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7 Devotionals for the Discouraged and Brokenhearted

This series is for the hurting and disillusioned. It contains practical spiritual insights for dealing with pain, loss, and suffering and addresses areas that trip us up.  We’ve been hurt in the deep places that are difficult to address and embarrassing to talk about. These thoughts offer hope for the Christian who is wounded and suffering. 

I wrote each devotional with the intent to help others in the crush of circumstances, those people buried in the grip of emotional pain. If you have not been hurt in such a way, you can not fully appreciate or understand how crushing and devastating are the wounds of rejection from someone you dearly love. Loss, in general, is a host for all kinds of inner torment and pain. It is for such wounds that these devotionals are offered.

STEPPING STONES DEVOTIONAL 1 – A Hope and a Promise
STEPPING STONES DEVOTIONAL 2 – Looking in the Mirror
STEPPING STONES DEVOTIONAL 3 – A Healing Time
STEPPING STONES DEVOTIONAL 4 – A New You
STEPPING STONES DEVOTIONAL 5 – Beauty from Ashes
STEPPING STONES DEVOTIONAL 6 – Regaining Spiritual Health
STEPPING STONES DEVOTIONAL 7 – The End Result Matters

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Accessing and Applying God’s Word, A Spiritual Intervention (25)

Time for a final application activity, also known as homework. Are you still with me? Things worth doing usually involve some hard work and lots of processing. This is no exception. Let me know if you have any breakthroughs in your spiritual life. We can celebrate together.

APPLICATION ACTIVITY

Get alone with God. Let God know you are aware of His presence. Be still with God and listen for Him.

1. Welcome God as you give Him these minutes of quietness. Rest in God’s presence. Allow His sweetness to envelop you and your spirit. Ask God for a fuller awareness of His presence. Confess, repent, and surrender. Thank God for His forgiveness and grace. Write down thoughts you wish to remember or praises you are expressing to God.

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.” Galatians 2:20 ESV

2. Meditate on Galatians 2:20. What does each phrase in this verse say to you? Why is it important to crucify self to Christ? If you have not had a complete yielding of yourself to Christ, then you have not participated in being crucified with Christ. Becoming real as a Christian is part of this spiritual transaction of placing yourself in God and experiencing a death to self and any self-interest.

3. Identify the areas in you where you are fearful or vulnerable. Picture God taking you through a door as you leave the fears and uncertainties behind, you walk into the presence of God’s divine radiance, no longer shackled by their hindering presence.

4. Praise God for the work He is doing in you. Let go of any bondage you know exists in you that inhibits your relationship with God and with others. Give this to God. Ask for a release of God’s intervening work within you, to set you free.

5. Ask a praying friend to walk though this with you if you are feeling weak and unable. Satan is powerful. He will engage to dissuade or defeat you to stop you from taking this step of surrender. He will try to block your healing. There are times when we need praying friends to join in the spiritual battle. Do not hesitate to ask for prayer support.

6. Share what you are learning and experiencing in your relationship with Christ with a friend or a relative. Begin walking in freedom. If there is no release, healing, or sense of closeness with God, review and repeat earlier lessons. This might be a positive thing to do regardless.

7. Allow your emotions to surface for their presence is part of the healing process. If you are rigid or harsh there is need for a deeper awareness and spiritual awakening. The character of Christ is kind, loving, firm/strong, and unhurried and much, much more. Record areas you see within you that are being transformed or transformed into Christ-likeness.

Accessing and applying God's word is critical to spiritual health.
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Feedback: As you complete this series what has been helpful or informative? Please leave a comment. I welcome your input.