Category: Devotionals

Throwback Thursday {4.20.20}

Published on by Maggie Eterno2 Comments

Good morning! Today’s Throwback Thursday is from last April. I pray it encourages you today.

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God Can Restore Our Brokenness

On Easter Sunday, Elevation Church sang a song called Rattle.  Since then, I’ve been thinking a lot about the story of the dry bones in Ezekiel.  This morning I went to the passage in Ezekiel 37:1-14.

God takes Ezekiel down to the middle of a valley where it was full of bones.  Very dry bones.  God then tells Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones and when Ezekiel does as the Lord says, the bones begin to rattle and come together.  Not only do the bones come together, tendons and skin begin to appear.  Then God tells Ezekiel to prophesy again in verse 9 which says,

“Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”

So Ezekiel did as God said, and breath came into them and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army (vs.10)!!

Could you imagine???  Stop and think for a minute.  Dry bones, turned into flesh and came to life!  And not only that, God used a mortal to do it.  Ezekiel obeyed and did as God said and watched this unfold right in front of him.

God told Ezekiel that this army, these bones, represented the people of Israel.  They were dry, feeling cut off from God and without hope.  He promised that He would bring them back to the land of Israel and that He would put His Spirit within them so that they could live.

I began to think about how all of this happened in the middle of the valley.  Many of us find ourselves in a valley right now.  We are going through struggles, hardships and tough circumstances.  We are trying our best to hold on to our faith, but each week as life gets harder we can feel our faith weaken.  We are like those dry bones.  We feel cut off from God, dry and parched and have began to lose our hope.

In verse 4, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy over those bones by telling them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.”  And I believe that God wants us to do the same.  He wants us to Hear the word of the Lord and to declare it over our lives.  God wants you to live.  If you are a follower of Christ, His Holy Spirit is within you and He says live.  1 Peter 2:16 says that the will of God is for us to live as people who are free.  He’s brought you back to life and has placed His spirit within you.  You can be free of whatever is holding you down.  You can live and be filled with hope.  And that hope is Jesus.

Just as God took those bones and put them back together and gave them life, He can do the same with you and your situation.  He can restore and redeem the broken areas in your life.  I love the saying, “there’s nothing too far gone for God.”  I’ve lived far from God and I’ve experienced His embrace and love when I came back to Him.  He will not turn His back on you, He will love you and accept you just as you are.

Whatever is broken in your life right now whether it’s your finances, relationships, or your heart- God can restore it.  He is faithful and He will do it.  Hear His Word today and declare life over your situation.

Dear Lord, help us live a life fully surrendered to you. Help us continue to trust that you are working in our lives even when we don’t feel you or see you. Lord, help us live the way you’ve called us to live. Help us walk in the freedom that you’ve given us. Thank you Jesus for coming to save us so that we could live a life to the fullest in you. I pray that you will restore the areas in our life that are broken. Lord I believe that you can pick up the pieces and create something even more beautiful than what was there before.

XO

Children Are Great Imitators

Published on by Maggie EternoLeave a comment

Last week I was reminded that sometimes my actions speak louder than words.

I try my best to wake up early every day and spent some time in God’s Word. In the mornings when Mackenzie wakes up, I am normally sitting in my keeping room reading my Bible.

The other night she made the comment that she wanted to start doing her quiet time before school and asked if I could wake her up at 5:30 am.

I told her that was too early and that she needed her sleep.

At 5:45 am the next day, I heard footsteps and there she was. She sat with me and read her devotional book and filled it out. I helped her find verses in the Bible that she had to read. It was a special morning.

When I picked her up from school that afternoon, she mentioned that a girl was mean to her that day. But she also told me that she chose to be nice to her because in her devotional she read that we should love and pray for our enemies.

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” Matthew 5:44

She had no idea that I needed to hear this message that day.

I’ve never really forced my kids to have a quiet time. I will read a devotional to them in the mornings here and there, but nothing consistently. Mackenzie is my child who loves to read her devotional book and is very disciplined about it.

But the fact that she does it just based on what she sees in me, reminds me that our children are watching. Our actions speak louder than our words sometimes and this was a perfect example of that.

I was also challenged to do better about encouraging them out loud to have a daily quiet time and to go back to reading a daily devotional with them each day.

I know how much better my day goes after I spend time in God’s Word and I want them to experience the same.

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

If you don’t have a daily quiet time, I encourage and challenge you to start. Just five minutes a day, sit and talk to Jesus and read His Word. You can read a chapter in Proverbs a day or read a Psalm a day. Fill your soul, heart and mind with His truth. As you begin to practice this, it will spill over into your family.

As you love the Lord with all your heart soul and mind, you will see that you will use every opportunity to share it with your kids. Use learning opportunities to share God’s truths with them. Remind them of who they are in Christ and encourage them by using God’s Word.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:5-9

We don’t have to be perfect. We just have to be consistent. Children are great imitators so let’s give them something great to imitate!

Have a great day, friends!

XO

Be You, Do You! You Are Loved!

Published on by Maggie EternoLeave a comment

Good morning, friends! Happy Monday!! Anyone else counting down the days before Spring Break? I can’t believe how fast this school year has gone. Once Spring Break is over, I feel like the countdown to summer begins. And we LOVE summer around here.

This morning I wanted to share a little bit of my heart. I shared this quote on my Instagram stories last week and so many of you commented on it.

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in what everyone else is doing and how seemingly perfect their life seems to be.

I actually just did that today as I read a blog post from another blogger. She always seems to have it all together and she’s incredibly organized. I allowed my mind to go there. You know where there is…the pit of “I wish I could be her.”

I began to wish that I was more organized, more efficient with my time, a better mom, a better cook… you get the picture. I began to wish for better and more.

Thankfully my husband quickly bounced me back by reminding me that nothing is as perfect as it seems.

And not to say her life isn’t great! She just has strengths that are different than mine. And that’s ok!

We are all different. God did not make us the same. And thank goodness He didn’t because how boring would that be?

But even though He didn’t make us the same, guess what? He does love us the same!

He loved us all enough to send His only son to take our place and die for our sins.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

And this love, we don’t have to work for it. We don’t have to earn it. We don’t have to do one thing. God loves us just because. And He offers us a gift. A gift that we don’t have to work for. And that gift is eternal life. All He asks of us is to choose Him. And when we do, He promises us a life with Him for eternity.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

I know that it’s easy to compare our life to those that we see on social media. It’s easy to go down that road of saying our lives aren’t as good as so and so. But I’m here to tell you that your life is exactly what God has designed it to be. And when we look at someone’s life and wish for what they have, it keeps us from seeing all of the blessings that God is pouring into our life.

There’s a difference in being encouraged by someone’s life and being envious of someone’s life. And being encouraged is where I want to be.

I heard something a while ago that I’ve tried to put into practice when I feel comparison begin to steal my joy. It’s super easy to do and I want to encourage you to do the same.

It’s quite simple actually, when you feel yourself begin to get jealous or envious choose to compliment that person instead. Choose to be a cheerleader. It forces your brain to turn those negative thoughts into positive ones and it completely changes your mindset.

Instead of ignoring their post or stories, choose to comment and cheer them on instead. It may feel forced at first, but it will become second nature. I promise, I’ve done this and it’s changed my life so much. I suffered for years with discontent. And I refuse to allow myself to go down that hole again.

Sure, I still have my moments like I had today but I’m able to bounce back a lot quicker. I’m able to say, “gosh, she’s such an amazing mom and wife but so am I. Our lives just look different.” I’m able to believe that God may have given us different strengths and talents, but his love for both of us is the same.

And it also allows me to ask her for advice in the areas that she’s good at. I’ve learned so much from this particular blogger. Her posts about organization and time management have helped me tremendously.

And that wouldn’t have happened, had I let comparison get in the way.

Comparison not only steals joy. It has the power to steal friendships and families.

It’s ok to want to better our life just don’t convince yourself that your life right now isn’t great. Work towards goals while enjoying your journey.

So today I want to challenge you to be a cheerleader. When that post pops up in your feed that makes your skin crawl with envy and jealousy comment something positive. Compliment that person. Just do it once and see how it makes you feel. I can promise you that instead of dwelling on how much better their life is for the rest of the day…you will actually think about it only for a second and then it will be gone.

We have to be content. We have to work on our families and our lives. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. It’s greener where you water it.

Stop trying to be her. Be you. Work on you. Do you. Water your family and choose to look for the good every single day.

I can promise you that her kids are throwing tantrums, too. She has bad days, too. She needs encouragement, too. Nobody is perfect.

I know that this post is all over the place, but I really hope that I was able to truly get my point across this morning.

If anything, I just want you to know that you are loved by the King. Joseph shared a song with me yesterday that’s on repeat right now. And one of the phrases that stuck with Joseph was this, “I’ll never be more loved than I am right now.”

Friend, He loves you. He loves you so very much. He created you and designed you for a purpose. Don’t devalue your purpose by trying to be someone else. Be who God made you to be. And if you feel like you aren’t there yet, then join the club. This life is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. We are all working towards our purpose. A purpose we will not achieve until we are in glory with Him!

Fight the fight. Fight YOUR fight.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8

I love y’all!! Click here to listen to the song Joseph shared with me. Make sure you listen to the lyrics. They are powerful!

XO

Where is God in our Pain?

Published on by Maggie Eterno1 Comment

Morning, friends!! I hope you had an amazing Monday and I hope your Tuesday is off to a good start.

This weekend I heard an amazing message about why we go through painful experiences and where is God in those situations.

The speaker said something that I’ve repeated in my head over and over again.

The presence of pain does not mean the absence of God. Read that again, the presence of pain does not mean the absence of God.

So many times when we go through things and we ask ourselves, where is God? Why am I going through this?

The answer is SIN. Because of the whole Eve ate the apple event, sin came into the world. We could unpack that, but we will leave that for another day.

What I want us to really focus on this morning is, where is God in our pain?

The speaker used the story of Lazarus. Mary and Martha were so upset and told Jesus that had he been there, their brother would not have died. As Jesus looks around and sees everyone so upset about the death of Lazarus, we find the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11:35, Jesus wept.

He wept. He felt their pain. He knew what he was about to do yet He still wept. He was moved by their heartache. He was right there with them.

And friend, that’s where Jesus is in your pain. He is right there with you. At times you may not feel Him or see Him moving, but His Word is true and it tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us. He tells us that we can take heart because He has overcome the world.

Sin brings sorrow, pain and heartache, but Jesus brings joy, comfort and peace. And the best thing is that He promises us a life without pain. A life where we will live forever with Him.

Revelation 21:4 says, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Yes, sin came into the world but God loved us so very much that He gave us a Savior. A savior who conquered death! We may experience pain here, but we do not experience it alone.

God does not leave us in our horrible circumstances. He’s with us every step of the way. Hold on to Him. Do not let go and do not take your eyes off of Him. Believe Him at His word that says in Genesis 50:20, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

It doesn’t mean that your pain is good, it means that goodness will come from your pain. Your pain will not be in vain. Trust Him.

The speaker also said at the end of the message that he knew his message was intellectually satisfying, but not emotionally satisfying.

I know that the “christian answer” many times doesn’t comfort us. But I think that’s when we have to dig in deep and force ourselves to trust God. And how do we do that? We get in His word, we fall on our knees and pray and we surround ourselves with other people who are like minded that will pray and encourage us in our pain.

Life is hard. I know. Don’t do it alone.

How can I pray for you today? Head over to my instagram and send me a direct message or comment below.

I hope you all have a great day!

XO

What Are You Picking Up?

Published on by Maggie Eterno1 Comment

Morning, friends!! Today I want to share a devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries by Arlene Pellicane.

I read it this morning and talk about conviction. It’ll only take a couple of minutes! You can read it, here.

I am so guilty of this and truly needed to read this today. I hope this challenges and encourages you today.

Have a GREAT Monday!!

XO