Devotions based on Lisa McMinn’s book, The Contented Soul When we go through hard times and respond rightly, it teaches us resilience and hope. Struggle is good because it builds fortitude, the endurance that develops through hardship and difficulty. We can learn to trust that God is doing His transforming work in us as we…

Devotions from Lisa McMinn’s book, The Contented Soul We all go through hard times and when we embrace struggle, we learn fortitude and just how capable we are of enduring. We also open ourselves to receive blessings from others.  The French Jesuit priest, Jean-Pierre de Caussade, encourages Christians to recognize God in every moment-not to…

Devotions from Lisa McMinn’s book, The Contented Soul Because the world is broken, we won’t experience the full joy we were created for, in this life. But because our contentment comes from the awareness of our personal God, we can rest in contentment even when our circumstances are not what we would like them to…

Devotions from Lisa McMinn’s book, The Contented Soul God remembers us and is always present with us. He is not the enemy of our joy but created us for joy, to experience happiness, and to be united with Him. But when we look to things and accomplishments as our sources of happiness, we miss the…

Devotions from Lisa McMinn’s book, The Contented Soul Have you noticed how market forces manipulate us by trying to convince us that their products will give us the contentment for which we search? Advertising tries to make us believe that our lives would be so much better if we purchased their product. If we aren’t…

Devotions from Lisa McMinn’s book, The Contented Soul “Contentment is found in the arms of God”.   Contentment is found when we cease from seeing ourselves as a soul that belongs to our own self and instead belongs to God, who made us and loves us. When we know we belong we can hold life, relationships…

Devotions from Lisa McMinn’s book, The Contented Soul For some people the art of savoring life comes very naturally and for others we have to learn it. We need constant reminders that our contentment is rooted in the work of Christ and to be experienced here and now. He wants to transform our lives and…

Devotions based on Lisa Graham McMinn’s boo, The Contented Soul St. Augustine wrote, “O Lord God, grant us peace, for you have given us all things. Grant us the peace of quietness, the peace of the Sabbath which has no evening.”  All of us are surrounded by simple pleasures. Contentment is waiting for us and…

Devotions taken from Sacred Romance book by John Eldridge We Are Lovers “The Scriptures employ a wide scale of metaphors to capture the many facets of our relationship with God. If you consider them in a sort of ascending order, there is a noticeable and breathtaking progression. Down near the bottom of the totem pole…

Devotions from Henri Nouwen’s book, Spiritual formation Often our cups are so full of our own opinions and speculations that we miss what God has for us now.  In spiritual formation we need a constant discipline of prayer so we can move from darkness to light. This transparency will change us  in relationship with nature,…