Devotionals

  • fear's threats and God's voice
    Devotionals,  Faith

    Fear’s Threats and God’s Voice

    Fear’s Threats and God’s Voice [Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Maria of A Woman Named Free. The first part of this powerful blog post is the voice of fear, or the enemy, and the second is the voice of our Heavenly Father. Thank you so much for sharing this, Maria!] Oh Darling, don’t get too comfortable with peace because you remember what I’ve told you about peace. Peace is nothing but an illusion, a dirty trick for the gut-wrenching tragedy that is to come. Don’t worry, I have you safe wrapped in a warm blanket of anxiety. Let me properly introduce myself…my name is Fear. We first…

  • The Pursuit of Perfection
    Devotionals

    The Pursuit of Perfection

    The Pursuit of Perfection [Editor’s Note: Today’s guest post is from Haley Duckworth of The Beloved Bride! I love when women put themselves out there and really share their stories candidly. Thank you so much, Haley!] It was two months after my wedding and I can still feel the sinking feeling of my heart as I clicked through image after image from the big day. Pictures of family, bridesmaids, groomsmen and wedding guests scrolled across the screen as I became more and more disappointed. Now, don’t get me wrong, there were some beautiful images that were captured that day. But, the fact that our photographer was battling a nasty sickness on…

  • Devotionals

    Overcome Failure (Excerpt and GIVEAWAY!)

    [Editor’s note: Guest blogger Diva veteran Ifeoma Samuel sent me an advanced copy of her new book, Overcome Failure: Get Back on Your Feet, and asked if I wanted to select a copy to share on Devotional Diva…PLUS she gave me TWO copies to giveaway to Devotional Diva readers 🙂 I felt a little silly when I decided to ask permission to use part of the first chapter, but I felt it really aligned with Devotional Diva’s “mission” well and was just a really good chapter! As someone who is very hard on themselves, this book was a personal encouragement to me and it even talks about that. Overcome Failure is just generally…

  • tired of apologizing for a church i don't belong to by lillian daniel
    Devotionals,  Faith

    Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don’t Belong To

    Tired of Apologizing [Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don’t Belong To by Lillian Daniel. I received a copy from the publisher so that I could choose a section to excerpt and give my thoughts. I really enjoyed this, and enjoyed her new ideas  I get Lillian’s frustration with “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR) and being tired of apologizing!] Is it legitimate to pursue faith rigorously and still land on “it’s a mystery” as a conclusion now and then? It seems to me that if God wanted humans to understand everything, we’d be God. But we’re not God. God did not leave…

  • san diego skyline devotional diva
    Devotionals

    Coming to Terms with San Diego

    Coming to Terms with San Diego I loved Chicago. I lived in North Chicago with my husband for 11 months and it was truly the best 11 months of my life. I grew so much as person. Although I have written about that experience on Devotional Diva before, I’ll explain a bit. We moved to Chicago for my husband’s naval training and that was the farthest I’d ever lived from my family – around 5 hours away. I’d never lived out of town before! Chicago is where I found myself. I was pretty depressed for a while, but I got the help I needed. I was even able to really…

  • Kelly O’Dell Stanley on Devotional Diva
    Devotionals,  Faith

    Prayer for the Distracted

    Prayer for the Distracted [Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series of guest posts on prayer by Kelly O’Dell Stanley! Check out the previous prayers for the… Overwhelmed, Weary Parent, Unfocused, Comparer.] Dear Lord, I’m so glad that I can come to You at any time. But I wish I could focus more, that I wouldn’t start my prayer and already be distracted before the end of the sentence. I hope that it doesn’t indicate a lack of interest in You. You know my heart, better than I do, but I think my intentions are good. I just can’t still my brain enough to stay on one thought for very long. And…

  • Devotionals,  That Military Life

    Berlin, Germany #DivaTravel

    I’m back with more German adventures! Today I’m sharing our day trip to Berlin. We spent a lot of time walking along a path learning about the Berlin wall and seeing where it was, until we ended up at the memorial and the Chapel of Reconciliation. It was a cool experience. We also stopped at a large grassy area with lots of grafiti where Oliver ran around and played. He loved it! We also walked around Museum Island later in the day!

  • Worry Free Living: Trading Anxiety For Peace by Joyce Meyer
    Devotionals,  Faith

    Worry Free Living…Joyce Meyer Excerpt

    [Editor’s Note: I received a copy of Joyce Meyer’s new book, Worry Free Living: Trading Anxiety for Peace to read and select an excerpt from! I have to say, this was a very relevant book for me and I loved it! I always love Joyce, but man this spoke to me. I really, really enjoyed it and I’ve been referring back to it already. Here’s an excerpt from a later chapter. It was hard to choose, but this was my favorite. Joyce just really makes a lot of sense in this chapter! I hope you’re encouraged!] Prayer Produces Peace, Rest, Patience, and Hope Several times in this book I have mentioned…

  • Devotionals,  Faith

    Back to Basics

    [Editor’s note: Rochelle is back! Instead of her beautiful poetry this time, she’s got a back to basics devotional on falling in love with God to share!] Do you remember? Do you remember when you first fell in love with someone? You spent every moment thinking about your love for them. You looked forward to those 3-5 hour phone calls. When you weren’t able to speak to them, you would reflect over text messages and listen to all the voicemails. I surely did. Do you remember the dates and the intriguing conversations that you embraced so much? You remember those journals you wrote in about every moment that you wanted to…