Devotional Journaling #10

I am reading two devotionals this year. One is Living Hope for the End of Days: 365 Days of Devotions from the Book of the Revelation by John Samuel Barnett. The other is Joni Eareckson Tada's Diamonds in the Dust.

Living Hope for the End of Days. The theme for this week is See Christ's Face and Feel His Touch. 

What happens when a person comes face-to-face with Christ in all His power and glory? It smites us with an overwhelming sense of our humanity: our fallen nature and our weakness. A face-to-face encounter with Jesus Christ cannot help but strike us with His majesty and His glory.

I liked this well enough. But there were some iffy passages as well.

Have you experienced the touch of Jesus? His nail-scarred hands are reaching out to touch those who will let Him!

It did touch on the story in John 8.

What He says here is—Not that He acquits the woman, but that He forgives her. Not that He absolves her from blame, but that He absolves her from guilt. Not that He condones the act, but that He does not condemn her for it—He forgives her instead.

Diamonds in the Dust. To be honest, I am not quite satisfied with the substance of these. (Or with the substance of Living Hope for the End of Days either. Both are tending more towards fluff than substance.) I haven't decided if I'm going to keep up with this one or perhaps choose another devotional instead.

What would you say is the opposite of love? Would you answer "hate?" Many would agree that hate is the antonym of love, but consider this: Lust is love's opposite.
Love can always wait to give but lust can hardly wait to get. Love is never self-seeking, but lust always places its selfish desires first. Love is patient and kind, but lust burns with impatience. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. On the other hand, lust twists the truth and delights in whitewashing evil to make it look acceptable.
In fact, if you're looking for a definition of lust, flip to 1 Corinthians 13 and replace the words "love is" for "lust is not." You will discover that its character traits include insensitivity, sensuality, impurity, and a continual desire to indulge. (March 5)

I was curious to try this myself:

Lust is not patient and kind; lust does envy and boast; lust is arrogant and rude. Lust does insist on its own way; it is irritable and resentful; lust rejoices at wrongdoing, but does not rejoice with the truth. Lust does not bear all things, nor believes all things, nor hopes all things, nor endures all things.Lust ends. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible