The lazy days of summer are upon us.
Heat-indexed days, tall glasses of iced tea in the shade of the willow tree, and storm watching have been on the forefront of our thoughts lately. As we long for waves to lap at our feet and a trip inside the cooled shopping mall, we lose focus on the eternal because our humid bodies seek instant relief.
What is more refreshing than the living water that Jesus pours out? What is more renewing than the Word of God full of truth for the weary body trudging through damp air?
Be as excited as children chasing those fireflies in the dusk to dive into the Word of God that never gets weary.
Inspired and encouraged by the YouVersion devotional called Reset, let us read several hopeful and mindful passages from the Bible that bring us back on track in our faith during these lazy days.
Connect to the Source:
- Proverbs 4:25-27 NIV
Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
- Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well
Who is your first love?
- Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
- 1 Samuel 7:12 (Read 3-14)
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
- Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 10:27
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- Revelation 2:2-4
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.
Check Your Obedience:
- Deuteronomy 13:4
It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
- 1 Samuel 15: 23b-23a (Read 1-31)
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination
2 John 1:6
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
- Luke 11:28
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
His Love Is Great:
- Song of Songs 2:4
Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
and let his banner over me be love.
- Psalm 86:15
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Psalm 103: 13 (Read 1-22)
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him
- Romans 5:8 (Read 8-11)
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Romans 8:37 (Read 31-39)
- 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
1 John 2:5
But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him
- 1 John 4:16 (Read 16-20)
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
- 1 John 5:3
In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome
Holiness:
- Ephesians 1:4-7
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
- 1 Peter 1:15-16
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
1 Peter 2:9-10 (Read 9-12)
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:4
that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable
- Ephesians 4:24
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Romans 6:22-23
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A Time For Prayer:
- Job 42:10 (Read 7-10)
After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.
- Matthew 18:14 (Read 12-14)
In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Matthew 19:16 (Read 23-26)
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- 1 Timothy 2:3-4
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
The Holy Spirit:
- Luke 11:13 (Read 9-13)
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
- John 20:22
And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:17
“‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
- Acts 4:31
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
- Ephesians 5:18
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit
