the completed work of Jesus, we who believe can love like Him; “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
What a sweet encouragement to know I am free to love others as Christ has loved me!

 Prayer: Lord thank you for loving me and sending your Son to rescue me from loving only myself. Will you show me creative ways to connect with others so I can love them well for your glory? Lord help me to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus who is the perfect example of biblical love.
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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:
Matthew 5:44
Mark 12: 30-31
 John 15: 1-17
1 Corinthians 13: 4-8
Galatians 2:20


Questions to Reflect on:

1. How does scripture inform the way you love?
2. Who can you show love to today?