Daily Devotionals for the Rest of Us
112 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingYou don't fit in the box and you're pretty sure no one should have to squeeze themselves in either. Especially when it comes to Christian faith.
Your faith comes with questions, and you're okay with that. On most days. You'd like a devotional that doesn't wrap everything up in such tidy packages because life is way messier than that.
Welcome home.
Host Peggy Haymes, a minister, coach, and therapist, is honest about the struggles of faith but also the wonder, about the challenges of life but also the grace.
All of these devotions are taken from her book. "Strugglers, Stragglers and Seekers."
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Episodes
Who wants to be meek?
August 28, 2021 00:07 - 3 minutes - 3.18 MBJesus said, "Blessed are the meek." How is that even possible?
What do you want me to do for you?
August 26, 2021 00:33 - 4 minutes - 4.52 MBJesus asked blind Bartimeus a question. What if he asked you the same question?
I thank God for you
August 23, 2021 19:13 - 3 minutes - 3.43 MBJust thinking about them makes you smile and warms your heart. Who are those people in your life? Thank God for them.
is it bad to doubt?
August 18, 2021 15:18 - 3 minutes - 3.47 MBAt first reading, James seems to think so. Maybe there's a doubt that opens door and a doubt that shuts them.
Decisions
August 18, 2021 01:06 - 5 minutes - 4.87 MBDiscernment is hard when every path is a gift and every path is a loss.
Secrets
August 15, 2021 21:06 - 4 minutes - 4.36 MBWhen we confess our sins, we're not telling God anything God doesn't know. But sometimes in saying it out loud and having it heard we discover what we didn't know, that grace is real even for the likes of us.
Those who mourn
August 15, 2021 00:17 - 2 minutes - 2.69 MBWe're not promised a way to avoid grief, but rather, comfort in the midst of it.
Laughing when it isn't funny
August 12, 2021 00:54 - 2 minutes - 2.38 MBPost-menopausal Sarah laughter when she heard guests promise her a son. It was all too ridiculous. Until it wasn't.
Making a space
August 11, 2021 00:50 - 4 minutes - 3.75 MBAbraham cleared a space for his unexpected visitors. How often do we make a space for what God wants to say to us and give to us?
You always have a home
August 09, 2021 23:27 - 3 minutes - 3.07 MBWhen we're good. When we're bad. When we succeed. When we fail. We always have a home.
What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
August 08, 2021 22:34 - 3 minutes - 3.27 MBDoes being poor in spirit mean thinking that you're not worth much? If so, how can that be blessed?
How do you know that it's time?
August 07, 2021 22:39 - 5 minutes - 4.95 MBJesus knew it was time to step forward and begin his ministry when he received the word of John's imprisonment. How do you know it's time when something is stirring in your own soul?
Fighting over dinner
August 06, 2021 19:46 - 5 minutes - 5.4 MBFor Paul, the Lord's table was meant to be a gathering that reflected the values of God's kingdom. How are we doing?
Trust enough for today
August 05, 2021 13:50 - 6 minutes - 5.54 MBGod promised the children of Israel just enough provision for each day. Some of them had a hard time trusting that. What about us?
No whining?
August 04, 2021 17:13 - 5 minutes - 5.24 MBAfter all of the miracles of liberation, Israel still thrown a first class pity party. What God does next is pretty surprising.
Praying for victory
August 04, 2021 00:45 - 4 minutes - 4.29 MBMinisters have prayed for God to give victory to football teams. Maybe that's not the deepest prayer we can pray.
"When you see a fork in the road, take it."
August 02, 2021 20:33 - 3 minutes - 3.52 MBGov Felix was fascinated by Paul and made sure that even in prison, Paul was treated well. And yet, he just kept missing the point. Sometimes we have to quit talking about faith and get busy living it.
When the thorn stays stuck
August 01, 2021 22:23 - 3 minutes - 3.66 MBSometimes we pray earnestly for healing, for resolution, for something to be different. And nothing changes. What do we do then?
It's not fair
July 31, 2021 00:37 - 5 minutes - 4.9 MBIt's not fair what happens in this story. Thank goodness.
The party is for you.
July 30, 2021 01:29 - 7 minutes - 6.51 MBThe boy did everything wrong. He was selfish, and foolish, and made really bad choices. Yet his daddy couldn't wait for him to come home. Some days it seems we do everything wrong. Sometimes we're selfish and foolish, and we make really bad choices. And yet, God waits on the porch for us. It's going to be time for a party. For us.
The lost sheep, lost coin... and lost cat?
July 28, 2021 18:01 - 7 minutes - 6.81 MBJesus is clear. No matter what we do or how far we wander, God never stops looking for us, not to punish us but to love us.
Help!
July 28, 2021 17:57 - 4 minutes - 4.27 MBWhen I called out in hte night, disabled by injury, my mom was there. So it is when we feel held back by our fear, the weariness of our struggle, the weight of our sadness, or the shame that is like breath to us, God is there.
Get results fast! (Or not.)
July 26, 2021 15:32 - 4 minutes - 4.04 MBSometimes we can see the results of our work. Sometimes we can see that the work just isn't working. Sometimes we can't see anything at all. In all of these things, we are called to be faithful.
Letting someone else help you
July 25, 2021 22:08 - 4 minutes - 3.77 MBPaul wrote that we should bear one another's burdens. Sometimes it can be hard to let someone else know that we're carrying burdens, much less to let them help us.
Paying attention
July 24, 2021 20:35 - 4 minutes - 3.9 MBWhen his business boomed he didn't bother to ask any question deeper than how he could protect all of his money. Jesus reminds us that the intentionality of faith extends to all parts of our lives.
Maybe it wasn't a love story
July 23, 2021 14:04 - 5 minutes - 5.15 MBToday's devotion is completely different from the one that I wrote years ago in Strugglers, Stragglers and Seekers. Back then I was reflecting what I'd always been told about the David and Bathsheba story. Today I heard with fresh ears. Maybe it wasn't a love story.
Fearfully and wonderfully made
July 22, 2021 19:13 - 3 minutes - 3.52 MBWere God’s hands gnarled as they held the knitting needles?
Being known and being loved
July 21, 2021 18:35 - 4 minutes - 4.38 MBWe are known right well. We are loved right deep. We are held in grace-fused love, right now and forever.
Have mercy
July 20, 2021 13:45 - 5 minutes - 4.72 MBWhen asked about the way to eternal life, Jesus didn't offer up any kind of prescribed prayer. Instead, he pointed to the path of loving God and loving neighbor. And that's where it gets sticky.
It's not all up to us
July 19, 2021 17:03 - 4 minutes - 4.52 MBI was beyond exhausted, and didn't see any way I could lead the retreat that started that evening. But maybe it wasn't all up to me.
Goober says hey
July 18, 2021 21:03 - 6 minutes - 6.35 MBThe episode in which you may laugh at me for trying to pronounce a very large group of very unfamiliar names. Of course, to Paul they were very familiar. Which is kind of the point.
Major and minor horseplay
July 17, 2021 15:42 - 4 minutes - 4.07 MBHow do we measure faithfulness? Is it avoiding a list of demerits... or something deeper?
Caring for the poor
July 16, 2021 18:03 - 5 minutes - 4.86 MBIt's easy to feel overwhelmed. It's hard to know where to start. And yet God is clear about our calling to care for the poor. I just have a few questions.
Doing what we can do
July 15, 2021 12:28 - 5 minutes - 4.97 MBThey couldn't keep Jesus form being killed. they could give him a proper burial. Sometimes all we can do is all we can do.
God's strange "I told you so"
July 14, 2021 19:13 - 4 minutes - 4.04 MBGod had every right to say "I told you so." Israel ignored God and wound up in a world of hurt. But God's "I told you so" becomes a lullaby of love. For Israel. For us.
The only thing he could do
July 13, 2021 14:54 - 4 minutes - 4.04 MBSometimes we get so focused on what we cannot do that we neglect the things we can do.
Detour into the wilderness
July 12, 2021 10:23 - 4 minutes - 4.25 MBTreated badly by her mistress, a pregnant Hagar fled into the wilderness to escape. God met her there.
Forcing the issue
July 11, 2021 09:26 - 4 minutes - 4.15 MBAbram thought God needed a little help. It did not go well.
Maybe being born again isn't what we thought it was
July 10, 2021 16:31 - 5 minutes - 4.63 MBThe usual story is that being born born again means getting on your knees and praying a certain prayer. What if that isn't what it's about at all?
The whole deal
July 09, 2021 15:00 - 3 minutes - 2.98 MBI'm pretty good with trusting God with part of my heart. Still, there are some pockets that I try to keep to myself.
Always
July 08, 2021 12:57 - 5 minutes - 4.7 MBThere is nothing you can do that will make this Jesus love you any less. There is nowhere you can go where his love will not go with you.
The courage to change
July 07, 2021 09:48 - 5 minutes - 5.22 MBPeter had every reason not to change what he beloved about faith. Except one. Sometimes the deepest expression of faith is our willingness to let go of what we know for what we're coming to believe.
Not mincing words
July 06, 2021 16:00 - 4 minutes - 3.81 MBThe prophet Amos didn't mince words when he confronted teh religious folk of his day. What might he say to us?
A prayer for today
July 05, 2021 16:07 - 3 minutes - 3.2 MBI wrote this prayer many years ago. Sadly, it is completely relevant today. Maybe you can pray it as well.
Shine
July 03, 2021 09:01 - 4 minutes - 4.06 MBWhat if Jesus meant it when her said, "You are the light of the world"? Are you letting yourself shine?
Models of faith
July 02, 2021 09:00 - 4 minutes - 4.06 MBWho is a model of faith for you? What have you learned from them? What difference does that lesson make in your life?
The struggle of community
July 01, 2021 09:07 - 4 minutes - 4.48 MBLiving as a Christian community means having to consider others as well as ourselves. Sometimes there'e no easy way to do that.
Sleeping through the sermon
June 30, 2021 09:01 - 4 minutes - 3.97 MBWhen the miracle doesn't seem like such a big deal
Calmed
June 29, 2021 09:03 - 4 minutes - 3.84 MBShe gently holds the child until satisfied from nursing, the child relaxes and rests easy in her arms. The psalmist says that being held by God is like that.