All My Love, All My Life: A Devotional for Women

Author

BEFORE WE GET STARTED

Thank you for purchasing this devotional journal! I’m excited to walk through this next year with you. I designed each entry to be read in a certain month, but feel free to read them in any order, using the Table of Contents to find the specific insightful message that speaks to your heart today. I also intend each entry to be read on a Sunday, as a means of quieting the heart on the Lord’s Day and as preparation for the coming week, with journaling to be completed during that week. Take the time to look up the Scripture passages in your Bible that I quote, and then read them over again as you journal during the following week. All Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version unless otherwise specified.

Though this method would allow the book to be used to its greatest advantage, feel free to read through it faster or slower as you need. I certainly don’t have all the answers – so more than anything I want these weekly insights to inspire you to deep and meaningful conversation with God directly.

I would also love to hear from you!

Please email me your stories,

and how this book has helped you on your journey:

[email protected]

I pray that one year from now, you will look back with grateful tears of joy on what the Lord has done in your life and how you have grown in your love for Him. May He have all your love, all your life!

In Him,

Ruth-Ellen

INTRODUCTION

If you are reading this and you’ve never made a personal commitment to live your life for God, there is no better time than right now. You may not realize it, but you have a Creator and a Father who loves you and put you on this Earth for a special purpose. You are not here by accident. However, you may feel distanced from God because of the wounds of your past and the mistakes you have made so far in your life, but the good news is that there is a solution! God loves you so much that he gave Jesus His Son to die on a cross and pay the penalty for it all – so it doesn’t have to define you any longer. And there’s more! After Jesus died on the cross, the Holy Spirit was sent to earth to live inside every person who would choose to believe, in order to help and comfort them as they live for Him. Through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Father God is offering each one of us a personal relationship that we can experience today and for the rest of our lives on Earth – and also the hope of being with Him in heaven after that!

If you feel a tug on your heart right now and you would like to receive this free gift of God’s love, all you have to do is ask Him in a short prayer:

Dear Father God,

Thank you for creating me for a purpose.

I’m sorry for the things I’ve done in my life

that have separated me from you.

Please forgive me, heal me and make me clean.

Thank you for your free gift of salvation through Jesus.

I invite you now into my heart

and I want to live for you forever.

Amen.

If you prayed that simple prayer and meant it in your heart, you’ve just begun an incredible relationship journey with Jesus – and it’s called being a Christian. The next step is to tell someone about this decision you’ve just made – and then find a church and a Bible to help you learn more about God. For now, though, I hope you will read through the rest of this book with your heart open to what God wants to say to you. He loves you so much and wants you to know Him more!

JANUARY

A Journal for the Journey

Life is a journey. The path we are given to walk is narrow, steep, rocky, and winding. It may be even obscured in response to the changing seasons: by snow in the winter, mud in the spring, weeds in the summer, and leaves in the fall. We may grow weary, frustrated, or angry along the way, and certainly older. The one thing that remains constant is God. Our constant Companion, Helper, Provider, and Sustainer, we walk this road of change with the One who never changes.

I have designed this devotional book to prompt you to journal. Whether or not you’ve ever enjoyed putting your thoughts down on paper, I encourage you to try it for a year. Journaling is a great way for us as women in particular to deposit our daily thoughts, fears, emotions and prayers in a place outside of ourselves where we can return to later and reflect upon them. There is great meaning to be found in remembrance. The psalmist writes, I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago (Psalm 77:11, NIV). Rereading a journal much later can be embarrassing, gratifying, or even painful, but it is always instructive. Seeing prayers answered and worries come to nothing is a big part of it, but primarily journaling should validate your feelings as being important, and demonstrate a stark contrast between your heart’s tidal waves of emotion and the still calmness of the Lord’s presence. Like the psalmist did, when we remember the awesome deeds of God and how He has spoken to us in the past, we are encouraged in the midst of our present storm. Likewise, when we’ve come through a storm, we can look back with grateful hearts on the saving power of our God. This journey we call life is not supposed to be easy; the call on our lives was never meant to be a walk in the park. Wind, rain, and snow can make the already uneven and steep route almost impossible to travel. Simply put, it is a trail of trial. Yet part of gaining wisdom over the course of the journey is remembering and reflecting on where you’ve been and what it has taught you.

We live in a competitive, eat-or-be-eaten capitalistic society that seems to show very little care or concern for emotional health. Ethical business practices, fair trade, and non-profit organizations make it appear as if we live in a just society that practices compassion, but still crime and suicide rates climb. What are people truly in need of? The answer is God. People, need to know God’s heart for them and for the world. We serve a God of immense creativity, strength, beauty and wisdom that I hope this devotional journal will reveal to you in a more profound way. It is my prayer that you use a separate journal not only to express your feelings in a constructive way, but to offer them up to God in exchange for His heart’s cry for you.

That’s when the Beautiful Exchange begins. I’m referring to Isaiah 61:3, where God promises to give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, [and] the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Relationships are always a two-way street. Only when we offer to Him our jumbled pile of need will He give us the beauty, joy and praise that we long for. That’s why this narrow path we walk is restricting yet comforting; lonely yet deeply relational; steep yet ascending, winding yet adventurous, painful yet fruitful, rough and rocky yet solid and secure. It’s not about where you are, it’s Who you’re with.

This week, take the time to look up these verses, meditate on them, and then begin to journal. What are your plans and prayers for this week? Your feelings and fears?

A Consuming Fire

It’s winter. Everything and everyone is trying to keep warm amidst frigid temperatures. These days, there’s nothing that restores me more than relaxing next to my fireplace after a busy day. This welcoming hearth also reminds me of the enduring heart of God and helps to put life back into perspective.

Indeed, in a controlled environment, a fire can be very attractive - so much so that we often forget the inherent danger it possesses. When boundaries are removed, though, fire inevitably spreads quickly to cause destruction and death. It makes all the difference who has control.

The Bible often uses the imagery of fire to teach important principles about God. In Deuteronomy 4:24, we are warned clearly that the Lord your God is a consuming fire. The Israelites knew very well that this didn’t refer to a warm hearth on a cold day; it meant a raging, blazing, spreading inferno. A fearful concept. So many people in today’s postmodern world are attracted to the warmth and light of God, yet are reluctant to allow Him and His absolute Truth to consume them. They prefer to experience the comfort of God in a fireplace, where His warmth can be enjoyed while His burning power is controlled. As followers of Christ, we need to release control back to God - to allow His holy, consuming fire to penetrate our beings so He can show His power and accomplish His agenda. Wow - that’s a tall order. To start, let’s explore some of the characteristics of fire.

• Fire brings light. Ephesians 5:8, 11, 13 says for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. [For] everything exposed by the light becomes visible – and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. Allowing the light from God’s fire to completely expose us is a high price to pay for many - we somehow feel entitled to our privacy. Yet if we truly desire for God’s light to shine out from us, it must penetrate every corner of our heart.

• Fire melts and molds. I know how easy it is to develop a cold, hard heart - hurt, bitterness and unforgiveness can slowly seep into our lives until all tenderness is gone. God’s consuming fire wants to melt your heart back to its original tender state and mold it into the image of Jesus.

• Fire burns. We all enjoy warm weather, but we’ve all experienced at some time the discomfort of a sunburn when we’ve enjoyed a bit too much of it. As God’s fire melts and molds, it will also burn - burn up our flesh, our selfish desires, and our secret motives. Warning - we’re getting pretty close to the heat now, and only the truly committed heart will endure. We read about God’s Judgement Day in I Corinthians 3:11-13: For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. The substances that can withstand heat like gold, silver and gems are the ones that are costly. We need to be prepared to pay a high price in order to further His Kingdom.

• Fire purifies and refines. Even valuable material like gold and silver contain impure elements that need to be removed. Zechariah 13:9 alludes to this: [My people] I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God’. We need to daily ask God to refine our offerings to Him by testing our hearts and burning away anything impure.

• Fire stimulates growth. This is the best part! Just as a prairie fire burns away the overgrowth to return nutrients to the soil for seed germination, you’ll begin to experience new growth in your life when you allow God’s consuming fire to take control. He’ll birth dreams and blaze trails that would never have been possible had you confined Him to the fireplace. You also won’t be able to stop sparks from flying into the paths of others as you radiate His presence along life’s journey - but it won’t matter anymore. This fire is now out of your control.

It’s still pretty cold out there — but may the below zero temperatures remind us of the state of our hearts, and a world in need of God’s consuming fire.

This week, take the time to look up these verses, meditate on them, and then begin to journal. What are your plans and prayers for this week? Your feelings and fears?

Living a Responsive Life

I write this as the world returns home from the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. During the event, extensive media coverage constantly preached the value of competition, striving to be the best, and pursuing your dreams. Yet I wonder how much of this message is truly God’s plan for us. Were humans created to become focused on one dream - to be the best - at the exclusion of all others things in life? What about God’s dreams for us? Competition can be healthy, of course, so long as it promotes teamwork and develops character. However, the majority of serious Olympic athletes suffer from stress, anxiety, and even depression, which the media fails to report.

We are selfish beings by nature, and our