Sarah Young Devotionals (I believe this has been discussed before, but...)

It's almost like a drug lol but a healthy one.

no offense meant toward either you or Mrs. Young. she certainly hears more clearly now. she went to be with the Lord a few months ago, God rest her soul.

i just meant she wasn't my cup of tea. can we be friends?

it is a drug! lol

it's called oxytocin, produced by your hypothalamus when you exercise, so it's perfectly legit.

You misunderstood me. The friend who sent them to me is the one I was talking about. I don't know if the author heard from God or not, and her devotionals are profoundly frustrating to me. I'm not offended in the least.

For the love of all humanity, PLEASE someone repost this so Gojira can see it.

https://www.gocomics.com/darksideofthehorse/2024/01/10

Solomon was brought up and the train of thought caused me to pull the emergency break as one particular thought of Solomon's was the key to all of his foolishness, the one saying something like, 'there are no good women in existence.' In spite of all the wisdom he'd been given, I think he might've done better to, when God said that He'd grant him whatever that he wished, he might've done a whole lot better if, instead of asking to know wisdom (since hindsight shows us how it all turned out), he might've asked to know love. Solomon wrote the song of songs, so he was at least acquainted with it, yet still comes to the conclusion 'but not one woman...' (which seems to me to exhibit a seed of bitterness? emptyness?) that he thought he could fill with 1000 women, and loving not one of them (even if you might argue that). Anyway, it is my suspicion that the root of this bitterness/emptiness? was handed down to him by David (who inherited from his father, who shrugged him off as even a consideration for the designated future king). David also thought to fill/remedy this unrequited desire (which is totally legitimate) with Bathsheba, so....


I was going somewhere with this but, seems I should give room for protest, or at least check if all ears have stopped up at this point...

I was going to post in the last post wins thread after @Gojira's post about the twilight zone...
but maybe it'd fit better here?

it is a drug! lol

it's called oxytocin, produced by your hypothalamus when you exercise, so it's perfectly legit.

This was an interesting read! I have always wondered why Solomon did what he
did with all the wisdom he had. I hadn't realized that wisdom does not equal love.

This was an interesting read! I have always wondered why Solomon did what he did with all the wisdom he had. I hadn't realized that wisdom does not equal love.

...I did not pay very close attention to it, and now I can't find the threads.

Back in... 2014 I believe it was, one of her devotionals was "talking" to me. What I mean by that is, after I prayed for the night, I'd open one of her books, and every other day or so I'd get not one sentence, but a paragraph in response to something I had prayed about. It started to get to the point where I began to say, "Okay, what am I going to hear today?" And, lo and behold, there was another "response".

This went on for about 2 or so months until I had to put her books down. Why? The overall message of her devotionals seems to be, "This life's going to suck. But, hold on to Me, and console yourself knowing that relief will come with an eternity in MY presence!" And, I seemed to be reprimanded more than once as well. What's wrong with that?

Well, here's my dilemma. These messages became very heavy to keep reading. They gave no hope for this life. The prospect of (possibly) another 30+ years on this earth, with no relief from the things I deeply want relief from (a crappy, unfulfilling work life, loneliness -- no friends / buddies here in Arizona, and no prospects at all for a wife and a holy sex life), is not relieved a whole lot by the prospect that it may take several more decades to end my need / desire for such things.

I have not learned to be totally content in God despite circumstances. I am praying for that. But, even as I do, and even as I try to thank Him for the circumstances out of which He promised to bring good, I still battle with my desires for those aforementioned things.

The reason this is getting to me is because I recently picked up one of her devotionals again. I've been reading it each night for a few months. I thought that maybe God might have been displeased with my putting them down in the first place, and so I thought I'd try again. The result has not been the same sense of "talking" to me, but that same message of hope for the next life, with little mention of any for this life, persists. I've punched the book once, slammed it another, grieved for the lack of hope and the end of my simple dreams more than once.

What do you think? I'm an idolater, yes? Yet, I cannot get past it. I cannot make myself see this life the way God seems to want me to see it. And, I remain sad and depressed because there does not seem to be any message of hope that my circumstances will change, and the spiritual progress I seek is very slow in coming as well.

Why even use them?
Whenever I hear sassy preacherette Joyce Meyer by accident, it sounds like a combination of the teacher scolding Linus for sleeping in Peanuts and the naggings of Chinese water torture.

Proverbs 27:15
"A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike."

Maybe some good sermons are what you need in addition to the daily Bible reading?

I got a message from someone who wanted me to justify Astrology with Christianity yesterday. I just got done studying Deuteronomy 18 and the topic of the occult, dowsing and other included topics last week. When I decided to look up videos on former astrologers, I came across a panel discussion about the Book Jesus Calling with a former astrologer.



Here's an article that I found about it if you are interested. I just got done with over an hour of teaching on Jesus Calling and the author, but will spare you the boring details and chuck of your life. This for brevity.

Say NO to Jesus Calling new age channeled books

I thought it was endorphins? Oxytocin is an essential hormone for childbirth and lactation.

yep, them, too! oxy is produced causing uterine contractions, and while lactating (causing uterine contractions-- how wise is God?), but also during exercise, listening to music, or simply at physical touch. it's produced by the hypothalamus, but released by an aspect of the pituitary, which does produce endorphins.

I don't see the problem with devotionals, and am confused by the reaction to devotionals in general that I've gotten here. Why NOT use them? We go to extra-Biblical sources every time we listen to a sermon.

My issue and my inner battle is over the overall message of Sarah Young's devotionals, and that is the point of my original message.

Well poop, not in me!