Reflecting on Today all day
We pray that God uses your devotional time to encourage you in your faith not just while you're reading them, but all day long. We also hope that you have found ways to share what you're reading with your loved ones and those in your community.
That's why we were especially excited to hear from a high school art teacher who challenged her photography students to do just that.
After reading December’s Today devotional material*, students at Avail Academy searched for reminders of the daily passages as they went through their day. See and read how God worked through the devotionals, and gifts from our supporters too, below.
Where is God When It Hurts?
Even things that were once beautiful are tainted by sin. The sunflower, a yellow symbol of happiness and hope dies away in the grey fall rain. This season of dark, in absence of yellow petals, is still lit by the light of God. The sun still rises and sets, the birds use the dying sunflowers seeds for food to keep warm. Everything is a cycle, and there is hope. The reassurance that things will be good in the end clings with us.
Sophie Schmidt
Did God Lose Control?
God is always in control. God has a purpose in all things; nothing comes as a surprise to him. For example, when you're in the middle of a lake on a canoe struggling to cross the lake, you don't see the beauty like God does. The beauty is on the other side where God is seeing all of us struggling to make it to him. When we understand God's position and how everything works for his glory we can trust how wonderful it is.
Josiah Loge
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If Today has helped you or your loved ones grow closer to God this year, will you help us continue to make an impact for the generations to come?
Your year-end gift will help the next generation, like the students at Avail Academy, interact with Scripture and help them to see God in their daily lives.
Does Jesus Know?
I think that “eyes are the windows to the soul,” is a great insight; but, I also think our hands speak incredible volumes in defining who we are. For example, you know someone has hidden creativity if they wear nail polish; and, you know they work hard if they have blisters. But, most importantly, our hands are proof of our humanity, proof of what we’ve endured. When Christ died for our sins, he was fully human. The proof of our sanctification is written in his palms; and, his sacrifice defines who he was- a Savior.
Tessana Krueger
Is There Life After Death?
Our world is full of life and death, beauty and sorrow. When Jesus came and died on the cross there was so much pain and suffering, but then when he rose from the dead there was light and rejoicing. I think this photo represents this because when all of the leaves start to change colors it is so beautiful, but we tend to forget that the leaves are changing colors because they are dying. There can be beauty in death that we sometimes look past, and the hope that we have as Christians is because of what Jesus went through and endured for us, we are saved. We will get to experience eternal life with our Heavenly Father, which is a truly beautiful thing.
Kylie Schumacker
Should Christians Be Afraid of Death?
These flowers remind us of the beauty & brevity of life. It is inevitable they will be washed away in the current but this does not detract from their value. Even more important than the flowers themselves is the rock beneath which supports & endures.