WEEKLY DEVOTIONS

During this time of social and emotional upheaval it is essential to find deep spiritual resources and substantial ethical foundations. It is my sincere prayer that these weekly devotions will address this need and encourage faith and fortitude for living in these times. They are designed to provide inner enlightenment and spiritual nurture by focusing upon the Word of God and the revelation of Jesus Christ.

I am convinced that daily prayer and reflection on the Light, Love and Liberation that comes from the personal encounter with God will provide needed renewal, restoration and refreshment to our inner person for the journey through the contemporary places and spaces we find ourselves. These devotions also serve as an invitation, to engaged contemplative intercessors, to the practice, privilege and power of prayer.

Come and join me each week for the journey and the adventure of learning more about the life of prayer for such a time as this.

– Dumas Alexander Harshaw, Jr.

There is a time for everything … a time to be silent and a time to speak.

Ecclesiastes 3:1,7

A Time To Speak

For thirty long years, the African American woman worked faithfully for a large global ministry. Yet when she sought to talk with co-workers about racial injustice, she was met with silence. Finally, however, in the spring of 2020 – as open discussions about racism expanded around the world – her ministry friends “started having some open dialogue.” With mixed feelings and pain, she was grateful discussions began, but wondered why it took her colleagues so long to speak up.

Silence can be a virtue in some situations. As King Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens … a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:1,7)

Silence in the face of bigotry and injustice, however, only enables harm and hurt. Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoeller (jailed in Nazi Germany for speaking out) confessed that in a poem he penned after war. “First they came for the Communists,” he wrote, “but I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.” He added, “Then they came for” the Jews, the Catholics, and others, “but I didn’t speak up.” Finally, “they came for me – and by that time there was no one left to speak up.”

It takes courage – and love – to speak up against injustice. Seeking God’s help, however, we recognize the time to speak is now.

Patricia Raybon

Why is it important not to be silent during discussions about racial injustice and other forms of injustice? What hinders your willingness to engage in dialogue about addressing racial harm?

Dear God, release my tongues and heart from the enemy’s grip. Equip me to see and feel the harm of racial injustice so that I may speak up for those hurt by this sin.

Our Daily Bread

Archived Devotions click on title to read in its entirety

Believing, Dreaming, and Trusting

Believing, Dreaming, and Trusting ++++ Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of […]

Behold the Dreamer

Behold the Dreamer! Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. -Genesis 37:5 Dreams have had a special meaning in all of our lives at one time or another. Dreams can be the expression of our subconscious, or dreams can be given by God. We […]

Today’s Manna

WEEKLY DEVOTION – Sept 20, 2021 Today’s Manna You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 True prayers are born out of present trials and needs. Bread received today is the strongest pledge that there will be bread tomorrow. We must trust God today and […]

The Love of God

WEEKLY DEVOTION – Sept 13, 2021 “The Love of God” It is important every now and then to conduct your own refresher course on the meaning of God’s love for you. John 3:16 is an excellent place to start. In the third chapter, the story is told of Jesus’s encounter with a leader of the […]

Fruitful Garden

WEEKLY DEVOTION – August 16, 2021 Lord, Stay With Me Luke 24:29 My Lord, from here on never leave me, but stay and dwell with me; for your presence Is my only comfort and consolation, just as your absence is my only sorrow. O Holy Spirit, come into my heart, and draw me so near […]

Lord, Stay With Me

Thirsting for God

WEEKLY DEVOTION – August 8, 2021 “Thirsting for God” Everyone is capable of praying, but many have the mistaken idea that they are not called to prayer. Just as we are called to salvation, we are called to prayer. Scripture commands us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer is nothing more than turning […]

The Nourishing Word

WEEKLY DEVOTION – August 1, 2021 Read Psalm 1 THE NOURISHING WORD. Psalm 1 is the gateway to the rest of the psalms. The “law” is all Scripture, to “meditate” is to think out its implications for all life, and to “delight” in it means not merely to comply but to love what God commands. […]

Just Asking

WEEKLY DEVOTION – July 25, 2021 “Just Asking” “Lord, teach us to pray.” Luke 11:1 True praying involves knowing beforehand what to request from God. Praying is asking for something definite. The mind is given over entirely to God, thinking of Him, of what is needed, and of what has been received in the […]

Love Never Fails

WEEKLY DEVOTION – July 18, 2021 “Love Never Fails” The definition of love in the New Testament passage of 1 Corinthians 13 is a supreme description and serves as a call to a lifelong quest of rediscovering the riches of love. The depth of love expressed in the letter to the church of Corinth to […]