faith – Page 2 – BeanSpired Editions

A brilliant sunrise fills the sky over the dark treetops of a forest. Clouds ranging from gold to orange to dark pink and purple spread across a pale blue sky. The horizon where the sun is about to come up is almost white.

Donkey Devos, God

Not Like Us

March 31, 2022September 27, 2024 Megan Bean

He might be above and beyond us in just about every way. But He also draws close to us in all His holy otherness.

A furry gray donkey with a white nose and belly and a dark stripe down its shoulder stands in a snowy pasture. It turns its head toward the camera and pricks its ears. The pasture in which it stands is long and narrow, with wire mesh fences, and slopes downhill toward a forest. The forest consists of pine and bare deciduous trees. Through their branches the sky shows a bright cloudless blue. Some trees off-screen to the right streak the snow with shadows.

Donkey Devos, God, Holidays & Seasons, Tough Times

Finding God When Things Look Bleak

January 25, 2022September 27, 2024 Megan Bean

We may not always be sure what to make of what God sends us. But we can always trust and know the One who sends it.

A gray and gold sunset fills the sky over a marshy landscape. The sun itself is about to dip below a horizon of distant trees. In the foreground, a weathered wooden boardwalk makes an L-bend to the right.

Relationships

Building a Faithful Future

December 22, 2021September 27, 2024 Megan Bean

How can we foster genuine, enduring faith in the young people within our spheres of influence?

A large-print Bible sits on a wooden table with a cloth runner. The Bible is open to Psalms 22-24 (CSB). On top of it sit a pencil and greeting card. The card's cover displays simple, colorful drawings of flowers.

Relationships, Tough Times

Sharing Faith

November 24, 2021September 26, 2024 Megan Bean

God is our ultimate Source of faith. But often He provides it through other people.

A slab of cement on the ground, with tufts of grass around the edges, has several hoofprints stamped into it.

Gospel

Good News Afoot

July 23, 2021September 27, 2024 Megan Bean

Keep your Gospel shoes on. Because you have some walking to do. And you want all your footprints to spell Jesus.

A furry brown and black donkey eats pelleted feed out of a bright blue pan on the ground.

Donkey Devos, God, Life

What It Takes to ‘Taste and See’

June 21, 2021September 27, 2024 Megan Bean

A life following Jesus isn't an easy life. But it's the best possible life we could ever live. And it takes us to the best place we could ever be: the heart of God, the very definition of goodness. You’d think we’d rush to taste that goodness. What kind of healthy human doesn’t want to experience inner peace, to be truly and faithfully loved, to live with a sense that they and their lives matter? Yet we hold back....afraid the sweetness holds poison. Convinced the fruit we’ve been told is scrumptious will turn out sour or bland. Suspicious that the goodness is all taste and no nourishment for our famished souls.

A stream of sunlight slants through a dark, verdant forest.

God, Gospel, Tough Times

Only Goodness and Mercy

February 19, 2021November 8, 2024 Megan Bean

Yes, trouble may chase us. Pain may nag us. Sorrow might ambush us again and again. Guilt and shame may nip at our heels. But the only things that can keep up with us, day in and day out, all the days of our lives, are the goodness and faithful love of God. And like the Good Shepherd He is, He will send them after us relentlessly. No, scratch that – He’ll come after us Himself, bringing them with Him. Because that’s who He is.

The sun sets in a dim, hazy sky above a marsh. In the foreground, plants stand silhouetted against water that reflects the sun's light. Farther away, across the water, the land looks dark against the sunset.

God, Tough Times

When Suffering Makes No Sense

January 27, 2021September 30, 2024 Megan Bean

Suffering when you can see the point is hard. Suffering when you can’t see the point is harder.

Snow blankets the branches and flowers of a dogwood tree.

Tough Times

Living in the Face of Your Nemesis

December 30, 2020September 30, 2024 Megan Bean

Maybe you're facing a problem, old or new, that has you frozen in your tracks or pacing in your bunker. Maybe you've tried giving it (or yourself) time, but found yourself growing stagnant. Or maybe, as overwhelmed as you feel at the thought of moving forward, waiting it out simply isn't an option. But how do we get moving? How do we live – really live – in the face of our nemeses?

Bright yellow sunflowers on tall stalks turn their faces upward toward a cloudless, deep blue sky.

Gospel, Life

Looking to the Son

October 27, 2020September 27, 2024 Megan Bean

This is more than positive thinking. It's even more than counting our blessings. It isn't just admiring good things; it’s looking through the goodness to its Source. And it's committing to seeking that Source with our entire selves, all our lives, no matter what we go through.