Episode 235: Hope in the Ordinary - Notifications

Jun 21, 2022

Hope in the Ordinary

This series of devotions are meant to serve as a simple reminder of God's presence in the ordinary moment of everyday life. Throughout the summer, we'll share a devotion each week to remind you of God's presence and the power of hope. Every week, you'll find the scripture, prayer, and reflection question on the website along with links to other devotions.

Read

1 Corinthians 13 (MSG): If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.

Love doesn’t strut,

Doesn’t have a swelled head,

Doesn’t force itself on others,

Isn’t always “me first,”

Doesn’t fly off the handle,

Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn’t revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

11 When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Reflect

Listen to the above podcast.

Respond

Gracious God, thank you for the extravagant love you show me, even through red notification circles on my cell phone. Thank you for loving me for who I am and loving me enough to transform my life. Most of all, guide me today to be the one who trusts steadily, hopes unswervingly, and loves extravagantly. Amen.

Return 

At the end of the day, return to this question: 

What interaction today sent you a notification, “you are loved”? Give God thanks for the people, places, and spaces you experienced today. 

Return next week for another devotion on Hope in the Ordinary.

Listen to Episode 234 - Hope in the Ordinary - For the Birds