Devotions From The Heart

By Carmen Entzel

In Devotions from the Heart, Carmen Entzel opens her heart to the reader, sharing personal everyday life experiences to illustrate God's love for His people. Those experiences came alive again on the written page as she wrote each devotion. Writing about them brought laughter, sadness, tears, and joy all over again. Her hope is that the reader will experience the same emotions, and realize anew how much God loves His children as He walks with them through their life's journey

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781681979342

Book preview

Preface

This book is a compilation of favorite devotions I’ve written since 2002. I had never considered writing devotions until I was asked to be the prayer chairman for our local Community Bible Study group. When the teaching director asked me to pray about it, I was a bit shocked that God would lay it on her heart to ask me. I asked God about it, because I had no experience. I wanted to know how He could ask me to do something I was not prepared for!

After praying about it, I decided to give it a try. Maybe it would be fun. So I embarked on what turned out to be a three-year journey that took me out of myself and taught me to rely totally on the Lord for His inspiration for the devotions. Many of the devotions were written from personal experiences that evoked a broad spectrum of new emotions as I relived them during the writing process. In the beginning, there were tears from anguish, pain and loss, but eventually they became tears of joy, peace and comfort. We covered it all, God and I. It was a journey that I thoroughly enjoyed, and it taught me that if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. He supplied illustrations from all kinds of things whether it was my dog, my family life, garage sales, friends, plants, animals, Bible verses and stories, music, and more. I could come up with a devotion just about anywhere from anything! But it wasn’t me; it all came from God. This book isn’t about me; it’s about God’s love, grace and mercy, and how He provides for His children in every circumstance.

I am fully aware that there are hundreds of devotional books on the market, but this has been a long-time dream of mine to write one and include photos taken by my sister. We spent many hours camping in Denali National Park in Alaska, taking photos of wildlife and scenery, enduring some harsh weather at times. My desire is to honor her so that her efforts could be acknowledged, if only in this small format. My prayer is that those who read this book will be blessed by something God and I wrote and will be inspired to step out in faith to do things outside their comfort zone. If God calls us to do something He will equip us for the task, but we have to take the first step of faith.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

Author’s Note: I have chosen to not capitalize the word ‘satan’ used in some of the devotions. Unless his name appears as the first word in a sentence, it will not be capitalized. It is my belief that he wreaks enough havoc in the world that he does not deserve any special attention. He is not deity. Deity belongs to God, and God alone.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my only sister, Karen, who passed away in 2004 from an overdose of prescription drugs. Karen dealt with many health issues from the time she was twenty-seven years old until her death. However, she managed to work a full-time job, write, photograph, and travel. She earned her associate and bachelor degrees and was five credits away from her master’s degree in interpersonal communication when life caved in around her.

She was five years younger than me, but I looked up to her for her dedication to her work and studies, her talents, but most of all, for her devotion to the Lord. She spent hours reading her Bible, writing her feelings, and photographing scenery and wildlife in Montana, Alaska, and the Oregon Coast. Her communication skills still amaze me when I read things she wrote. We sang duets together. She had a beautiful voice enhanced by the voice lessons she took. She taught herself to play the piano by ear. Some of her photos were published in three different Montana magazines. The cover photo, and most of the photos in this devotional, are hers. She accomplished many things and weathered through many hurdles in her short life. Her favorite flower is the bleeding heart. Thus, the cover for this book.

It has long been a dream of mine to use some of her photos in a publication as I feel she deserves credit for her work. Even though she has been gone nearly twelve years, I feel I need to do this in her memory. It is long overdue.

At Heart’s Length

Though circumstances sometimes

put your feelings to the test,

In spite of how it seems,

it doesn’t mean He loves you less.

But if at times it feels as if

He holds you at arm’s length

He is teaching you to wait and learn

to lean upon His strength.

So keep trusting in the Master

and ask for strength each day,

For He never holds you farther

than at heart’s length away.

Copyright 1992 – Karen Knie

A Leap of Faith

For three summers, we had the awesome privilege of witnessing a robin raising her family in one of my hanging plants. I know—robins do that and it’s nothing new. However, it was quite an amazing thing for us to watch. The first year I found the nest then discovered one egg, then two, three, four eggs. In two weeks, they hatched into tiny little featherless creatures, but in just a matter of days, there were only three, then two little birds. We never knew what happened to the other two. We watched the progress of the remaining two until, exactly four weeks later, they left the nest. On that day, I felt as if they were my babies leaving home. I really missed them and the routine of watching them. I photographed them nearly every day and kept a journal all three years, with photos of the progress of the babies’ growth. I even have photos of my husband feeding blueberries to the mother on a toothpick!

As we watched this process, we were completely awestruck by the way God has designed each step, from the female selecting the nesting spot and the building of the nest; both parents feeding the babies; their amazingly fast growth from featherless creatures to feathered little birds; to the day the mother coaxes them to the edge of the nest. Then the moment comes when they stand on the edge of the nest ready to make that first flight. That must be terrifying for them!

In the moments we were watching, I wondered how many times we have stood on some kind of ledge, ready to make that big leap of faith. I wondered if those little birds had any trepidation about leaving the safety of that nest or if it was just an instinctive playing out of God’s plan. I recalled the times I’ve stood on the edge of my nest, ready to take a flying leap of faith into something unknown. I was reminded how God takes care of the birds. Matthew 10:31 tells us not to fear for we are of more value than many sparrows. Why wouldn’t God take care of us in the same way He takes care of the birds?

As the birds flew off the nest, one had no trouble once he was airborne. The other struggled a bit and my husband tried to help him, but the little one just couldn’t muster enough lift to leave the lawn. I worried for him because there were two cats in the neighbor’s yard watching this whole process and so was Mother Robin. My husband finally took the bird to the backyard. The little guy was still there the next morning, but eventually, he was able to fly off with his mother. That also reminded me how we sometimes get off on the wrong foot, heading off in the wrong direction where satan is waiting, just like those two cats, to devour us (1 Peter 5:8). I prayed for that little bird, and God watched over him in the night and sent him on his way the next morning.

I had another question: did the mother bird feel any heart twinges when her babies flew off? Or was that, too, just the course of nature? I wondered then how God feels when His children leave His nest after He has brought them up in His care and protection. Then one day, they stand on the edge of some temptation and jump right into it, forsaking all. How that must hurt His heart. He says He will never leave us nor forsake us, so why do we do that to Him?

I thought about Joshua filling Moses’ shoes, or sandals, if you will. Was that not a daunting task? Joshua took that first step of faith when God called him out and God guaranteed the wonderful result. He assured Joshua no one would stand against him and that He would not forsake him, He promised Joshua prosperity and success, and He affirmed that Joshua would be able to do the things God called him to do.

It’s no different for us today. God gives us His guarantee, His assurance, His promises, and His affirmation. All He asks us to do is trust Him, take the first step, and live by faith that He will do the things He promises. The next time you find yourself on the edge of something you feel God wants you to do, don’t be afraid to take that first leap of faith. Sometimes God puts us there to test our faith and see if we will trust Him by taking that first step.