A Monthly Devotional, by Michaela Popielski
I can’t believe we are 9/12ths through with the year. Crazy right? On a different note, for this month’s article, I didn’t really have any inspiration other than God’s love for us. I know this is talked about a lot but the other day I saw a documentary about slavery/ trafficking in America. I knew that trafficking happened in other countries and I knew that there were some cases of that in America, but what I saw on this documentary made it painfully clear that it goes much farther than that. Both types of slavery, domestic and sexual, are common in America and certain states. To confirm to myself what I had watched, I googled statistics on trafficking and felt my heart break. Even more than it did watching the documentary. As I watched the show I could just imagine God saying, “I made them. They are my precious children. I didn’t make them for this. I love them.” Obviously victims of trafficking either do not know the truth and come willingly thinking they will have a better life, or they are abducted and forced into slavery.
God’s love and power goes so deep that no matter how close we get to God, we will only be scratching the surface. Cool right? God loves everyone so much he sent his son to die for us. I know these are things we are taught from the nursery for those who were practically born in church but its true. For people from families who have grown up with pain and suffering, God’s love might be the only true wholesome love they will ever experience. People will let you down, be it boyfriends/girlfriends or best friends. They are human as we all are so we all disappoint each other at some point. But God doesn’t. Sure he will test you and they will probably be challenging but he still loves us. No matter what. Some people genuinely believe no one, not even God will love them.
God’s love is amazing. I don’t know how I can explain it better. When trauma happens, we sometimes wonder if God really cares. He does. It is just a matter of faith. Which, can be very hard to have sometimes. And, of course, trusting Him. I know I have kind of switched subjects on you but in a way it is all interconnected. I can’t remember if I’ve said this already but when Jesus died, he felt our pain. Take the pain the average person feels in a daily basis and lifetime and multiply it by the population of the world. No One but Jesus could have handled that. And that’s average. Add in depression and other stuff that isn’t always normal and again, it is amazing how much he felt and took for us, both physically and emotionally. I seem to be repeating myself but I can’t help it. Just knowing what Jesus did probably will never leave my mind.
One last thing, my sister showed me a song by a band called Showbread. They are a Christian rock band and one song is called “Matthias Replaces Judas.” There isn’t an official video on YouTube but someone made a video that hit home. It’s a good song that made me cry. Not a lot of songs do that. So if you want I encourage you to check this out. It is a little gory since it has scenes from The Passion of The Christ but it is so powerful.
Well, I think it is time to get off the pulpit. I hope this article speaks to someone. ~ Til next month, Michaela
PS. As you may have noticed I have divided up scriptures that normally would have been one full chapter. But due to school being back in and some juggling jobs with school, I didn’t want to put too much on anyone. Also, my pastor said “It doesn’t matter if you haven’t read a chapter every day. God still loves you.” Basically, it’s cool if you don’t read long parts of the Bible. As long as it’s genuine reading, I think short sections are good.
Oct.1 Ps. 136:1-13
Oct.2 Ps. 136:14-26
Oct.3. John 15:16; John 10:27
Oct.4. Ps. 30
Oct.5. Ps.73: 1-13
Oct.6. Ps.73: 14-28
Oct.7. Esther 10; Ps. 20
Oct.8. Isa. 28:1-14
Oct.9. Isa.28: 15-29
Oct.10.Rom. 5:8; Philippians 4:12-13
Oct.11. 1 John 2:15-17; Gal. 5:13
Oct.12. Ps.62
Oct.13. Ps. 46
Oct.14. Rom. 8:37-39
Oct.15. Eph. 4:17-32
Oct.16. Philippians 3:1-11
Oct.17. Heb.12: 26-29; Jer. 32:19
Oct.18. Eph.5: 1-14
Oct.19. Isa. 29: 1-16
Oct.20. Isa.29: 17-24
Oct.21. Lk.15: 8-10; Deu. 20:4
Oct.22. John 14:27; James 2:1-13
Oct.23. Rom.13:8 2; Pet. 2:1- 11
Oct.24. 2 Pet. 2:12-22
Oct.25. Job. 34:19; John 13:34-35
Oct.26. John 2:13-25
Oct.27. Ps.32
Oct.28. Ps.35
Oct.29. Matt.11: 28; John 14:14; Ps.4
Oct.30. Isa. 30:1-17
Oct.31. Isa. 30:18-33