Each Wednesday, a devotion is posted here, sent via email to our email list and also posted on our Facebook page. If you would like to be part of our email list please contact the church office. In addition, check out past Devotions on our Facebook page.
I often receive feedback that the devotions are rich in content and are complex. Reading devotions whether short and concise or longer and complicated should never be read once quickly. All types of devotions should be read multiple times using contemplation, reflection and pausing. In those spaces of contemplation and reflection we experience the Holy Spirit interacting with us. Sometimes, individuals will reach out and provide their thoughts and reflections on their devotion. My intent has always been to create a dialogue. So read these in the way that best works for you to experience the Holy Spirit and create a dialogue with others in our community.
Wednesday, February 25, 2025
Hi St. Andrew’s UMC Community …
How are you today? Yesterday I learned the importance of walking and putting one foot in front of the other! Yep, you guessed it - I fell walking to the porch and the ring camera captured it all! It’s hysterical and I am a little sore, but for the most part OK! Regardless of the falls we endure (and laugh at), nothing in this world, no matter how much it may try, can take away the fact that you are a child of God! That is our devotion for today!
You are God’s
Galatians 4:7 (7 You are no longer slaves. You are God's children, and you will be given what he has promised. (CEV))
For many, it is easy to draw worth from others and/or organizations. When one’s worth is contingent upon another’s approval, they lose themselves and their identity and are forced to conform to what others need them to be. Yet one’s worth can only be defined and derived from God.
Ursula Burns knew that when she said, “I realized I was more convincing when I stopped trying to convince.” When we stop convincing others who we are because we deep down subconsciously (and maybe even consciously) desire acceptance from others, we begin to live into being a child of God. What are the key events in your life that have blocked you from living as a child of God? From which people or organizations do you seek approval?
In 2009, Ursula Burns became the first Black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, Xerox. You can read more about her at:
- https://stoicsisterhood.substack.com/p/ursula-burns-leadership-power-inner-authority
- https://www.washingtoninformer.com/the-religion-corner-where-you-are-is-not-who-you-are/
- https://www.blackventures.org/blackleaders/ursula-m-burns-the-first-african-american-woman-ceo-of-a-fortune-500-company
- https://www.britannica.com/money/Ursula-Burns
Ursula didn’t let her childhood economic status, geographic location, gender, ethnicity or cultural heritage define her. She didn’t let institutions define her but rather she knew she was a child of God and needed to look to that royal nation instead of seeking any human institution’s approval. In your own life, where have you let others (spouses, partners, parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, bosses, institutions) define you? Why do you seek their affirmation?
What would it take for you to feel affirmed by God and God alone? How would your life change? The human systems that define you will not change but does living into being a child of God change how you deal with those situations that are unfair and devalue you?
You are a child of God! Live into that and that alone!
Dear God, thank You. I am your child and I am grateful. I am sorry I seek affirmation from others when You are always ready and willing to love and affirm me at any moment. May I choose to always go to you for love and affirmation. Amen.
by Rev Dave Piltz
