UPDATE: This devotional series is now in print and no longer available on the Women of Warren blog.
Summer is the season in which we find ourselves looking forward to a little relaxation! It’s time for pool parties, longer days of sunlight, basking in the sunshine, sitting on the porch swing sipping lemonade, bare feet in the sand, ocean breezes, flip flops, ice cream, baseball, cookouts and picnics. We look forward to vacation and a bit of rest and relaxation before our year cranks back up with a calendar full of activities and demands on our schedules that can just drain us!
It can be our tendency to adopt this same attitude toward our faith and walk with Christ —it’s easy to allow other things to press in and crowd out our time in God’s Word and in His presence each day. But we are always in need of the refreshing and renewal we find in God’s Word. Our time in the Word not only refreshes and renews us, but it prepares us to pour out again.
I’d like to invite you to join me for Summer SOAK, a series focusing on the character and nature of our glorious God! Our guiding verse for this series is Psalm 113:3:
From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised! —Psalm 113:3
Each week we’ll focus on an attribute or characteristic of God found in His Word. We will use some of the imagery of summer to prompt us to praise God! Our format each week: first we’ll SOAK in the truths of God’s Word and then we’ll SHINE as we seek to apply that truth to our lives and praise God throughout our day.
SOAK —As we soak in God’s Word and His presence, we’ll walk away refreshed and renewed and prepared to pour out and serve others with the love of Christ.
SHINE — In our guiding verse for this series, Psalm 113:3, the word “praised” in the original language (Hebrew) is the word hâlal, which means to be clear, to shine, to make a show, to boast, to rave, to celebrate; to be worthy of praise. That’s just what we’ll aim to do each day — to shine, to boast, rave and celebrate God’s presence in our lives.
Susan Cady is a Women of Warren Writer and Staff Member of Warren Baptist Church.
©2014 Susan Cady, susancady.com