Author: Heather Davis

85 Second Devotional | December 12

~ Heather Davis ~ 2 Comments

Welcome to my goofy attempts to have Advent devotionals with my busy college students who now live in 3 different cities.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. . . and his name shall be called. . . Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

Peace is something that seems elusive to most of us in the modern world. After all, we can hardly escape the constant barrage of information, and most of us are now so accustomed to the incessant yammering of the media that we don’t even pay attention.

Another scandal involving high-ranking officials? Of course.

Government corruption exposed yet no one serves jail time. Naturally.

We’ve come to expect chaos, even embrace it. But the expectation comes at a cost. The US consistently ranks #1 or #2 for anxiety, depression, and substance abuse despite being the most affluent nation in the world. Money, it seems, does not buy us peace.

Sadly, as a nation we’ve rejected the Prince of Peace. Fewer Americans each year identify as Christian and of those who do, even fewer actually read the Bible or follow the teachings of the Christ they claim to serve. A 2019 Lifeway research study found evangelicals are far more likely to use social media daily than read their Bibles.

Yet in chapter 26, Isaiah writes, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:3-4).

We lack peace because we no longer truly trust in the Prince of Peace. But we can choose to change this. Will you?

60 Second Devotional | December 10

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Welcome to my goofy attempts to have Advent devotionals with my busy college students who now live in 3 different cities…

. . .and his name shall be called. . . Mighty God, Everlasting Father. . .

Isaiah 9:6

In Isaiah 9:6, the Messiah is also called, “Mighty God, Everlasting Father.” It’s interesting that many skeptics today claim Jesus never pretended to be God. And they’re right – He didn’t pretend. He knew it, He stated it, and He proved it.

In John 8, Jesus is teaching at the temple, and His teachings about being slaves to sin rubs some people wrong. They push back, calling Him a Samaritan (which would have been insulting to a Jewish man) and accusing Him of having a demon. In a bizarre refutation that they’ve ever been slaves, they invoke Abraham as their father.

To this, Jesus replies that Abraham saw His day come and was glad. This brings on jeers, and Jesus makes the bold claim, “Before Abraham was, I am.”

Jeers turned to rage as the crowd attempted to stone Him. They knew He was referring to Exodus 3:14 and making a claim to Divinity.

Another time, Jesus is at the Feast of Dedication being questioned at the temple by a crowd demanding to know if He is the promised Messiah. He tells them, “I and the Father are one,” but they are also discontent with His answer (see John 10:22-33).

But Jesus not only claimed divinity, He proved it. He lay down His life down but also took it up again, precisely as He promised He would do in John 10:18.

60 Second Devotional | December 9

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Welcome to my goofy attempts to have Advent devotionals with my busy college students who now live in 3 different cities…

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor. . .

Isaiah 9:6

Today we are going to linger in Isaiah 9 and look at verse 6, specifically the prophecy that Messiah would be called Wonderful Counselor.

And Jesus is this Wonderful Counselor, though the advice He gives is very different from what you’ll get in the rest of the world. We are surrounded by advice to follow our hearts, to do what makes us happy, to live our truth, and all kinds of advice that sounds good on the surface. But anyone who’s tried to keep this advice, like I once did, will eventually end up feeling empty, unfulfilled, and even despondent.

The counsel Jesus gives is different. in the sermon on the mount, He warns us against laying up for ourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal, but advises us instead to store treasure in heaven where it will be secure.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

When we invest in a world that is doomed to pass away, we make a poor investment. But when we invest in Jesus and His eternal kingdom, our investment will pay dividends for all eternity.

60 Second Devotional | December 8

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Isaiah 9 contains one of the most well-known prophecies of the coming Messiah. It offers hope in a broken and often terrifying world. This verse is near the beginning:

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.

Isaiah 9:2

Did you know the Hebrew word translated “deep darkness” here is צַלְמָוֶת [tsalmâveth], the same word translated “shadow of death” in Psalm 23:4?

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4

The word carries connotations of darkness and terror, danger, and yes, death.

The truth is, our world is filled with darkness, danger, terror, and death. Scripture tells us we are dead in our sins, which is why Jesus came. Because He is fully God, His life is worth far more than any created being. Because He is fully man, His willing death alone can repair the breach between God and man caused by sin.

That’s why He is the only Way to God. He is the Light which came into this world of deep darkness.

60 Second Devotional | December 7

~ Heather Davis ~ 3 Comments

Welcome to my goofy attempts to have Advent devotionals with my busy college students who now live in 3 different cities…

Psalm 22 is a known Messianic prophecy and one Jesus quoted the first few words of from the cross: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? ( see Psalm 22:1, Matthew 27:26).

Keep reading the psalm and you’ll see prophecies that He will be scorned, despised, and mocked (v 6-7). Verse 8 is an accurate prediction of what was said about Jesus while He hung on the cross, which is recorded in Matthew 27:43 where the chief priests and elders mocked, “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God’ (Matthew 27:43).

The psalm also describes Him as being surrounded by evil men, having His strength dried up, being pierced, having his garments divided and lots cast for His clothing – all of which happened during the crucifixion. You can read the accounts in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19.

But what I love is the way the song ends in hope: They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it (Psalm 22:30-31).

He has done it. He has come. He will come again.

60 Second Devo | December 6

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You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
    I have sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your offspring forever,
    and build your throne for all generations.”

Psalm 89:3-4

There are several places throughout the Scriptures recording God’s promise to David that a ruler would come from his line who would reign forever. That promise was fulfilled in Jesus – the King of kings and Lord of lords who has established God’s eternal Kingdom.

But look around you. It doesn’t yet look like a Kingdom of peace and justice has come yet, does it? That’s because God sent the King first in a sort of covert operation (to borrow from C.S. Lewis), cloaked in humility. His plan was not to coerce or subdue, but to woo because God desires to share genuine love, not to merely conquer and control. Thus, Jesus experienced being human while modeling the humility and trust He wants from us.

The Kingdom begins in breaking the chains of sin, requiring humility and trust. But make no mistake – Jesus will come again, next time in His power to fully establish His Kingdom.

For those of us who love Him enough to be despised for His sake now, just as He once was for our sake, that Day will be the ultimate victory. For those who ignore Him, mistrust Him, mock Him, or reject Him, that day will be a terror. But He waits to give all of us a chance – to give all of us a choice.

Choose wisely.

60 Second Devos | December 5

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Welcome to my goofy attempts to have Advent devotionals with my busy college students who now live in 3 different cities…

I want to look at anointer pointer from the Old Testament. This time we’re going to jump ahead to Exodus. In Exodus, we find the story of Moses, and a lot of historical things that happened but also spiritually significant things. Today I want to specifically focus on Exodus 12, which is the institution of the Passover.

At the Passover, God had the children of Israel take a lamb without spot or blemish. They slaughtered the lamb and they painted the doorposts and lintels of their houses with the blood. When the Destroyer saw the blood, he passed over their house.

Fast forward to the New Testament. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.’

John 1:29-30

You guys, when we are in this world without Jesus, we are enslaved to our sin. Anybody who has had an addiction knows this; we are slaves to sin.

Jesus came to set us free from that, but we have to submit to His blood. We have to cover ourselves with His blood, metaphorically – with His sacrifice – to know that we can be free.

60 Second Devo | December 4

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The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:13

Genesis 22 records the time God told Abraham to do something shocking – to sacrifice Isaac, the son of the promise that he had waiting for for so long, and the one through whom all those blessings would come. And yet, Abraham was willing.

We also see Isaac was willing. Genesis 22 tells us that Isaac carried the wood, and if he was strong enough to carry the wood, he

60 Second Devo | Advent | December 3

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Welcome to my goofy attempts to have Advent devotionals with my busy college students who now live in 3 different cities…

The LORD said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Genesis 12:1-3

Today we’re jumping ahead to Genesis 12, where God calls a man named Abram. He tells him to leave behind his father’s house, to go to a land God will show him. He tells him that He will make him a great nation, make his name great; He promises to bless all who bless him and curse those who curse Abram.

And He tells him the coolest thing: “Through you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” That promise points to Jesus.

Jesus was a descendant of Abraham, and through Him, all the nations of the earth are blessed. But the blessing is a gift that has to be accepted. If it’s rejected, there’s no blessing.

But if we accept the gift, then God calls us out of the pagan nations we live in (This is meant in a metaphorical sense. We don’t literally move out, but we turn our allegiance from worldly practices and cultural norms and turn to God) to follow Him to a Land He will show us someday.

We have to leave behind all the sin that clings so closely and walk in obedience to Jesus. Then through Him, we will be blessed for all eternity!

60 Second Devo | Advent | December 2

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I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

Genesis 3:15

In today’s 60-second devo, we’ll be in Genesis 3.

Genesis 3 records where Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, chose to disobey God’s one command. By doing so, they let sin and death into the world, unleashing a torrent of horrors caused by the ripple effects of all the sins of all the people throughout all the ages. All the evil we see in the world around us today – all the suffering, all the horror – can ultimately be traced back to that one event.

And right there in Genesis 3:15, God records this prophecy. He had a plan.

Now you and I, when we make a mistake, maybe we screw up a drawing or mess up a recipe, we’ll throw it out most of the time. But not God!

Of course the analogy fails because God didn’t make the mistake – people did. He had every right to destroy His rebellious creatures – but He didn’t.

Instead, He put a plan into place that was unbelievable. He Himself would come save the creation; the people He made in His image.

That plan is the hope of Advent.

My second goofy attempt to share daily devotions with my college kids.