Sept 5

Deuteronomy 32:1-4
1 “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak!
Hear, O earth, the words that I say!
2 Let my teaching fall on you like rain;
let my speech settle like dew.
Let my words fall like rain on tender grass,
like gentle showers on young plants.
3 I will proclaim the name of the LORD;
how glorious is our God!
4 He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect.
Everything he does is just and fair.
He is a faithful God who does no wrong;
how just and upright he is!

Do you think Superman and Batman became superheroes by accident? Do you think they just woke up one morning in a cape and tights? No, sir. Like all superheroes, they had to pass the SAT first (Superhero Aptitude Test). Would you like to be a superhero, too? Take the following test and see if you qualify: 1. If you could be a superhero, who would you choose to be? Superman Batman The Tick Spider-Man A Power Ranger OtherÉ 2. If you could have your own super powers, which ones would you choose? ability to fly super strength ability to shoot spider ability to shoot lasers ability to shrink or grow ability toÉ 3. If you could use your super powers any way you wanted, would you defend the oppressed and downtrodden? go all over the world doing good? use your powers to steal all the money in the world? use your powers to become really popular? fight for truth and justice? fight for better school lunches? otherÉ Now, simply mail your completed Superhero Aptitude Test to the Planet XR37 and allow eighteen thousand light years for delivery of the results. Actually, the Superhero Aptitude Test won't get you a gig as the next comic book hero; but it may reveal a thing or two about you, just as God's super powers-and the ways he uses them-reveal something about him. He uses his powers to promote justice, because he is just and fair. And because he is just, it is always right for us to be just.

REFLECT: While you don't have super powers, do you use the powers you do possess (intelligence, for example, or physical health) to accomplish good things (like justice)? Or do you use your "powers" mostly for selfish purposes? Does the use of your "powers" reveal anything about your character?

PRAY: Use the Scripture reading above as the basis for a prayer of praise. (For example, "0 God, how glorious you are! You are my Rock.")

okay today was the actual start of school for me...wasn't too bad! i want to switch music to art partially because my music teacher scares me...
anyways! todays story was kind of cheesy but i did understand that if we had super powers like super heroes, we should use it for good deeds just as how God does. God only does good things. we especially since we are back at school, should use our own "powers" for the good and for selfless reasons. this will show others that we are the children of Christ and that our God is worthy of all our praise.
that's it for today!

I agree with Christine. The story thing was really cheesy... Kevin where do you find these things?

All of us have our own talents and strengths. We are really lucky because we are all talented in music, and we are a Praise team. God specially chose us to be apart of this team and he gave us a chance to show the Congregation our "Super Powers". With these powers we should put them to good use for the Lord and also be humble about them. It's definitely not easy with all this responsibility, but we should be glad God gave us our musical abilities. Also todays devo remind me of this quote, "With great power comes great responsibility!"
That is all!
Bye!
-Sarah

Today's devotion is so cheeseballs.. heh.
Anyways, the "powers" that I possess are used for my own selfish reasons. My hands and feet should be used to help those that are without, and those that need it. Although hesitant in helping out for street missions, my words from my mouth was used by God. Not for my own reasons. I think that would be the only case in which that I'd like to be used, aha. We have to practice our "powers." With practice, our actions will turn into habits, and with good habits, reflect good character. Reminds me of the devotion where actions turned into habits, basically.

Already have some homework to do! and i've been yawning a lot in class cuz i've been lately sleeping rather late......and I have to wake up early so schools already tireing.

Back on topic:
God has given each and everyone of us different gifts for a certain reason. It is our job to use that special gift that he has blessed us with for what he has intended us to do with this "power"......we we are all living on this earth for a reason right? You can take schools that specialize on your specific gift but even that may not lead to what you have been born to do. What matters is if you are willing to do what God wants us to do. Sometimes, we want to use this for ourselves and for our own selfish purposes. So pray and when your time has come, you will fully understand the meaning behind your gift.....it may be confusing right now but God has a place and time for everything.
It's really awsome thinking about how even before we were born onto this earth, God had a special plan in mind for us to take..........

I know you might think i'm weird but this story kept on popping in my head as I was typing this. you know the veggietales story, "Lord of the Beans"? Well I'm pretty sure most of us have seen it when we were little. But the basic story is that the main character goes through this long adventure to seek the purpose of his gift. If you've watched this, you know what i'm talking about....I hope

Have a great first week of school everyone! ;D
~Audrey~

Cheeesy

We all have our own unique and different super powers. Our very own skill, an ability that makes us special.God made each and all of us VERy different, BUT he doesnt want us to abuse our gifts.

Imagine if BatMan was using his powers for fame, even tho hes already famous. Imagine if he used his powers to do whatever he wants and do whatever to whoever. Think of how messed up that world would be.
We should see God as an example who has extraordinary powers and uses it for good use. He could have just shown the world that he exists and make it all easier for all of us to beleive him. But our God is great, almighty and gave us a choice.

So all in all, each of us have our own super powers and we should use them in order to serve God instead of using them for our own self purposes.

cheetos might have some competition here

This devo reminded me of the one Dan always did for us about how we need to play at the best of our abilities. Some people might say it's too showy and takes away glory from God, but if you're heart is in the right place and you have a talent, use it in full to glorify him. Now in some cases, the "some people" may be correct. The talents that God gave us weren't so that we could look better, and especially not at church in the praise team. We were given them so that we could use them to make his name known. It's like what pastor k said at the retreat about how we shouldn't be making a name for ourselves, but we should be making one for God. Making one for ourselves is easy, and almost natural when you are up on stage or in a leadership position, but never take the position for granted and always know that what you are doing is for God. So even from this, I am definitely trying hard nowadays to define the line between what is God's glory and what is mine. Had an epiphany that I wasn't differentiating the two well enough, so by focusing my own talent on God, I can change that. So all in all, unleash the powers that God has given you to its fullest, but always use it to make God great, never yourself.

Interesting super hero analogy.
Anyways.

2 Let my teaching fall on you like rain;
let my speech settle like dew.
Let my words fall like rain on tender grass,
like gentle showers on young plants.

I took note that this verse, makes many references to water such as dew, rain. It says let my teaching fall, and let my speech settle. I'll use plants as an analogy. Would farmers EVER want to cover the crops with some sort of shelter when it rained? Obviously not, because that rain acts as food and nourishment for said plants. I'm not quite sure who wrote the chapter of Deuteronomy, even to this day I think there is VERY LITTLE knowledge of the writer and who he was, but I believe these were God's words. The reason I brought up the plants example was to illustrate that God's teachings is our nourishment. Letting his teachings "fall on us" is one thing, but TRULY allowing those teachings to settle into our hearts, for us to hold it dear in our hearts is another. I want to stress this because we read the bible DAILY, and to some of you, it may seem like a routine. But I strongly urge you, hold these words close to your heart. There's always great knowledge that can be applied to us through the bible. Who knows, maybe even this passage relating with "water" portrayed a "read between the lines" message. There are so many behind the scenes messages in there that we just might not pick up.

In terms of the superhero context, it just rings a bell that ALL of us are called for a purpose and ALL of us have a..ahem. "Super power". How we choose to use the gifts that God has blessed us with, is up to us. But because it is HE who blessed us with such great gifts, he deserves the glory that is rightfully his.

LOL I'm a superhero, doe..
anyway!
I honestly do this I spend a good deal of my "powers" to helping others.. but sometimes, I forget that we're supposed to help people no matter who they are. That means, whether you like them or not! And that's definitely challenging. But now we're back to the "do unto others as you would have done unto yourself" situation.
But I'm veering off into another direction so let me get back to the topic at hand.
Keep using the abilities and talents you're given to do God's deed and to show people that God has unending love that can be expressed through his children!

Well. I don't know how to go about this... ahem.

Ok, so I guess if anybody followed the humble concept to the end, they would start to undervalue themselves. I think that's what this passage is focusing on; to appreciate yourself and acknowledging that God's work isn't JUST good, while our's is nothing; but His work is GREAT, and our's is GREAT too, because according to his word, if we had 10 dollars, and donated those 10 dollars to charity, it would be equal to donating 100 dollars out of 100.

To know what your gifts are, I think God would want us to also appreciate our capabilities with these traits, and to value ourselves and others, more positively, rather than comparing ourselves to pawns of God's chess game.