Congratulations

 Devotional by Margot Cioccio

August 2012 Giveaway Mosaic Snowflake

I want to thank all of you who did things to participate in this blog during the month of August. I put your name in the drawing if you are a follower of this page, if you are an e-mail follower, if you commented on a post here or on the face book page or even on my personal facebook page about a blog post. Also for those who took the time to go and like our new Devotional Mosaic Facebook page. I decided to be extra generous and throw in the names of those who even liked something to related to one of the Devotional blog posts.

I want to thank Terri Lister and Debbie DeRienzo for being guest writers during the month of August. Its nice to have a day off once in a while and I appreciate you both for sharing your thoughts in posts here at A Devotional Mosaic. 


So I did this drawing pretty low tech. I systematically went through all the above mentioned places and wrote your names on slips of papers each time I saw them. Then I put them in a box and drew a name.

So........ Drum roll please.......
The winner for the August Giveaway is...........................
Savanna Louise Shafer
who took the time simply to like our new facebook page. Congratulations to Savanna!
This month the winner might be you.

ADM September Giveaway

September 2012 Giveaway Mosaic Hair Pins

The rules are simple your name goes in the hat for being a follower, or e-follower of this blog. (Please see the right side of the ADM blog home page to add yourself to those lists.)
Your name goes in for any comment on any post during September, by having liked our facebook page or leaving a comment there. Also for something as simple as commenting or "liking" the links to these posts that I post on the Devotional Mosaic Facebook page or even on my personal facebook page. Plus anyone who I use as a guest writer automatically gets their name in the drawing. Potentially your name could get in the hat a lot of times for very simple things. The more you participate the more chances you have of winning. I would love it if you do things like pin blogs to Penterest, or put links on your own facebook page for those kind of things you will need to let me know in a comment that you have promoted this blog in some way and I will add your name to the drawing for such things. I really appreciate your help spreading the word about ADM Blog.

So here's a small nugget for today - it is a holiday so I'm going to keep it short.

Philippians 3:14 (NIV1984) 
¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which 

God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Generally to win one must decide to do something. One must actually enter a race and participate in some way. Often one must train and work to develop a skill to be able to even have a shot at winning.

The Dictionary of Bible Themes says a prize is "Something of value given to those competing in a race, which the Christian life is likened to. Though believers must accept discipline and training, a prize is reserved for everyone who is committed to Jesus Christ."

The Christian life is like a race. You have to decide to get off the couch or the sidelines fence of indecision and participate. You have to do a bit more than just acknowledge that Jesus exists - it says in the word that even the demons do that (James 2:19). You must decide to believe who he says he is.  He accepts you in your imperfect state with all your flaws and failures. The more of our life we yield to him the more he comes in and transforms us into his image. It is a journey that is filled with day by day choices to die to your old broken ways and to live to please him as your God and savior.

 If an athlete wants to be strong they must eat healthy foods. The same is true for believers. We need to feed on his word. We can spend hours of time consuming what comes out of our televisions or radios, or other media sources. We can find time to consume those foods but we need to make a point to feed upon the Lords word. Some of you get one meal a week at church and that is a good thing. To really grow we need to begin to learn to feed ourselves and not rely solely on Sunday's message to carry you through the week. My pastor often says that people want college level answers to their problems but only have a kindergarden understanding of God's word and ways. Seriously its time to pick up the spoon - even if you get your cereal all over your face. Babies have to practice learning to eat big people food with big people utensils. Its kind of messy for a bit till they get the hang of it.

Take this verse today and dig a little deeper. Read it in context. As some questions. Who said it and to who was it said? Can you figure out what the goal is and what the prize is for attaining the goal? You might have to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you. You might want to talk to a friend or your pastor or read a commentary about the passage. Bible Gateway offers some wonderful commentaries about this verse just click the show resources link on the right side of the Bible Gateway page. 
If the Christian life is like a race think about what runners do to win. What changes might you make to get of the couch and into the race? 

Well like I said it is a holiday today so I leave you to your own further study on this one. 

Prayer:
Dear Lord, 
Help us to not just float along the lazy river but become actively envolved in kingdom living. Help us to run and not give up when we get tired or things get hard. Help us to see the goal and press on towards reaching it. Help us to know you more as we include you in our day to day journey. Help us become more and more like you.