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Posts by Leslie Ann Yell

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Present or Absent?

[While the CD Team enjoys a Christmas break, please enjoy these devotionals from December 2020 based on scripture readings and Christmas carols. Covid even makes an appearance in our devotional for today.] O come, O come, Emmanuel, / And ransom captive Israel / That mourns in lonely exile here/Until the Son of God appear. / Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel / Shall come to the...

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Free

He forgave all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross."Colossians 2:13b-14 (We pray you'll be refreshed and maybe even challenged as you read this week's devotionals, originally published in March of 2020.) I volunteered in a refugee camp as a college student o...

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Present or Absent?

Ocome, O come, Emmanuel,/And ransom captive Israel That mourns in lonely exile here/Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel/Shall come to thee, O Israel. As a teacher I take attendance every day. However, remote learning has thrown off my record-keeping. On my attendance sheet these days, I've added markers for "video off" and "technology issues" to the ...

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The Whole is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts

1 Peter 2:1-16 The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Ingredients blend to make a delicious cake, members form a winning team, notes come together in a touching melody, individual shards create a striking mosaic. "As you come to him, the living stone -- rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him -- you, also, like living stones, are being built int...

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Letting Go...Gaining All

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ(Philippians 3:7-8). Ever held on to something you knew wasn't good for you? We likely all have at some po...

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Life of the Party

The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great. Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days (Nehemiah 8:17-18). ...

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One step forward, two steps back...

"Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table,as well as those who came to us from surrounding nations"(Nehemiah 5:17). My husband I recently headed out with our kids and another family to paddle to an island we love. Our friends had never been, and they enjoy the great outdoors as much as we do. As we drove our paddle boards out to the boat launch,...

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Restoration Power

I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:12). Have you been depressed by the breadth of brokenness surrounding you? Have you been overwhelmed with a looming project or the sheer volume of work that needs to be done? I certainly have! Gosh, it seems as if the world is crumbling around us right now! Nehemiah is overwhelmed with ...

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Lessons from a Little Guy

Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8) (Luke 19:1-10) [Editor's note: we're continuing our Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly series, diving this week into the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19. I think you'll find that our writers will help you see that there's more to this story than we thought!] "Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little m...

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Mercy is Magnetic

He has shown you what is good and what the Lord requires of you -- do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake Then one of the s...

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Following in My Father's Footsteps

He has shown you what is good and what the Lord requires of you -- do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8). Jesus gave them this answer: "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does (John 5:5-21). Children learn by example: that adage ri...

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A Bigger Table, A Bigger Dream

After this, I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb' (R...

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Listen Up!

Acts 6:1-7 When you're driving your car and hear a new noise, one that's different than normal, you become alarmed and rightly so. If you're wise you gather information about the noise -- when does it occur, at what speeds, in what temperatures, etc. -- you seek to determine its cause, and you take steps to fix it. If you're unwise you can ignore it, hoping it will go awa...

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Let It Be

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled."Then the angel left her (Luke 1:26-38). It's June and already feeling summery, but our Scripture for this fifth and final week of our Into the Unknown series may have more of a December ring to it. Most of us have heard this scene recounted during Christmases past. Some strange guy comes to Ma...

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If Only...

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8:11-12) Reading aloud has always been a part of the bedtime routine in our house....

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Worth the Trouble

2 Kings 5:1-17 What a bizarre story! A top-gun army commander named Naaman falls ill with leprosy and a slave girl suggests he travel into enemy territory for a cure. So Namaan heads off loaded down with gold and silver for the enemy and ticks off the king when he arrives. Then Namaan gets connected with a prophet whose cure is nothing more than washing in a river. Ser...

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All In

"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water.""Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat,walked on the water and came toward Jesus (Matthew 14:28-29). I love going to the pool. As soon spring starts warming up I start getting the itch. My son gets excited, too. He gets so excited I must make sure he applies sunscreen before leaving th...

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Seeing the Master

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. John 20:19-20 NIV (The verses in bold below represent the same passag...

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When Life Turns on a Dime

Acts 16:16-36 March 13. That's when everything changed. As a teacher and mom of three school-aged children, hearing school would be closed at the end of that day for an unknown period of time rocked my world. I was working hard, cooking dinner, taking kids to practice, going to church, and going about life as normal up until then. I had been listening to the news, of cour...

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Be a Part, Do Your Part

If I don't wash you, you can't be part of what I'm doing...So, if I, the Master and Teacher,washed your feet, you must now wash each other's feet." (John 13:8) As I parent I hear myself saying, "Just watch me. I can explain, but just watch for a minute and you'll get it." Likewise, as a daughter, I find myself doing things just as my mom did them -- because I saw her do i...

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All Things Converge

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to ...

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Free

He forgave all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:13b-14). I volunteered in a refugee camp as a college student one summer. Though I witnessed much pain and loss, God blessed me so much during that time. I enjoyed getting to know people in t...

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The Battle is God's

"Attention everyone -- all of you from out of town, all of you from Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat -- God's word: Don't be afraid; don't pay any mind to this vandal horde. This is God's war, not yours. Tomorrow you'll go after them; see, they're already on their way up the slopes of Ziz; you'll meet them at the end of the ravine near the wilderness of Jeruel. You wo...

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