Psalms 42:7 NIV[7] Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

April 2, 2026April 3, 2026 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 42:7 NIV
[7] Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
Growing up in BC I developed a passion for water. Streams, the ocean, waterfalls, rivers, crystal clear lakes. I was always known for being wet. For spending my time in the water. Fully dressed I would run into the water, just happy to be near it. Something about it drew me in. It still does. My college days in Castlegar BC I got into the habit of just having my swim suit with me, because I knew there would be sparkling water and I wouldn’t be able to keep out of it.
God is supposed to be like that for us. A constant draw to be with Him. Closer to Him. Deeper into His presence. As the Psalmist says earlier in this chapter, “when can I go and be with God?” We are meant to hunger after Him in that way. Unable to be far from Him because we desire His presence.
We are supposed to be drawn to Him like a wild animal is drawn to water.
Are we though? When we the last time you desired above all else to be near God?

Take away:

We are supposed to desire God. To walk away drenched by His spirit. But we settle for shallow water, ankle deep only.
Dive in instead. Be lost to the current of His peace and grace. Don’t settle for the shore. Get wet!
Seek Him with passion and love.

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Psalms 38:21 NIV[21] Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God.

March 28, 2026 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 38:21 NIV
[21] Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God.
There is nothing worse than being forsaken by God. Without Him there is nothing. Yet only one has ever been left by Him, and that one was Jesus. That day on the cross, in the worst suffering a person can endure, Jesus was left to die alone. Our sins. The one you had ten seconds ago, the sin you will have ten years from now, all of it was on Jesus that day and because of that He was forsaken by God. His Father had to turn His face away.
We sometimes feel so pained by life that we wonder what we have done to cause God to leave us. Possibly because that’s easier than thinking that God could possibly let us go through this.
Sometimes bad things happen because the world is broken and God permits them because He has a reason we do not and will not understand. Most things God protects us from though. There are battles for our lives happening ever day without us even knowing it. That thought doesn’t make the pain easier, but maybe it help to make the love of God clearer.

Take away:

God is stronger than the devil, but that does not mean that He is not sometimes delayed from saving us by him. Remember when the demon of Persia way laid the angel of Lord when he was coming tl rescue God’s anointed? It can happen.
When bad things come don’t blame God. Turn to Him. Pray even if you feel cold. Even if you have no answer and never will. Even if your faith is shattered. Keep seeking Him. He will pull you through.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · power of God · Prayer · psalms

Psalms 35:14 NIV[14] I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother.

March 25, 2026 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 35:14 NIV
[14] I went about mourning as though for my friend or brother. I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my mother.
David was never shy about calling for the destruction of his enemies. Yet at the same time he knew his position and God’s. He would call for God to bring them to justice and to destroy them, but he himself treated them as he felt God would want them treated. Now we aren’t speaking of war times or when he fighting to protect his kingdom, we are talking about personal attacks against him. Did David ask God that he would bring to ruin those who spoke maliciously against him? Yes. But then he reminds people that this is God’s job and that he treated those who were against him as a friend. I chose this verse out of the rest in this chapter because I am a ‘rain down fire from Heaven’ person. I would rather see my enemies destroyed before me and be able to walk away satisfied. Which of course is not what God wants.
Instead of seeking justice for myself I have to remember that justice is God’s department, and that I need to heap burning coals of love on those I want to bury in my flower bed, instead of hating them. Which is not fun and really, really hard. But that is what we are called to do. It makes me feel like the people in the beginning of that older sitcom show. “I can change, if I have to, I guess.”
Loving your enemies is really hard, and feel unfair, But God will strengthen you to do so.

Take away:

No one ever said that loving your enemies would be easy, but God makes it possible. Hopefully through how you treat them, they will change.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · lent · power of God · Prayer · psalms · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

Psalms 20:1 NIV[1] May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

March 7, 2026 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 20:1 NIV
[1] May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
We fall into distress easily. We’re people, it’s natural. But do we remember that God is on our side? When we fall into distress/anxiety/fear/meltdowns, may the Lord answer us. Let us remember to go to Him.

Take away:

Life happens, and it can be terrible, but God is still with us. He alone will save us and protect us.
Life happens, but we are not al

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Psalms 19:12 NIV[12] But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

March 6, 2026 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 19:12 NIV
[12] But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
We all have hidden faults and errors. Pride, arrogance, anger, complaining, it goes on and on. Sometimes we even have faults and sins we do without thinking of it. Not a willful sin, but a sin that has crept into our lives and personalities in some cases. There are many great things about God, but one of them is that He does not just search the depth of our hearts to judge what’s there, He also brings to our attention what’s going on inside that might be wrong. Best of all, He forgives us. We do not even have to be specific, look at the simplicity of David’s prayer; God hears that, knows what you are talking about and forgives. He’s amazing!

Take away:

God searches our hearts and knows the depth, but He doesn’t just sit back and be judge of our mess, He comes to us and helps us see it and clean it up!

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · holy spirit · Jesus · lent · Love · power of God · psalms · The Bible · True Joy

Psalms 18:1 NIV[1] I love you, Lord, my strength.

March 5, 2026 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 18:1 NIV
[1] I love you, Lord, my strength.
When was the last time you told God that you love Him?
He loves us so much! Yet we tend to only ask for things, sometimes we thank Him, but when do we say “I love you Jesus”?
Tonight take some time. Even if it’s just a few minutes. Tell Jesus that you love Him -Let Him know from your words as well as your heart that He matters to you.

Take away:

With all we “love” in our day, let us remember to count Jesus in our list. No one loves us more than He does, we should love Him most in our lives as well.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · lent · Love · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · psalms

Psalms 17:8 NIV[8] Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings

March 4, 2026 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 17:8 NIV
[8] Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
Soak that in. We are the apple of God’s eye and He hides us in the shadow of His wings.
Who in your life is the apple of your eye? Who means more to you than anything on this earth? What would you do to protect them? What would you give up?
Jesus gave up Himself. Nothing could satisfy the need for sacrifice for the amount of sins we people held, so Jesus gave up Himself. That’s how much we mean to Him.
In the world we live in, seeing all this darkness spread and grow around us it is easy to feel frightened, angry, and sad. Yet Jesus covers us with His presence. When we remember how much we mean to Him it helps us to feel safe because we know we are loved.

Take away:

We are so important to God that He gave up His son for us.
We are so important to Jesus that He have up Himself for us.
How important to us Is God? Are we willing to give up our lives for Him?

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March 1, 2026 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 14:2 NIV
[2] The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
The band Whitheart has a song called Desert Rose- in it they say “Lost in a windswept land
In the world of shifting sand
A fragile flower stands apart
There in that barren ground
Feel like the only one
Tryin’ to serve Him with all your heart.”

How often do we feel like the only ones trying to serve God with all our hearts? We have people around us who claim to be Christian as well, but their lives speak of compromise and Luke warm taste. It can make us feel lonely, it can make us feel like somehow we are wrong and their way of submitting to sin under the shelter of “love” or “empathy” or the all famous, “Jesus didn’t really say that, it was meant for those times and not for now,” and we feel alone- hurt- confused. Sometimes we feel like David felt, angry. He was angry as he watched the sinful prosper, as he watched them gloat over the righteous. We feel like anger is a sin, but if it is for the right reason and handled correctly, anger is not always a bad thing. We can be angry about sin. We can certainly be angry when people who claim to be fellow believers attack us for standing with God’s word. But see how David uses his anger correctly and takes it to God and brings his pain before Him and pleads for HIS justice.

Take away:

God is still looking on mankind to see if any understand and seek Him. Will He see us as those who have served Him and stand with Him even when our friends turn away? In our anger and hurt do we turn to Him and ask Him for His help and guidance?
Feel your feels, then give them to God. But no matter what those you once trusted and believed in say and do, never compromise your faith and your stand with righteousness. Where the righteous are, God is also.

Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · lent · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · psalms · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

Psalms 13:5 NIV[5] But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

February 28, 2026 carriedinthecrossLeave a comment

Psalms 13:5 NIV
[5] But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
Trust is so hard. How many people do we really trust? We as humans have been hurt by people so often that we live with a tinge of concern and lack of trust. We often turn that fear over to God. We don’t believe that Jesus will truly come through because we put Him on the same level as people. But His love is unfailing. He will never leave us abandoned. He reaches down and pulls us out of darkness and hurt.
In this passage, David is pleading with God to save him from his enemies. How long will you make me wait before you save me? Is basically what he says over and over again. Then he ends by rejoicing in God and praising Him, because David understood that God would always come through for him no matter how dark everything around him seemed.

Take away:
In the middle of trials we may stumble and feel like we are losing faith, but God will always be there with us. We cannot understand the waiting or the time it takes before our troubles end, but we always know that God has not left us and that He is doing something for us.

Devotional · encouragement · found · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · lent · power of God · Prayer · psalms · searching · still fighting · The Bible

February 25, 2026 carriedinthecross1 Comment

Psalms 11:1 NLT
[1] I trust in the Lord for protection. So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!
I really love this! Here we see David singing about the evil who pursue him with underhanded ways. His people (the righteous) try to convince him that they should all find shelter and hide from those who attack them. Yet David believed more in God being his shield than almost any other person in scripture. He trusted so much in God that he refused to flee from his enemies. Sure he had times of great pain and discouragement, even fear; yet he refused to run.
When bad things happen, or darkness rises, it is easy to want to run away. Flee to the mountains to hide and cower. Yet David knew that the only mountain to flee to was the mountain of God. God alone is our mighty stronghold to protect us.
Most of us are not facing violence, sadly some of us are, but we all have some enemy attacking us. It might be anxiety, illness, strife, a wandering child, an addiction, a lost job. Whatever your giant, three headed monster looks like, God is still your safe place to run to. We do not need to flee to the mountains when the enemy draws it’s bow taught, we need to flee to God.

Take away:
A fallen world means people will face pain at sometime in their lives. Pain can come in many shapes and sizes and most of the time it is preloaded by fear. When fear rises and we see pain coming, do not try and find something to hide in that is of this world. Hide in Jesus! He is your safe zone. He is your strong tower. He is the mountain where you run. This world will hurt you and let you down, but Jesus never will.