Devotional Blog

Lenten Practices-Intro & Week 1

2/24/2026

Happy Lenten season,
As was mentioned during the CBMC worship yesterday, a weekly email is going to be issued over the six weeks of lent offering some suggestions on how you can participate in spiritual practices to deepen your relationship with God as we approach Easter. The six spiritual practices to be presented one at time over the coming six weeks are:
Fasting
Examen
Holy Attention
Centering Prayer
Lectio Divina
Silence
Below is the practice for week one. Please prayerfully consider how you might use these practices, and let me know if you have questions or concerns about them.
May God bless your efforts,
Wally

Week 1: Fasting
What “Fasting” Means in Lent: Fasting during Lent is a spiritual discipline meant to help us walk with Jesus the path to the cross – freeing ourselves to be all that God needs us to be for our human family. It’s less about deprivation for its own sake and more about creating space for reflection, prayer, and transformation.

Core Purposes of Lenten Fasting: Spiritual focus By reducing distractions—often food, habits, or comforts—believers make room for deeper prayer and awareness of God. Self-discipline Fasting strengthens the practice of saying no to impulses so one can say yes to what matters. Solidarity with others Many Christians use fasting as a reminder of those who lack basic necessities, often pairing it with acts of charity. Repentance and renewal Lent is a season of turning back toward God; fasting symbolizes that inward change.

The Heart Behind It : The point isn’t to “prove” devotion through suffering. Instead, fasting is meant to: Make interior space for the Spirit of God to bless and transform us for being an ever-greater blessing to our world Walk with Jesus who offers ‘all’ for love of the world

Practices that you and your family may find helpful as a focus for your Fast:
1. Less is the path to more . . . a reflection
This is about wholeness.
This is about justice.
This is about a new way of living.
This is about embracing the Christ-way.
This is about a spirituality of RESISTING anything that tries to convince us that MORE:
Stuff
Effort
Control
Wealth
Popularity
Success
Can replace the longing for God inherent within.

Jesus knew this in the desert when he uttered each sacred NO,
When he practiced the restraint that clarified his call.
Are we too in a desert place?

What are we invited to resist and release
To get to the heart of what we truly crave?
This is about wholeness.
This is about justice.
This is about belonging.
This is about our planet.
This is about our oneness.

Listen to the gentle invitation
Signaling a different way:
LESS, LESS, LESS
Is the path to the MORE
You seek.

2. A Sabbath from Commerce
Theme: Stopping the Machine (Ched Myers)
The Big Idea: Sabbath isn't just about church; it's about taking time to rest and connect with God each week. We can also take a sabbath each week to stop the cycle of spending money.
The Activity:
Choose: Pick one day this week (Saturday or Sunday) to be a No Spend Day.
The Rules: No groceries, no gas stations, no online shopping, no vending machines.
The Feeling: "Did it feel weird not to buy anything today?"
The Freedom: "Did we spend more time together because we weren't shopping?"
Closing Prayer: "Lord of the Sabbath, thank you for a day to rest from buying and selling. Remind us that the best things in life—your love and our family—are free. Amen."

3. Reducing Our Grocery Budget
During Lent our Focus is on Economic Justice. Around the world, and even in our own towns and cities, many must live on a budget far less than what we do. What would it look like to reduce your grocery budget? by 25%? By 50%?

What if we donated that surplus to those in need?

Your challenge: For the weeks of lent consider a budget for groceries less than usual, and see how you might live within those means. Prayerfully consider an organization to donate those funds to at the end of the lenten season.
*
Week 1 for children

A Lenten Journey for Children and Youth
Welcome to a Lenten journey created for children, youth and their families. We offer the following suggestions and spiritual practices as a way to include children on the journey.

Young children learn through their feelings. Focus on feelings of love, kindness, and generosity.

Older children understand responsible choices, being kind to others, and taking care of the Earth.

Youth are learning what it means to be a member of a global community. They will understand issues of social justice and how they can make a difference in the world.
This week is about fasting with a focus on responsible choices and making time and space for God. What can you let go of that no longer serves you to make room for God?

Spiritual Practices**
The Manna Walk
In the Bible, God gave Manna (bread) but told the people to only take what they could hold for one day.

The activity:
1. Take a walk in a park, a field, or your yard.
2. Pick up nature treasures (stones, sticks, pinecones), but only keep what fits in one hand.
3. If you try to grab too much, things will fall.

Family Talk: The Struggle: Was it hard to stop picking things up? Why do we always want just one more? The Lesson: If we take too much, there isn't enough left for others. How canwe practice taking just enough at home?

God of Daily Bread,
Teach us to be satisfied with what fits in our hands, so our neighbors can have enough in theirs. Amen.

Breath Prayer
A breath prayer is a short simple prayer that is repeated while breathing in and out as a word or phrase is paired with each inhale and exhale. It is used as a way to connect with and deepen your connection with God.

Steps:
Sit comfortably in a quiet space. Close your eyes.
Breathe deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
Choose a word or short phrase to repeat with each breath in and out.
Examples:
Fill me spirit (in breath) with you love (out breath).
God of hope….bless me with your presence.
Lord, fill me….with your peace.
Open me God….to receive more of you.
Be with whatever arises. There is no right or wrong.
Repeat this process for several minutes.

A Blessing
As you journey through lent with the children and youth in your life, may the spiritual practices you engage in together bring you and your children to a deeper and more intimate relationship with God.

The theme for our 2025 Reunion in CHOOSE HOPE. Day one, August 13th, was Story of Hope. We looked at the Pentecost story in Acts 2, as well as Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope." What stories give you hope these days? While over a hundred of us are gathered, many were not able. How may we bring hope to those who those who were unable to? How can we share it with those outside of our faith communities? In our neighborhoods, schools, etc? What do these scriptures call us to do?
Thursday's theme was Breathe in Hope. Our morning worship included a children's moment using the book Alphabreaths,which taught intentional breathing techniques that were fun for the children but also reminded us adults to take a moment to just breathe. During a small group discussion, we were asked to consider what is making us lose hope. The news seems to be a common thing causing us to lose hope. One member stated that it is especially hard when you are priesthood and are unsure how you can even make use of it due to "just" being that office, especially when you are doubting God. Our Prophet-President, and guest speaker, stated to this group that we need to remove "just" out of our vocabulary when used in that context. We are not "just" anything. You are not JUST a Priest, or JUST a nurse, etc. You are a Priest. You are a nurse. You are a teacher. How do we get stuck on being JUST______? How can we turn it around to something more like "I AM A PRIEST!" "I AM A NURSE!" "I AM A TEACHER!" Who we are does make a difference, we do provide hope to others and help them eliminate "just" from their vocabularies? Breathe in Hope. Breathe out hope and encouragement.
On Friday, we turned towards hope. The Holy Spirit is sometimes described as an "invisible wind you cannot see but whose effect you can see." In the story of Pentecost, people could not see the Holy Spirit, but could definitely see and feel its effect. When have you seen and/or felt its effects? Many Christian traditions use a Trinitarian view, separating God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit into three different entities. We refer to theme separately but see them as different forms of one entity. Some have explained it in terms of different states of matter. Take water, for instance. It can be a liquid, water. It can be a solid, ice. It can also be steam. All of these are different states of the same substance. We feel them differently and they have different uses. How do you experience God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit differently? What does it look like when you respond to each? Do you respond to each or do you choose to hold one closer? How can we use this relationship to help us turn towards hope?
On Saturday, Day 4 of our Reunion was the Spirit of Hope. The idea is that the Holy Spirit is within as a flame that heals beyond language differences. Think of a time when there was a language barrier that kept you from communicating with someone or that the barrier made you begin to lose hope in the situation. How did you feel? In the children's class in particular, the was a book called "How Do you Say Peace?" In it, many different characters, from many places around the world told their names and how they say peace in their languages. Each culture has its own world for peace, but it is also something that can be understood without words. It can be felt and seen and experienced. It is something a great majority of the world craves and is something that the world sorely needs. How can simple acts bring about a Spirit of Hope? A famous quote, often attributed to the Dalai Lama, states "Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects." How might we cause ripples that lead to peace? Think on how you can do that this week and onward.
As our 2025 Reunion drew to a close on Sunday, we heard a challenge from our Prophet-President, Stassi Cramm. We said thanks to the kitchen staff who kept us few this week. We said our "see ya laters" to friends, new and not-so-new. We hugged, our eyes teared. We loaded into our cars to drive home, some going to their respective airports for longer journeys home. How can we bring hope with us? In Community of Christ, we believe in the Enduring Principle of All Are Called. It states “God graciously gives [all] people gifts and opportunities to do good and to share in God’s purposes. …We respond. How will you respond with your gifts and go onward in hope? In a seemingly hopeless world, we need to peacemakers, the comforters, the caregivers, etc. We can respond in the ways we feel called, we just need to be ready to listen to that sometimes still, small voice and be ready to say yes.

July brought us many great scriptures to guide us through the trials that our world is facing currently. We were told not to grow weary, but to trust in God's plan.
In a time when many of us are feeling helpless and maybe as if God just might be a little quiet at the moment, it is easy to just admit defeat. Although the scriptures were written by man, their inspired words offer us a path towards strength. This does not mean that we should not be sensitive to the world around us. Quite the opposite. We SHOULD still be, but we should also allow ourselves to be open to being a light in that world, no matter how small that light may be.
After baptism and confirmation, we are called to live a new life. We are often called to do difficult things in this new life. While we might have chosen to keep to ourselves before, we are called to follow a path that will have a new set of trials, but with a promise of a greater reward at the end. We are called to put Christ at the center, above all else. This means keeping his teachings above other beliefs that we might hold. This is increasingly hard in today's world.
Much like a tree, that is burdening with too much fruit, we make bend or break. But under the right conditions, we flourish.
In a world where there is so many unknowns and so many of us question how we can possibly be doing the right thing if so many actively fight against us, this passage can be a source of comfort. God weeps at our planet being constantly harmed by overdevelopment and other environmental destruction. He weeps when child are intentionally harmed. He weeps we entire populations are intentionally starved. He also weeps when don't do anything against it. We must work to the fullest of our ability to fight against these harms. This can be by something as simple as hosting beach clean-ups, visiting a shut-in neighbor, or offering to come sit with the children of a widow/widower or single parent when they just need some extra support. It can be as extravagant as writing to our local and national government representations to speak out, running for an office ourselves, or hosting a special gathering to support or speak out.
Many things about God are not known to us. Sometimes that makes us feel alone, but it should do the opposite. Take it as a challenge. Many of us played mystery games as children. Go back to that part of childhood. Take little tidbits as these as use them to lead you to the answers you seek. Perhaps when God feels silent, He may just be silently listening and giving us the time to work through our questions.
When we receive Jesus through the waters of baptism, we should continue to live our lives rooted in him. We are to seek him continually, turning away from traditions and practices that cause us to stray. We are not to let anyone judge us for how we practice, as long as we keep Him as the focus. What practices do we find that bring us closer to Jesus? There are many Christians who also find comfort in Buddhism (as Buddhism is more based on practices of peaceful and intentional living, versus worshipping a certain deity). Many regularly attend yoga and practice Eastern methods of meditation. A hike to a waterfall and reveling in the stillness of nature shows us the beauty that He has created, without the interference of creations of man. Certainly a game of pickleball can also offer that stillness.
How do you combat the things that take you away from Jesus? In today's world, we are often pulled in every way but towards him, especially as we begin to feel hopeless with all of the cruelty and pain happening around us. I challenge you to find something new, maybe even a little unconventional to bring you back to him or to a place where you can commune with him in that stillness.

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Easter Devotion

4/1/2024

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Welcome to our Easter Devotion. The author is Troy Henshaw of the Chester, VA, Congregation. Thank you, Troy, for this beautiful devotion. Easter is really more than one day - it is a season.
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Happy Easter! The most sacred day on the Christian Calendar. The reason we celebrate Pentecost, Epiphany, and even Christmas.

But, we don’t have Easter if we don’t have Friday.

We all have Fridays in our life. Sometimes it seems like the whole world is stuck in Friday. Friday is violence and war. Friday is marginalized people. Homeless, sick, or just different. Friday is being hated for whom you love. Friday is being persecuted for wanting to make a difference. Friday is the anger and hatred that dominates our social medial. Friday is loss and grief. 2,000 years ago, Friday was betrayal, a sham trial, scourging, and an execution. And then Friday was pain, grief, shame, terror, loss, and feeling lost. Friday is the world saying “You can’t live like that. You can’t love like that.”

Sunday is hope. Sunday is healing. Sunday is faith. Sunday is forgiveness. Sunday is Christ saying “Yes, you can love like that.”
As I think about my own personal Friday, I realize that those emotions that run through Holy Week and Easter are too painful, too deep, too joyful, too sublime for words. I can’t express in words the pain I have felt. Nor can I express in words the joy and the love I feel when I think of the empty tomb. We can do nothing but fall to our knees both in anguish and in joy.

And, so, this morning as I cling to the hope of the empty tomb, as I cling to the love of Jesus that has saved my life this past year, the love that takes our pain and says “I understand.” “I can carry that with you.” “I can even carry you,"

I would love to hear about some of your own personal Fridays and the hope that Easter.

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Palm Sunday Devotion

3/25/2024

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Palm Sunday Hosannas and Joy
Hosanna they cried so loud and so clear
With loud joy-filled voices for all people to hear!
Who is this man on the donkey today
Around whom the children are dancing in play?
“Hosanna! Our King! Hosanna, Our Lord!
See us and save us!” their voices implored!

They laughed and they shouted as he rode into town.
“He is our king!” But where is his crown?
“Tell everyone, sing with confident joy.
This is a happiness that none can destroy.”
The crowds raise their hands and give homage to him,
For he has the power to bring freedom to them.

He looks at the crowds and his heart’s full of love.
His job here on earth was to serve God above,
To teach all God’s children to seek and embrace
A new life eternal filled with hope, peace and grace.

Jesus looks at the faces of these strangers and friends.
Where will they be when the week’s at its end?
They understand not what God has in His plan:
To save all God’s children, women and man.
The road’s filled with cloaks and branches of trees.
But do they understand; do they truly believe?
How great is their faith? Is their belief truly strong?
Their faith will be tested as the week moves along.

Jesus’ mind forms the thoughts that are not yet spoken
“Forgive them, Dear God, their faith will be broken.
Send them your Spirit so they can discern
That you’re their Creator, to whom they can turn.
Their voices will rise again in your praise
And they’ll seek out your Spirit with their faces upraised.”

So the donkey moves on through the chants of the throng,
And Jesus sits stoic, knowing these cheers will be gone:
“Hosanna, O Lord, please hear us and save us!
We are your kingdom, so hear us, O Jesus.”
Jesus is silent, his mind deep in thought,
“You do not know how your souls have been bought.
‘Save us’ they say. If only they knew…
And could understand, I am saving you...

If only they knew – I am saving you.”
(author - Bonnie Barber)

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Lenten Devotion

2/15/2024

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Weekly Devotion

1/21/2024

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Welcome to the Weekly Devotion. Mark 1:15-20 tells the story of Jesus at the Sea of Galilee where he found 4 humble fishermen: Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John. Jesus approached them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people”. According to the scripture, the men immediately dropped their nets and followed Jesus. Immediately!

Jesus invites us to follow him, as well. How immediate is our response? How far are we willing to sacrifice? What are we willing to risk?

Unlike those first disciples, we aren’t necessarily asked to drop everything in our lives to follow Jesus. We have so many opportunities to respond and continue our lives working in our professions and raising our children. The mission field needs people who, in response to Jesus’ teachings, reach out in love to all people and work to create change in their communities.

In our daily lives, we can be like Jesus and stand up for what is right and show that we believe in the worth of all persons. Have you ever stepped in to help someone pay for their groceries or offered food? At a 7 Eleven a man standing outside the entrance asked me for money for food. I had no cash so I had nothing to offer. Once inside, I picked up a sandwich, fruit and a bottle of water and gave them to him as I left.

Do you respond to the people on the street corner who are asking for money? Or do you just look straight ahead and not even acknowledge that they are there? Take a risk, open your window, and offer some help and say a few words. Once all I had was a $10 bill and I would not normally give that much money. But when stopped at a traffic light, I handed the woman there the $10. This caught her by surprise and she started crying and sharing that she was going to go find her husband so they could get something to eat together.

There are small things we can do, and there are bigger causes where we can join others to accomplish the greater good. As followers of Jesus, we can find ways to live by example to follow Community of Christ’s Mission Initiative to Abolish Poverty and End Suffering, and the Enduring Principles: Worth of All Persons, Pursuit of Peace (Shalom), and Unity in Diversity. Jesus still calls us and we can be “fishers of people”. What better way to invite people to Christ than to live the life according to Jesus’ teachings.

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Weekly Devotion

1/14/2024

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Welcome to the Weekly Devotion. Today the message on the DC Community of Christ front sign, as seen in the picture, says, “Be the Hands and Feet of Jesus the Peaceful One”. We often recognize that in our individual or group ministry outreach, we can and should be actively serving in the name of Jesus.

Scripture directs us to serve others. Hebrews 13:16 says: “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Luke 6:30 provides the following guidance: “Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.”

Monday, January 15, is Martin Luther King Day and it is the only federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. As we live the Enduring Principles identified by Community of Christ, “The Worth of All Persons” is one Enduring Principle that sets us on the right track to be in service to others.

Recently the DC congregation filled Shoebox Presents for the Homeless. Next week we will pack Blessing Bags, which are filled with bottles of water, crackers, fruit pouches, toothbrushes, hand lotion, etc. We hand these out to individuals who are standing at traffic lights holding signs asking for help.

In the DC area, there are numerous shelters and food programs seeking assistance with their food pantries. Friendship Place offers multiple volunteer opportunities to provide services for people experiencing homeless situations. See https://friendshipplace.org/get-involved/how-can-i-help/ to find volunteer opportunities.

May we be inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr, who said, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"

Let’s be the hands and feet of Jesus.

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Weekly Devotion

1/8/2024

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Welcome to the Weekly Devotion. We’ve put away the Christmas decorations, and without the greenery, red bows and colorful lights, we may think the celebration is over. But it is not. It has only begun. Now we begin the year celebrating all that happened because God sent an amazing gift - his son, Jesus.

Looking at Acts 19:1-7 we have Paul’s accounting of his time in Ephesus when he met with people who had been baptized just as John the Baptist had instructed to be done, but when asked about their encounter with the Holy Spirit, they asked, “What is the Holy Spirit? We’ve never herd of it.” They did not know the “rest of the story”. Paul then baptized them in the name of Jesus and then laid his hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a wonderful gift, a powerful gift, and one that is always available, so the celebration is not only not over, it is eternal. What do you remember about your baptism of water and the Holy Spirit? How old were you and what did it mean to you? When have you encountered the Holy Spirit and how did it make you feel? Don’t you just yearn for more time with the Divine? What happens – where does it go?

I love the story of the young man who complained that whenever he was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was like a bucket with holes. The Spirit merely drained out of him. His friend said, "That may be true, but even a bucket full of holes can be filled with water if it is immersed in the river and left there."

Sadly, we are all buckets with holes. How do we immerse ourselves in the “river” of the Holy Spirit? Even if total and continual immersion may not happen, we can seek those special moments that help us feel closer to God and the Holy Spirit. For example, when I start the day with a simple song from my church campfire repertoire, such as “In my life, Lord, Be Glorified”, the song comes back to me off and on through the day. It’s a spirit-seeking earworm. I also have an alarm set on my phone to direct my attention to God at 8 am every day. I may open a journal entry on my computer and type a prayer or prayer thoughts. Or I may only succeed in directing my attention for that moment. There are so many spiritual practices that help move us into a deeper relationship with God. What kinds of spiritual practices are special to you? If there is not a way to share in comments to this devotion, share your thoughts by emailing the DC Community of Christ through our email [email protected], I’d love to hear from you and share your experiences with others. Your testimonies help others grow in faith.

Galatians 3:14 says that we “receive the promised Spirit through faith.” And in Romans 10:17, we are told, “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.” I pray that each of us find ways to connect our hearts to God’s heart, and may our buckets be full.

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Weekly Devotion - New Years Day

1/1/2024

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Welcome to the first devotion for 2024. As I look to the new year, I am excited about embarking on a new adventure. When I say that, people are expecting to see something like taking up scuba diving or visiting a foreign country. But my adventure is to build stepping stones to spiritual encounters. For me this means seeking God in the elements of creation, moments of simple conversations, and intentional acts of love. Please note that I have listed the act of building stepping stones and not engaging in major encounters.

A few months ago I participated in a spiritual practice where the participants were instructed to settle down to observe something in God’s creation for 20 minutes. We were to look at the details and seek God in what we saw. This was a challenge as I pondered and explored a tree growing in an enclosed courtyard. The first thing that caught my attention was the bark. I noticed the color variants and traced the pattern with my eyes, watching for living creatures. Then my attention went to the movement of the leaves as they fluttered and swayed. There was so much time assigned to this activity that I was forced to keep exploring, entrenching myself into minute details. I pulled out a journal to document what I saw, what I felt, and what I discerned. It was a stepping stone to a spiritual encounter that continued to deepen as time progressed.

A few days ago I accompanied my youngest daughter’s family on a 1 mile hike in Mason Neck State Park which is located on a peninsula formed by Pohick Bay, Belmont Bay and the Potomac River. This hike provided me beautiful and spiritual invitations to ponder elements of God’s creation. With no opportunity to sit for a 20 minute observation and because there were so many amazing elements of creation, I found myself taking copious pictures to spend many 20-30 minutes spirit-filled sessions in the future.

Today I offer you one of my pictures of God’s creation in Mason Neck State Park. Expand the picture and take some time to see the details of God’s artwork in nature. Offer praise as you observe. Offer thankfulness. Ask the Divine to enter your mind and move to your heart as you encounter God in the details.

Psalm 148:5-10 leads us in praise of God and God’s creation:
“Let them praise the name of the Lord!
    For he commanded and they were created.
And he established them for ever and ever;
    he fixed their bounds which cannot be passed.

Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you sea monsters and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and frost,
    stormy wind fulfilling his command!

Mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars!
Beasts and all cattle,
    creeping things and flying birds!”

I pray that you, too, take time to pursue your own stepping stones to a deeper spiritual encounter with God. Engage with the Divine in thankfulness, praise and worship. Be sure to take along a journal so you can document what you see and feel in the presence of God’s creation. This can become your adventure for 2024.

Author: Bonnie Barber

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Lenten Practices-Intro & Week 1

A Reunion of Hope

Love and Discern

Easter Devotion

Palm Sunday Devotion

Lenten Devotion

Weekly Devotion

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Weekly Devotion

Weekly Devotion - New Years Day

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